DEBITS AND CREDITS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF DEPRESSION

Concern over the cost of health care is playing an increasing role in Great Britain, but evaluation of benefit is generally inadequate. This is particularly true in the case of depression, for which the cost of drugs is 1.9% of the National Health Service pharmaceutical budget. Since differences in effectiveness between antidepressant drugs are difficult to demonstrate, quality-of-life studies may help to identify outcome differences. At present, the worst outcome of depressive illness - suicide - absolves carers from further costs. An assessment is needed which takes into account both the direct and indirect costs of depression; this should include the costs of investment into improving diagnosis. Even without financial analyses, it is clear that some cases of suicide can be prevented by prescribing less toxic drugs, but research is needed to investigate whether use of these drugs also reduces the costs of overdose.