Meeting Highlights on Mood Disorders: The 3rd Annual Chair Summit

Abstract

Mood disorders are among the most common neuropsychiatric disorders. Major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder affect 14.8 million (6.7%) and 5.7 million (2.6%) adults in the United States aged 18 years and over in a given year, respectively; and these may be conservative estimates. In addition, these disorders are associated with significant disability and morbidity for the patient, and enormous societal costs. Regrettably, mortality is too common for patients affected; more than 90% of people who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder, most commonly a depressive disorder.

The 3^rd Annual Chair Summit, The Master Class for Neuroscience Professional Development, held in Chicago, Illinois (August 2010), a comprehensive continuing medical education (CME) conference on neuroscience targeted to psychiatry and neurology clinicians and featuring relevant department chairs as faculty, included numerous educational sessions on unipolar and bipolar mood disorders. Notable topics in depression were management of subtypes (psychotic and anxious), onset in late life, available evidence regarding use of complementary and alternative medicine, and the impact of depression treatment on cardiovascular disease. Bipolar disorder sessions focused on patients with childhood onset of illness and those who require systematic therapy trials in order to arrive at the optimal, individualized treatment plan. Additionally, a forward-looking session was held on innovations, both diagnostic and therapeutic, on the horizon for improving care of bipolar disorder. This 2nd article of 5 in a CME-certified companion series presents highlights of these sessions with summary points connecting research to clinical practice for each topic.