General management issues in depressive illness--family interventions.

There is a need to integrate interpersonal, spousal and family interventions into the well developed pharmacological and individual psychological therapies for depressive illness. Serious repercussions from depressive illness for the person themselves and their families, are well recognized. These include a low entrance rate to treatment programs, attrition from and poor adherence to, recognized therapies, self-harm, marital separation and divorce, family disruption and serious negative impacts on their children. A number of specific interventions, have been developed some psychoeducational, some therapeutic, and they appear to offer promise for future application. These need to be regularly applied to treatment situations in a planned fashion, and their effectiveness rigorously evaluated.