Major Depression

My topic for this leadership paper is this:

Major Depression: Screening and Treatment

I found some useful information about the subject, a lot we have already covered in mental health. Basically there are several risk factors that we should be looking for such as gender (oh, your a female...), age (over 65?), family history of depression, chronic illness, drug/alcohol abuse, among others. We should screen these people for depression using one of the many depression assessment tools out there (Zung, Geriatric, etc.) But what about those that don't have risk factors for depression. Well, screen them anyway. It is possible that a person can have zero risk factors but still suffer from depression. Early recognition and treatment make screening worth it.
A nurse leader should know about treatment modalities for depression. Psychopharmacology and psychotherapy are among the most used. We should know that the use of antidepressants can actually increase suicide attempts and watch for that. We should learn about different drug interactions that can occur (SSRIs + MAOIs = not good), not to mention adverse reactions that can occur using the drug alone (mentioned).
As nurse leaders we should know that depression will be found throughout the medical field, not just tucked away in the mental health sector all neat and easy. This is why screening is so important: because it can be so easily missed.

PS. While We're on the Subject is Jacque :)