Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Preliminary model of clinicians’ recognition of depression: conditions under which patients report multiple issues without interpretation, and 3 possible processes by which clinicians recognize depression.
Tables
I understand you have worked in primary care for some time. When I to try put myself in the position of a primary care clinician, it is not easy to sort out the wide range of issues that patients have, and I was just wondering how you sort these out? When do you start to think you may be encountering mental health issues? What does it take to say to yourself, not necessarily to the patient, “this may be depression”? What does it take to say to your patient, “I think you are depressed.” Or how do you say it? Have you ever told your patient you believed he or she was depressed, but the patient said, “You are wrong,” or “Well, Doc, I am just dealing with a tough life”? Is the time you spend with one patient different from the time spent with another? Or is there any difference in the time you spend now when you compare yourself with the past? What do you do when you have, say, 10 patients waiting and you are behind schedule? If this case were about a physical illness, would you have a different response to a patient who does not agree with your impression?
The Article in Brief
Depression can be difficult to identify, because the symptoms often are unclear and can suggest a number of health problems. This study found that primary care doctors use a range of techniques to identify depression. These include ruling out physical causes of the patient�s symptoms, encouraging the patient to talk about what is bothering them, and comparing the patient�s behavior and appearance with the way the patient is normally. Knowing the patient can help the doctor to identify a patient�s depression.
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