Recent advances towards the treatment of depressive disorders

Depressive disorders affect more than 300 million people all over the world and 16% of US population. Depression is also the leading cause of disability worldwide and a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease. The first antidepressant was approved in the 1950s. In 2013, antidepressants became the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. However, the diagnosis and treatment of depression is changeling since depression is a rather heterogeneous disorder with various co-occurring symptoms and divergent responses to treatment. In this theme issue, we brought together 12 papers written by the leading scientists from all over the world. The special issue was divided into 4 sections. The first set of papers explored topics in the precision medicine of depression. The next section was about the application of pharmacometabolomics on the discovery and development of new antidepressants. In the third section, we had a series of papers focusing on the status of current and future antidepressants. The final section described the alternative therapy for depression. This theme issue added our understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of depressive disorders.