Conclusion
These are the approved guidelines published by the South African Society of Psychiatrists to provide an overview on treatment and management of commonly diagnosed psychiatric illnesses. The guidelines include consensus recommendations, based on peer contribution and using the international evidence based guidelines that are suitable for the local South African health service.
Please note that parts of this guideline may be out of date, an update will be published as soon as it is available.
Based on the existing data, it would appear that combination treatment (pharmacotherapy plus psychotherapy) is the intervention of choice, and that the judicious use of benzodiazepines together with an antidepressant will provide the most rapid initial response.
Further combination treatment may ultimately be adequate in the longer term for maintenance of clinical improvement. However, maintenance should include the consideration that psychotherapy alone may be an option following longer term treatment and stabilisation on combination treatment.
The data for partial or non-responders are limited, but there is a suggestion that sodium valproate may be a consideration either as an adjunctive agent or as monotherapy, specifically if there is mood instability or comorbid bipolar disorder.