Easy Mood Monitoring

Patients who have previously been treated for depression sometimes find it difficult to tell when their symptoms are returning. To help such patients monitor their symptoms, have them use a self-scoring depression inventory, such as the Beck Depression Inventory or the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, once a week. Give them a cutoff score (eg, 10 on the Beck Depression Inventory) that signals a need to talk to you about possibly restarting their medication.

- Richard Honaker, MD   Carrollton, Tex