This image summarises the increased risk that the presence of depressive symptoms confers on an individual for developing a variety of comorbid conditions. Many of these relationships are thought to be bidirectional – i.e., one increases the chances of the other and vice versa – and this complexity reinforces the need for integrated models of care that take into account the patient as a whole.
MDD=major depressive disorder
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One hypothesis of the cycle of anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure) in patients with depression is illustrated in this image; this hypothesis comes from a series of experiments performed on a sample of psychology students.
As adjunctive treatment in MDD, some dopamine–serotonin receptor antagonists are associated with sedating side effects, while others are more often associated with ‘activating’ side effects.