Diagnosis and Initial Treatment

Aetna Depression Management offers the following guidelines for diagnosis and initial treatment of depression. These guidelines are based on the Three Component Model, 3CM^TM, and are one of the many resources you may wish to draw upon in your professional practice.

For depression to be present, the patient must answer item 10 (indicating functional impairment) on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) as "somewhat difficult," "very difficult" or "extremely difficult."