Economic aspects of depression and its treatment

This review considers the various ways in which economics intersects with depression and its treatment - from descriptions of the cost impact of the illness and cost-effectiveness (or similar) evaluations of treatment options to the economic incentives that often drive new structural arrangements for the delivery of mental health care, such as managed care. The evidence base on the economics of depression treatment is building up well. There are, however, lamentably few economic enquiries - or indeed studies of any description - in countries outside the developed world, and one priority for the future is surely to extend the range of economic and other evaluations into those parts of the world which are labouring under such an enormous burden of psychiatric morbidity associated especially with depression.