Here are a few handouts that I've put together over the years to provide background information about depression.  The development & maintenance diagram is probably the handout here that I use most - both to explain issues about depression and also for many other psychological disorders as well. 

Development & maintenance of distressed states - I use this Powerpoint diagram a lot when discussing with people why they are in a distressed state.  The diagram applies to depression but it also applies to nearly all other distressed psychological states as well.  It can be helpful in highlighting the importance of maintaining, precipitating and vulnerability factors.  I also point out that therapeutic gains can be made working with all three of these general sets of factors - for example, emotional processing work for past experience (both precipitating and vulnerability factors) and more standard cognitive-behavioural approaches for maintaining factors. 

Note this list of resources has been updated ... see the "Good Knowledge" section's folder on "Social anxiety information & assessment".  It is also worth clicking on "social anxiety" in the "Tag Cloud".

The "Improving Access to Psychological Therapies" (IAPT) initiative is very ambitious and exciting.  It states its principal aim is to support English Primary Care Trusts in implementing "National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence" (NICE) guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.  IAPT go on to say that "At present, only a quarter of the 6 million people in the UK with these conditions are in treatment, with debilitating effects on society."

One aspect of this carefully planned initiative is strong encouragement to assess and monitor the progress of those who are getting help.  Visiting the IAPT "Outcomes Toolkit and FAQ" web page provides access to several freely downloadable documents.  The emphasis is on good assessment measures that are free to use.  See below:

IAPT Outcomes Toolkit 2008/9 PDF - this 81 page 1.1Mb Adobe PDF is the September 08 version with amended IAPT Paper Based Data Set Questionnaires.

Here are a series of forms that I use almost every session with clients, or for screening and orientation at the start of therapy:

“ Sapere aude! Dare to use your own intelligence! This is the battle cry of the Enlightenment. ” - Immanuel Kant

Other anxiety disorders include Anxiety Disorders due to a General Medical Condition (where the anxiety is a direct physiological consequence of a general medical condition), Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder (where the anxiety is directly caused by the physiological effects of a substance - drug of abuse or medication - including prescription use, poisoning, intoxication, or withdrawal), and Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (where there is prominent clinically significant anxiety or phobic avoidance that doesn't meet the diagnostic criteria for any other anxiety or adjustment disorder).

Health anxiety disorder and hypochondriasis are typically classified under Somatoform disorders.

“

How many things, both just and unjust, are sanctioned by custom!

” - Terence

Acute stress disorder

“

... the current system for bringing promising biomedical research to the bedside is operating at an obsolete level of efficiency, causing great delay, and consequently resulting in the loss of many lives.

” - Roger Rosenberg (JAMA 2003;289:1305-6)

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

“ Sapere aude! Dare to use your own intelligence! This is the battle cry of the Enlightenment. ” - Immanuel Kant

Specific phobias

“

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.

” - Ralph Sockman

Social anxiety disorder