Depression (and Other Mood Disorders)

Last update: 4 October 2012,
by Maureen Bell

You may also find material of interest on my page on books by or about people with a mental illness

For practice guidelines related to depression and its treatment click here. For practice guidelines on the treatment of bipolar disorder click here

Abstracts of reviews from the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group are on my evidence-based medicine page

Library members have online access to the following journals in this area. You'll find them in the e-Journals A-Z list at the top right of this page.

Depression
Depression and Anxiety
Journal of Affective Disorders

If you're not a library member try the link below for access to free journal articles on this topic
Depressive Disorder
Free full text journal articles from PubMed Central.

The links below are divided into Australian and overseas lists.

Australian Links

All In The Mind - Depression
Transcripts and audios from All in the Mind, a series on ABC Radio National. Other programs can be found here

Bipolar disorder: Australian treatment guide for consumers and carers
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, August 2009.

Black Dog Institute * Depression * Explained
The Black Dog Institute is an educational, research and clinical facility offering specialist expertise in mood disorders - a range of disorders that include depression and bipolar disorder. The Institute is attached to the Prince of Wales Hospital and affiliated with the University of New South Wales.

BluePages Depression Information
BluePages provides information about depression for consumers. It is produced by the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR) at the Australian National University (ANU) & CSIRO Mathematical & Information Sciences (CMIS) with the assistance of an Advisory Board, 110 Ltd.

Coping with depression: Australian treatment guide for consumers and carers
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, August 2009. The purpose of this guide is to clarify for consumers and carers the symptoms of depression and where to get help, the treatment options and an estimate of the costs, as well as advice on where to find further information and support.

eMJA: Supplement: Depression and the community
This whole supplement Medical Journal of Australia 2002; 176 (10 Suppl) is devoted to depression and the community. Its production was funded by a grant from beyondblue: the national depression initiative.

FIRENIYCE Australia's Premier Bipolar Website
An Australian; site with much information for bipolar sufferers from a fellow traveller.

Health Report - Depression
Transcripts from Radio National's Health Report, with Norman Swan.

The MoodGYM Training Program
"MoodGYM was originally designed as a prevention program for depression for youth aged between 15 and 25 years .However,data from over 19,000 individuals who have registered at the MoodGYM site over the last two years indicates that individuals who use MoodGYM directly through the Internet have elevated anxiety and depression scores relative to those in the general community. The average age of users is about 35 years." MoodGYM was developed by the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University.

National Action Plan for Depression (Under the National Mental Health Plan 1998-2003)
Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, 2000.

National Health Priority Areas Report: Mental Health: A Report Focusing on Depression 1998
Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (1999)

Perinatal depression: data from the 2010 Australian National Infant Feeding Survey (AIHW)
Canberra, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2012.

Postnatal Depression
Rural Health Education Foundation, Program 609. Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, and produced by the Rural Health Education Foundation, this program can be viewed online, or downloaded as an audio Podcast.

Overseas Links

Brain Explorer - Focus on Brain Disorders - Bipolar Disorder
From the LundBeck Institute, information on how bipolar disorder affects the brain.

Brain Explorer - Focus on Brain Disorders - Depression
From the LundBeck Institute, information on how depression affects the brain.

Brighten Your Life, by Daniel F. Kripke
This is the complete text of a booklet by Daniel Kripke, who is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego. For the past 20 years he has been doing research on light treatment and treating patients with light.

Depression Center - MayoClinic.com
Information for consumers from the Mayo Clinic.

The Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders
A project report of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Centre for Economic Performance, Mental Health Policy Group, 2006. This pamphlet discusses the cost to the community of mental illness, and makes a convincing plea for implementing treatment recommendations from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.

eMedicine Journal - Bipolar Affective Disorder
An article by Stephen Soreff

Healthy Eating and Depression: How diet may help protect your mental health
This booklet is for anyone who wishes to protect their mental health through healthy eating. It is particularly relevant for people recovering from mild or moderate depression and suggests how changes to their diet can help improve their mood. Produced by the Mental Health Foundation in the U.K., April 2007.

The Hypericum Home Page
Here you will find the full text of the book "Hypericum and Depression", by Harold H. Bloomfield, Mikael Nordfors, Peter McWilliams.

Major Depressive Disorder
Links to resources on causes, diagnosis, epidemiology, treatment, outcome, research and more from Internet Mental Health.

MEDLINEplus: Bipolar Disorder
A collection of resources on this topic from MEDLINEplus, the National Library of Medicine's information service for the public. Other relevant sections are MEDLINEplus: Depression, MEDLINEplus: Postpartum Depression, and MedlinePlus: Seasonal Affective Disorder

Merck Manual: Mood Disorders
From the Merck Manuals Online Medical Library.

National Evaluation of the "Doing Well by People with Depression" Programme
A report commissioned by the Scottish Executive Health Department. Edinburgh, Scottish Executive, 2006.

Methods to identify postnatal depression in primary care: an integrated evidence synthesis and value of information analysis
Health Technology Assessment 2009; Vol. 13: No. 36

NIMH: Bipolar Disorder
From the National Institute of Mental Health in the United States, a detailed booklet that describes symptoms, causes, and treatments, with information on getting help and coping.

Pendulum Resources
An extensive collection of material on bipolar disorder for consumers and their families.

Postnatal Depression - NHS Evidence
From the NHS in the U.K., information for health professionals and the public.

Psychological interventions for postnatal depression: cluster randomised trial and economic evaluation. The PONDER trial
By CJ Morrell , R Warner, P Slade, S Dixon, S Walters, G Paley, et al.
Health Technology Assessment 2009; vol. 13: No. 30.

Returning to work: the role of depression
This study examines the role of depression in returning to work after a period of sickness absence across four types of chronic illnesses: depression and anxiety, back pain, heart disease and cancer. London, Mental Health Foundation, 2009.

Seasonal Affective Disorder - NHS Evidence
From the NHS in the U.K., resources for health professionals and the public.

Socioeconomic Status and Depression Among Adult Siblings
This is the first version of a paper, prepared in March 2000 for presentation at the 2000 Meetings of the PopulationAssociation of America, Los Angeles California, by Alair MacLean, and Robert M Hauser, of the Department of Sociology, Center for Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison. (CDE Working Paper No. 2000-04)

Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD)
The NIMH-funded Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) is a long-term outpatient study designed to find out which treatments, or combinations of treatments, are most effective for treating episodes of depression and mania and for preventing recurrent episodes in people with bipolar disorder.

Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS)
The NIMH-funded Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS) is a multi-site clinical research study examining the short- and long-term effectiveness of an antidepressant medication and psychotherapy alone and in combination for treating depression in adolescents ages 12 to 17.

Treatment of SSRI-resistant Depression in Adolescents (TORDIA)
The NIMH-funded Treatment of SSRI-resistant Depression in Adolescents (TORDIA) study is a multi-site, clinical research study examining treatment options for teens whose depression has not improved after one adequate trial of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

The "Ups and Downs" of Bipolar Carers: An Investigation into the Coping Strategies and Needs of Bipolar Carers
By Lesley Jenkins. London, Mental Health Foundation, 2003.

What Families Need to Know about Adolescent Depression
Prepared by Kenneth Duckworth, Darcy Gruttadaro, and Dana Markey. 2nd. edition. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), December 2010.

Wing of Madness: A Depression Guide
This page is the work of Deborah Gray who explains "I'm someone who knows more than most people about depression, not because I'm a doctor (because I'm not) but because I have clinical depression and have educated myself about this illness. My reason for setting this page up is that I would like to make it easier for other people to learn about depression to help themselves, their friends and their families."