Health Economics of Depression

Perspectives in Psychiatry Volume 4 Health Economics of Depression Edited by B. Jönsson Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden and J. Rosenbaum Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Major depressive illness is associated with significant morbidity and imposes large social and financial burdens on the individual and society. In view of the demands made on finite health care resources, clinical psychiatry must increasingly focus on the cost-effectiveness of treatment options as well as their safety, efficacy and impact on quality of life. In this book a multidisciplinary team of health economists and psychiatrists explores the concept of mental health economics and highlights its importance to the practising psychiatrist. Attention is drawn to the cost of mental illness to the community, the economic consequences of treatment failure and the analysis of cost-effectiveness of pharmacological treatment of depression. Perspectives in Psychiatry Series Advisors: O. Benkert (Germany) G.B. Cassano (Italy) J.P. Feighner (USA) D.G. Grahame-Smith (UK) J.J. Lopez-lbor (Spain) J. Mendlewicz (Belgium) S.A. Montgomery (UK) F. Rouillon (France) Volume 1: Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors J.P. Feighner and W.F. Boyer ISBN 0 471 92890 9 1991 168pp Volume 2: Diagnosis of Depression Edited by J.P. Feighner and W.F. Boyer ISBN 0 471 92891 7 1991 202pp Volume 3: Long-term Treatment of Depression Edited by S.A. Montgomery and F. Rouillon ISBN 0 471 92892 5 1992 275pp