Date/Time: 9th October 2012

Depression is a devastating and common illness: one in four women and one in ten men will suffer from it, yet treatment is often inadequate. Comparing the tests and treatments available to a cardiologist, the tools of a modern psychiatrist are pen, notebook, and treatments of limited efficacy. Professor Herbert ask why, in this age of neuroscience, psychiatry often seems to lag behind other medical specialities and lack the tools it needs. With better knowledge of the role of genetics, brain chemicals and stresses in social and working environments, Professor Herbert asked whether a new dawn in our understanding and treatment of depression could be just over the horizon.