Depression: challenges for the future.

The author reviews the current status of mood disorders with regard to expectations and challenges for the future. Mood disorders are among the most prevalent of the psychiatric illnesses. Fortunately, in the 1990s the benefits of research into depression from the 1970s and onward are beginning to be reaped. Changes in diagnosis and treatment have enabled patients with depression to lead normal lives and avoid the complications of this illness (such as hospitalization and suicide). In this paper, the author focuses on four areas regarding mood disorders that are challenges for the future: diagnosis, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and maintenance therapy.