Continuity Is the Main Challenge in Treating Major Depressive Disorder in Psychiatric Care

Abstract

Problems of psychiatric care seem most related to continuity of treatment. While adequate treatments are provided in the early acute phase, antidepressants are terminated too soon in about half of patients, often following their autonomous decisions. From a secondary and tertiary preventive point of view, improving continuity of treatment would appear a crucial task for improving the outcome of psychiatric patients with MDD.