The 15-minute visit: How can primary care better identify and treat depression?

A physician's ability to recognize depression depends almost entirely upon their interactions and communication with patients. Understanding the ways that patients and physicians discuss symptoms of depression can help explain why depression is often underrecognized in primary care. This article describes patterns observed in regular clinical encounters with physicians and depressed patients to help paint a picture of the attention currently given to the psychosocial symptoms of depression. The goal is to provide suggestions for primary care physicians and to make an argument for systemic change in the larger health care system that would allow for more comprehensive, collaborative, and patient-centered care for depression.