title: World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for biological treatment of unipolar depressive disorders, part 1: update 2013 on the acute and continuation treatment of unipolar depressive disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This 2013 update of the practice guidelines for the biological treatment of unipolar depressive disorders was developed by an international Task Force of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP). The goal has been to systematically review all available evidence pertaining to the treatment of unipolar depressive disorders, and to produce a series of practice recommendations that are clinically and scientifically meaningful based on the available evidence. The guidelines are intended for use by all physicians seeing and treating patients with these conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 2013 update was conducted by a systematic update literature search and appraisal. All recommendations were approved by the Guidelines Task Force.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This first part of the guidelines (Part 1) covers disease definition, classification, epidemiology, and course of unipolar depressive disorders, as well as the management of the acute and continuation phase treatment. It is primarily concerned with the biological treatment (including antidepressants, other psychopharmacological medications, electroconvulsive therapy, light therapy, adjunctive and novel therapeutic strategies) of adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To date, there is a variety of evidence-based antidepressant treatment options available. Nevertheless there is still a substantial proportion of patients not achieving full remission. In addition, somatic and psychiatric comorbidities and other special circumstances need to be more thoroughly investigated. Therefore, further high-quality informative randomized controlled trials are urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. michael.bauer@uniklinikum-dresden.de
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pfennig
authors.forename: Emanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Severus
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Whybrow
authors.forename: Jules
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Angst
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Möller
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D010789:Phototherapy; D011613:Psychotherapy
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents