Diagnosis and therapy of depressive disorders in general practice

: 93 general practitioners participating in a WHO field trial testing the ICD-10-primary health care classification system in German-speaking countries completed a questionnaire dealing with their practice of diagnosis and treatment of patients with depressive disorders. There was a great variety of diagnoses that were often vague. Counselling tended to be "good advice" instead of specific intervention. Antidepressant medication mostly consisted of tricyclic antidepressants in rather low dosages. Only few of the general practitioners informed patients thoroughly about side-effects and risks of antidepressant medication.