ABSTRACT
Depression is possibly the commonest mental health disorder. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate a worldwide incidence of depression at more than 150 million people, approximately 4 per cent of the world’s adult population, but
• Introduction • Factors in the aetiology of depression • Brain pathology • Biochemistry and immunity in depression • Depression in young people • Post-partum depression (PPD) and seasonal affective disorder
(SAD) • The antidepressant drugs • Mood-stabilising drugs • Key points
this may be an underestimate due to problems related to reporting and diagnosing cases in some regions of the world (Westly 2010).
