ABSTRACT
This chapter defines the three disorders: depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It describes the key management recommendations of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The availability of effective treatments for all these conditions and pointers as to how services can be improved should lead to the development of more appropriately configured services with the capacity to effectively treat more people in the future. The chapter considers service provision at present and how it could be developed in the future. It focuses on individuals with depressive episodes or recurrent depressive disorder, as opposed to bipolar disorder. The chapter also focuses on the provision of specific treatments but the successful management of many sufferers of depression, anxiety and PTSD – especially those with more chronic or complex difficulties – relies upon input from other statutory and non-statutory agencies.
