Impaired Decision Making and Risk for Relapse of Depression

Dimensions of decision making might predict risk for relapse of major depression after discontinuation of effective antidepressants. To learn more, researchers in Europe examined a computer-based decision task in 123 patients with stable remission from major depression who decided to discontinue their antidepressants (independently of this study) and in 66 healthy controls matched by age, sex, and education. The study population was broken into main and replication groups.

The authors did not define “stable remission.” The task involved the decision to exert physical effort for large or small rewards. Patients were followed for 6 months for evidence of relapse. Remitted patients were less likely than controls to choose a high-effort option, …