Psychotic Depression: An Evidenced Based Clinical Update

Thesis (M.Nurs.), College of Nursing, Washington State UniversityThis is an article based on an extensive literature review dealing with psychotic major depression, which is a relatively common subtype of depression that is easily misdiagnosed and therefore has the potential to be inadequately treated. The article is written for the target audience of primary care clinicians and outpatient psychiatric clinicians. The aspects of psychotic major depression that will be discussed are: clinical symptoms and diagnosis, prevalence and social characteristics, clinical course, familial history and genetic characteristics, neuropsychological aspects, biological aspects, and treatment. Suggestions for clinical practice are included