Self-Management of Depression
A Manual for Mental Health and Primary Care Professionals

Teaches clinicians to apply a variety of treatment strategies that empower patients to control depression and live healthier lives.

Albert Yeung (Author), Greg Feldman (Author), Maurizio Fava (Author)

9780521710084, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 October 2009

216 pages, 1 table
23.4 x 15.7 x 1 cm, 0.37 kg

'… I feel that this is a useful book for General Practitioners, psychologists, psychiatrists, Community Mental Health Practitioners and other health personnel who deal with patients with depression. It puts a lot of information at our finger tips, much of which can easily be incorporated into practice to help our patients manage their depression better. Furthermore, the discussion of medication as a piece in the jigsaw of depression management should be a relief to those professionals who feel that the use of medication is usually over-emphasised.' Journal of Mental Health

With growing access to health information, people who suffer from depression are increasingly eager to play an active role in the management of their symptoms. The goal of self-management is to support patients in monitoring and managing their symptoms and provide them with additional resources to promote recovery, enhance quality of life, and prevent relapse. For clinicians, self-management holds promise for improving practice efficiency and efficacy by helping patients maximize their improvement outside of treatment sessions. Self-Management of Depression is written for clinicians who wish to empower their patients to take more active steps to manage depression. Chapters cover care management, self-assessment, exercise, self-help books and computer programs, meditation, and peer-support groups and strategies for how to incorporate self-management into a treatment plan are described. Reproducible handouts to support patients are also available online. This book is relevant to clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and primary care physicians.

Preface
1. The use of self-management for depression
2. Care management of depression: treatment of depression in primary care and the need for a multidisciplinary approach
3. Self-assessment instruments for depression
4. Self-help: the role of bibliotherapy and computerized psychotherapy in self-management for depression
5. Physical exercise as a form of self-management for depression
6. Self-management of depression using meditation
7. Cultivating social support: the role of peer-support in self-management
8. Putting it all together: applying self-management for depression in your practice
Index.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ], Psychiatry [MMH], General practice [MBPC]