Depression: Recognizing Its Prevalence And Co-Morbidity Are you thinking outside the box?

ABSTRACT: There are many faces of mood disorders, specifically depression that we encounter on a frequent if not a daily basis in our practice but also in everyday life. It behooves us as health care professionals to be prepared to help the individual who walks into our office seeking help to understand the many faces of depression. The focus for this paper is to understand how prevalent clinical depression is, to provide an overview of symptoms and criteria, and recognize other illnesses associated with the symptoms of depression thus improving accuracy of diagnosis and treatment plans.