The Prevention of Depression

As medical costs in the US skyrocket and health issues continue to inspire heated national debate, preventive health care is receiving increasing attention and emphasis. In the area of mental health, however, the subject of effective prevention has remained controversial and generally neglected. Now, many international health organizations have begun to recommend increased attention to prevention science in the mental health field. Contributing to this growing attention and offering a comprehensive summary of this area of study, "The Prevention of Depression" argues that treatment is not enough. Ricardo Munoz and Yu-Wen Ying bring together information about depression and review methods of evaluating preventive interventions. Chapters offer an introduction to key concepts; an explanation of steps for conducting research on preventive interventions; a report on the authors' work with the San Francisco Depression Prevention Research Project; discussion of the implications of such research and the goals of the prevention field; and general comments and recommendations directed to mental health professionals.
The authors conclude with a call for well-designed prevention programmes to reduce the human suffering associated with depression.