title: Therapist individuality in the diagnosis and treatment of depression.
abstract: The influence of physician variables on the diagnosis and treatment of depression was analysed by presenting a trained pseudo-patient to four physicians each with different professional backgrounds. Although all physicians had earlier given their informed consent to the study design, they thought that they were treating a real patient during regular practice hours. All physicians assessed the acute psychopathology almost completely except for suicidal thoughts. Despite similar information about the case, four different diagnoses/pathogenetic concepts and four different treatments were chosen. Medical decision processes and their results can be related to the professional background and personal attitudes of physicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Free University of Berlin, FRG.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Langwieler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Linden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011613:Psychotherapy
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents