TY - JOUR T1 - Feeling blue, sad, or depressed: how to manage these patients JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 330 LP - 331 DO - 10.3399/bjgp18X697697 VL - 68 IS - 672 AU - Peter Lucassen AU - Joanne Reeve AU - Simone Postma AU - Tim Olde Hartman AU - Hiske van Ravesteijn AU - Michiel Linssen AU - Judith Wolf AU - Debby Gerritsen Y1 - 2018/07/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/68/672/330.abstract N2 - Many patients present to primary care complaining of feeling blue, sad, or depressed. GPs generally work from a biomedical standpoint using the concept of depression, with medicalisation being the logical result. We believe that GPs are able to adopt a more person-focused approach in which they prioritise the psychosocial above the biological. Here we provide two examples of how GPs could start with this approach in a consultation with a patient who is feeling blue, sad, or depressed. An important element of the proposed approach is only applying a psychiatric diagnosis in selected patients with a high prior chance of serious psychiatric disorder.The high prescription rates for antidepressants1 suggest that GPs work from a biomedical point of view and start questioning the patient about the symptoms of depression listed in the guidelines. GPs commonly report having ‘no other option’ … ER -