ABSTRACT
Psychotropics will only deliver the outcomes promised if the patient at hand actually has been accurately identified as having a bona fide Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders depressive disorder. All of the depressive disorders are associated with a pervasive dysphoria, which may be experienced as sadness, irritability, or perhaps the absence of any positive emotional feelings. The reader is also urged to not downplay the significance of the more "minor" depressive disorders. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder patients exhibit depressive type symptoms in only the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and seasonal depressive disorder patients exhibit their symptoms only in a specific season of the year. A good interviewer will detect Major depressive disorder symptoms quite readily, but an astute clinician will be able to better delineate the specific type of depression that is evident and choose a more accurate treatment. Adjustment disorder transient depressive symptoms generally resolve as the life stressor improves.
