Samenvatting van de standaard 'Depressieve stoornis' (eerste herziening) van het Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap

- In the revised practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with a depressive disorder in general practice the distinction between mild and severe depression has been removed.

- By paying attention to a number of risk factors, the general practitioner can detect patients with a hidden depressive disorder.

- The general practitioner’s strategy is aimed at reducing symptoms and restoring the ability to function normally.

- Factors that define the strategy are in particular patient’s degree of suffering and dysfunctioning, and the patient’s preferences and demands.

- In primary care tricyclic antidepressants and specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the drugs of first choice: both are equally effective; the nature of the side effects differs.

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 2005;149:523-7