Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the application of dynamic interpersonal therapy in the context of a New York clinic for USA military veterans. It deals with how an insecure gender identity is implicated in depression in men. The book reviews of the literature shows both how post-natal depression can develop in some men as well as how it often goes unidentified. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence had identified cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as the most cost-effective treatment for common mental illness, Q.E.D. create a comprehensive Improving Access to CBT service, ‘which will pay for itself’. Effects of CBT as a treatment for depression have also been found to be falling in more recent RCTs. The optimistic view may be that so-called placebo effects are proving potent in their own right.