Objectives : Depression disturbs the individual life from the loss of productivity to suicide. Furthermore the whole society is also influenced by depression in social and economic areas. Many scientific treatment methods are known to be effective in depression. But in reality more than half of patients with depression prefer self help treatment rather than medically based treatment. For the patients with mild depression and primary physicians, it is reasonable to provide the evidence based self care including self help or alternative treatment. This study is supported by the Korean Health 21 R&D Project for the Depression Center to establish the Korean treatment guideline for depression. Methods : The members of Depression Center including the authors attended the workshops where the methods of evidence based medicine such as literature search, quality evaluation of the articles, making the level of evidence were educated. The professional librarians helped the authors for get the searched articles. Among the total of 354 abstracts of systemic review and 300 abstracts of random controlled trials, 3 systemic reviews and 2 random controlled trials were the main structure of evaluation. Result : Among the 37 self care methods known to be effective for depression, 11 kinds of methods were worth of evaluation. The first step for the self care of mild depression is to use St. John's wort, exercise, bibliotherapy, and light therapy in depression during winter season. Acupuncture, negative ion therapy, massage, relaxation technique are known to be efective with evidence. Music therapy, hypnotherapy, and aromatherapy are known to be effective but until now the evidences is insufficient and further evaluations are needed. Conclusion : Among 11 listed self-care methods, several methods need more evidence especially in Korean situation. Exercise is the most recommendable evidence based self care method in Korea nowadays. St. John's wort is effective with evidence, but it is not the OTC drug in Korea, so it is not recommendable now. For the bibliotherapy, there is no book such as "Feeling Good" in Korea. Only the introductory book about depression is available. Publishing the self help book based upon cognitive behavioral approach or psychodynamic approach is needed. Light therapy is practiced in a few clinics, but not self-help style. Exposure to the sunlight is recommended in the level of commen sense. These self care methods are for the mild patient. Moderate to severe patients with depression should seek the professional treatment.

Objectives : The diagnosis of depression is based on a highly variable set of symptoms. Therefore, depression should not be viewed as a single disease, but a heterogenous syndrome comprised of different pathophysiologies. There are several subtypes of depression which were already incorporated in DSM-IV. This article provides a systematic review of pharmacological treatments of two recognized subtypes of depression-dysthymic disorder and atypical depression. Methods : Systematic search of relevant literatures on dysthymic disorder and atypical depression was performed by proposed search strategy of the Clinical Research Center for Depression of Korean Health 21 R&D Project. All identified literatures were carefully reviewed and classified according to SIGN grading system and summarized in a narrative manner. Results : For the treatment of dysthymic disorder and atypical depression, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors( SSRIs) and moclobemide have more evidence than the other antidepressants. SSRIs and moclobemide showed superior tolerability than tricyclic antidepressants. Conclusions : The authors proposed treatment recommendations for dysthymic disorder and atypical depression by the methods of evidence-based medicine(EBM). However, guideline developing methods of EBM also have several inevitable limitations. Therefore, in the absence of clear and significant differences in efficacy, the choice of medication must be individualized for a particular patient based on psychiatrist's own clinical decision.

Objectives : As a part of plan to develop evidence-based treatment guidelines for depression that is more suitable for Korean situation, we investigate the present status and client's requirements for non-pharmacological treatment of depression in Korean clinical situation. Methods : Subjects were patients with depression in 12 university hospitals which are located in metropolises in Korea. We analyzed the records from questionnaires about current clinical status and requirements for the non-pharmacological treatment of depression in Korea. Results : 50.8% of the subjects have experienced non-pharmacological treatments for their depression. The preference of non-pharmacological treatment method of depression is exercise/interesting activity, counseling by psychiatrists and psychotherapy, and the best effective treatment method is psychotherapy (Es=4.36). Actually, the mean consultation time by psychiatrist is $11.31{\pm}7.16$ min, and the appropriate consultation time for client's situation is $18.39{\pm}8.95$ min. During consultation, patients' satisfaction measurement for psychiatrist's explanation about pharmacological treatment is $64.17{\pm}27.11$, and satisfaction measurement for psychiatrist's counseling for their depression about personal problems, resent stress, interpersonal relationship is $61.66{\pm}26.63$. Conclusion : In Korea, many psychiatrists offered biologically oriented treatment to their patients with depression, and patients' satisfaction measurement about consultation by psychiatrists is low. Many patients wanted to combined pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment for their depression, and aspired to information about complementary and self-help treatment methods. It is necessary to develop non-pharmacological treatment guideline for depression which reflect the clinical situation in Korea and meet Korean patients' need.

Virtual reality technology is now being used in neuropsychological assessment and real-world applications of many psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, child psychiatric disorders, dementia, and substance related disorders. These applications are growing rapidly due to recent evolution in both hardware and software of virtual reality. In this paper, we review these current applications and discuss the future work of clinical, ethical, and technological aspects needed to refine and expand these applications to psychiatry.

Objectives : Studies have reported differences between depressed adults and controls in quantitative measures of EEG alpha asymmetry, but, there are few using Korean subjects. So, the present study compared EEG regional alpha asymmetries of patients having major depressive disorder(MDD) and normal controls. Methods : The subjects in this study were 11 unmedicated unipolar depressed patients and 11 non-depressed, age matched controls. Resting EEG(eyes closed and eyes open) was recorded from each participant using 8 scalp electrodes. Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HDRS), Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS) and Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI) were used to evaluate depression and anxiety symptoms. Results : The severities of depression measured by self-report questionnaires were positively associated with those of anxiety(state and trait) ; The subjects were both anxious and depressed. Anxious-depressed patients differed from controls in alpha asymmetry at T4 channels. They showed evidence of greater activation over right than left temporal site. Conclusion : These findings are consistent with the previousely reported alpha asymmetry of depressed patients with an anxiety disorder. The failure to find the evidence of reduced right parietal activity in depression is presumed to be due to opposing effects of comorbid anxiety on parietotemporal activity.

Objectives : This study aimed to examine the relationship between behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia(BPSD) and patient and caregiver QOL in Alzheimer's disease(AD). Methods : Fifty-one AD patients and their caregivers participated. Measures about patients were Neuropsychiatric Inventory(NPI), Korean version of QOL-Alzheimer's Disease(KQOL-AD), Activities of Daily Living(ADL), Clinical Dementia Rating(CDR), and Korean version-Mini Mental State Examination(K-MMSE). Caregiver QOL was assessed with KQOL-AD and General Health Questionnaire/Quality of Life-12(GHQ/QOL-12). Results : Patient QOL-AD on patient ratings was negatively correlated with appetite/eating change and NPI scores. Patient QOL-AD on caregiver ratings was negatively correlated with hallucinations, depression/dysphoria, and NPI scores. Caregiver QOL assessed by the GHQ/QOL-12 was negatively correlated with agitation/aggression, depression/dysphoria, and NPI scores and was negatively correlated with distress related to agitation/aggression, depression/dysphoria, and NPI scores. Conclusion : BPSD of AD patients was associated with low QOL of both patients and caregivers. Thus, interventions of BPSD were needed to improve both patient and caregiver QOL.

Objectives : There have been many association studies of panic disorder. However, studies about the dopaminergic function in panic disorder have been few. This study was aimed to examine the possible association of dopamine transporter gene(DAT1) polymorphism and panic disorder in Korean population. Methods : Ninety-eight patients with panic disorder(43 male(46.9%), mean age $42.13{\pm}10.88$ years) and one hundred and thirteen comparison subjects(67 male(40.7%), mean age $33.14{\pm}8.55$ years) were tested for DAT1 polymorphism. Genotypes of DAT1 with variable number of tandem repeats(VNTR) were determined using polymerase chain reaction. The differences of allelic frequency and genotype frequency distribution between patient and the control group were tested with Fisher-Freeman-Halton test. Results : There was association between DAT1 polymorphism and panic disorder(allele : p<0.03, genotype : p<0.05). The frequency of 10/10 homozygotes of DAT1 was significantly higher in control group(${\chi}^2$=4.452, df=1, p=0.035). Conclusion : These results in our Korean samples suggest that DAT1 polymorphism might be associated with the vulnerability of panic disorder. Possible association of dopaminergic genes and panic disorder should be investigated with future studies using larger and different population.

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to test stage model in Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) patients. According to the stage model, attention deficits which is basic stage in information processing lead to memory disturbance and subsequently affect higher-order cognitive function such as memory, decision-making, abstract thinking, and judgement related to executive function. Therefore, it was hypothesized that attention affect recall(retrieval efficacy) related to executive function mostly relative to other cognitive function, in TBI patients with low executive function. Methods : Participants were referred to a TBI clinic and then was rated on K-WAIS and Executive Intelligence Test(EXIT). Participants were divided into two groups according to Executive IQ(EIQ) score, which of high function group(N=67) was more than 80(above low average) and of low function group(N=52) was under 80 (under borderline). To test the stage model, using hierarchical regression analysis, recall(retrieval efficacy) was regressed on 3 subscales(attention, verbal, visuospatial scale) after controlling for IQ according to each group. Furthermore, the mediation effect of attention between retrieval efficacy and verbal, visuospatial score was analyzed. Results : In the low function group, only attention area predicted significantly recall(retrieval efficacy), indicating that lower attention were related to lower EIQ after controlling for IQ. In the high function group, no area predicted significantly retrieval efficacy. In the low function group, verbal and visuospatial scale did not predicted significantly retrieval efficacy, indicating that there was no evidences supporting the mediation model. Conclusion : Only attention affect retrieval efficacy in TBI patients with low executive function. But, the mediation effect of attention between retrieval efficacy and verbal and visuospatial scale was not tested in the low function group. These results implied that stage model was tested partially. In treating cognitive deficit in TBI patients, it is necessary to develop cognitive rehabilitation program based on stage model. Furthermore, it is necessary to necessary to test mediation model in the future study.

Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic drug with a benign side effect profile. However, recent studies have reported that thyroid dysfunction is associated with quetiapine treatment. The authors report a patient with DSM-IV bipolar I disorder who developed subclinical hypothyroidism during quetiapine treatment. The patient showed no significant clinical symptoms, but only abnormal thyroid function test findings including antithyroglobulin antibody. The abnormal thyroid function test findings were normalized after discontinuation of quetiapine. The subclinical hypothyroidism developed during quetiapine treatment may be associated with autoimmune process.