However, these scales would not be sufficient to assess remission, as pointed out by the ACNP task force on response

and remission in major depressive disorders.43 The authors postulate that remission implies that the signs and symptoms of the illness must be absent or close to it, with return to the TWS119 clinical trial day-to-day function that was typical to the patient before the occurrence of depression. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The Task Force recommends that remission refer only to the nine criterion domains of the DSM-IV diagnosis of depression. Interestingly, they also specify that neither sad mood nor loss of interest or pleasure should be present in the remitted state, because the presence of sadness would be associated with a worse prognosis. Their definition of remission implies that rating scales used to assess remission would assess the nine domains of interest in the DSM-IV, but they also recommend not to use total scores with severity thresholds for the assessments, but rather to evaluate the presence Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical or absence of the criteria, in which sadness takes an important part. They emphasize Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the limitations of the MADRS and HAM-D scales, but at the same time propose that a HAM-D total score <5 be used as a criterion for remission, when researchers wish to evaluate this.43 Conclusions Sadness is a clinical main component of the depressive syndrome, though its presence is neither sufficient nor required for the diagnosis of depression. However, it is a frequent clinical feature in

the disease, and its clinical correlates, such as suicide

and level of daytime functioning, are of importance Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical for the patients. With this perspective, some authors have decided to use it as a criterion for clinical studies of antidepressant efficacy, even if its assessment alone seems insufficient in comparison with standardized evaluations. Though further studies assessing its sensitivity are strongly warranted, its use in clinical practice as a therapeutic target appears to be justified. The prognostic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical importance of its alleviation for remission has been particularly emphasized. Given the heterogeneity of the depressive clinical presentation, Chlormezanone one should not reduce depression to sadness; at the same time it is justifiable to consider it as a clinical core symptom of depression, and to properly assess and trcat.it. Contributor Information Sabine Mouchet-Mages, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Hôpital Sainte Anne, Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Faculté de Médecine Paris Descartes, INSERM U894, Paris, France. Franck J. Baylé, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Hôpital Sainte Anne, Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Faculté de Médecine Paris Descartes, INSERM U894, Paris, France.
Anecdotally, there are many examples of striking associations between creativity and mood disorders, and particularly bipolar disorder. For example, Vincent. Van Gogh suffered from mood disorder during much of his short, adult, life, prior to committing suicide at. age 37.