ABSTRACT
Depression is one of the world’s greatest public health concerns (Murray & Lopez, 1996), and in industrialized nations it is the leading cause of disability (Kessler et al., 2006). Theoretical and clinical approaches to the treatment of depression have changed greatly since the psychoanalytic models that dominated the psychiatric landscape in the mid-twentieth century. Seminal developments in the 1950s and 1960s included recognition that several distinctly different types of medication had antidepressant effects, which ultimately shaped the influential monoamine hypotheses of depression and helped to redefine treatment for decades to come. Concurrently, the pioneering work of Beck (cognitive therapy), Klerman and Weisman (interpersonal psychotherapy), and others led to the introduction of several time-limited, operationalized forms of psychotherapy specifically developed to treat depression. As our understanding of the etiology, pathophysiology, and risk factors for depression have grown, additional pharmacological and psychosocial therapies have continued to be introduced.
