Symptom profiles

Both Hanna and Klara are suffering from the same amount of depressive symptoms, yet they suffer from completely different symptoms. The group of symptoms people have are called a symptom profile. There are more than 700 different symptom profiles that can lead to a diagnosis of depression. As such, 700 people with depression could all suffer from 700 unique illnesses. But we treat them all the same. Is it surprising then if individuals respond differently to the same treatment?

Currently, treatments are based on broad population studies where it is difficult to know what is happening for individuals. To overcome this issue, research is now focussing on individuals and collecting repeated measurements from the same individuals to better understand how they respond individually to treatments overtime. It is hoped that by focussing on individuals like this we will be able to better understand, prevent and treat mental disorders of the brain.