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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 6, 2021; 9(31): 9350-9367
Published online Nov 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i31.9350
Major depressive disorder: Validated treatments and future challenges
Rabie Karrouri, Zakaria Hammani, Roukaya Benjelloun, Yassine Otheman
Rabie Karrouri, Zakaria Hammani, Yassine Otheman, Department of Psychiatry, Moulay Ismaïl Military Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez 30070, Morocco
Roukaya Benjelloun, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences, Casablanca 20000, Morocco
Author contributions: Karrouri R the main author, worked on the antidepressant chapter and coordinated all the work; Hammani Z, worked on the somatic treatment chapter; Otheman Y worked on the psychotherapy chapter, he also reviewed the data, and the references; Benjelloun R, participated in the development of the plan, and in the review of data, she revised and corrected the language quality of the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yassine Otheman, MD, Associate Professor, Chief Doctor, Department of Psychiatry, Moulay Ismaïl Military Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, 1893, Km 2.2 road of Sidi Hrazem, Fez 30070, Morocco. yassine.othemane@usmba.ac.ma
Received: March 31, 2021
Peer-review started: March 31, 2021
First decision: June 5, 2021
Revised: July 2, 2021
Accepted: October 11, 2021
Article in press: October 11, 2021
Published online: November 6, 2021
Abstract

Depression is a prevalent psychiatric disorder that often leads to poor quality of life and impaired functioning. Treatment during the acute phase of a major depressive episode aims to help the patient reach a remission state and eventually return to their baseline level of functioning. Pharmacotherapy, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors antidepressants, remains the most frequent option for treating depression during the acute phase, while other promising pharmacological options are still competing for the attention of practitioners. Depression-focused psychotherapy is the second most common option for helping patients overcome the acute phase, maintain remission, and prevent relapses. Electroconvulsive therapy is the most effective somatic therapy for depression in some specific situations; meanwhile, other methods have limits, and their specific indications are still being studied. Combining medications, psychotherapy, and somatic therapies remains the most effective way to manage resistant forms of depression.

Keywords: Depression, Treatment, Antidepressants, Psychotherapy, Cognitive-behavioral therapy, Somatic therapies, Electroconvulsive therapy

Core Tip: Depression is a persistent public health problem for which treatments must be codified and simplified to enhance current practice. Several therapies have been suggested worldwide, with varying levels of validity. This article explores effective and valid therapies for treating depression by addressing current and future research topics for different treatment categories.