Publication

Abstract : Common mental disorders (CMDs) are a group of mental disorders, which are more prevalent in community as well as various medical care settings. CMDs are now recognised as a leading neuropsychiatric cause of the global burden of disease and are associated with increased health-care costs and reduced economic productivity. CMDs include anxiety disorders, mild-to-moderate depression and somatoform disorders. Patients with CMDs often present with multiple somatic symptoms like headache or pain in other body areas, feelings of lethargy or physical weakness, autonomic symptoms of anxiety, vague abdominal discomfort, disturbances of gastrointestinal motility or disturbances in sleep or appetite. The patients often go for ‘doctor shopping’, further increasing health-care costs and making the illness chronic. Screening instruments like the General Health Questionnaire, the Self-Report Questionnaire and the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD)—Patient Care Questionnaire (PHQ), can be used to identify CMDs in community and primary care settings. Simple psychosocial interventions and antidepressants have been reported to be effective in relieving the symptoms.