Road to recovery for depressed patients. From treatment initiation to continuity - Supported by SERVIER

Session Description

Major depressive disorder is the largest contributor to global disability. Few patients received adequate treatment and treatment adherence is a concern. In everyday practice the efficacy of a therapy is weakened due to the low patient’s adherence. Patient’s expectations, fears and poor tolerability may contribute to premature treatment discontinuation. An early tailored treatment approach for a personalized medicine is the most promising to get a goal alignment between the patient and the therapist.

The shared decision-making process could help to engage the patient in his/her treatment management from initiation to continuity. Improvement of anxiety symptoms, restoration of positive affect, self-confidence and level of functioning are predictive of a good outcome. Improvement in anxiety associated symptom and in social functioning in the early phase of treatment is likely to be an important first step for patients to get well and stay well and improve their quality of life.

The choice of the most appropriate therapy among those available considering the patients’ preferences contributes to reach a goal alignment for a successful disease management and bring the depressed patient to the road to recovery.