In Sight: The Biological Diagnosis of Depression and Anxiety

The science of psychiatry is gaining on the daunting complexity of the brain.

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Key points

• Diagnostic models in psychiatry are largely based on clinical experience, with some statistical modeling.
• Scientific biomedical models are necessary to advance understanding of mental illness.
• Understanding the causes of mental illness, from biological to psychological to social, will allow development of better treatments.
• Personalized analysis of brain networks holds promise for people suffering from depression and anxiety.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), clinical depression affects nearly 300 million people worldwide. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 20 million or more people in the U.S. have depression at any given time, while more than 18 percent of U.S. adults report depression at some point in their lives and more than 12 percent of adults report significant feelings of anxiety.

Treatment for depression is of limited effectiveness; only 30–40 percent of those initially treated experience full resolution of symptoms, or remission. What’s more, studies show, successive efforts to achieve remission are…