How can guidelines help us in daily practice

There are a number of national as well as international guidelines on the treatment of major psychiatric disorders available. The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) publishes guidelines on unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, addiction, eating disorders, dementia, just to name a few of them. Whereas national guidelines can limitate themselves to the different kinds of medication that are available, a global perspective on guidelines needs to consider that there are different cultural beliefs and attitudes towards the disease, different legal and regulatory perspectives. Moreover, practice patterns change among countries and there are unique drug availabilities. Furthermore, the healthcare pay system might limitate one or the other treatment option and specific treatments might not have support from professional bodies and opinion leaders. It is noteworthy to mention that treatment guidelines should not be viewed as rigorous algorithm which should be followed in everyday practice. However, the more summaries the more information is available in the literature to guide clinicians in their everyday clinical practice.