Mood disorders: Clinical practice guidelines and associated resources

Clinical practice guideline for the treatment of mood disorders (2020) [PDF; 9 MB] Guidance on the clinical management of depressive and bipolar disorders, specifically focusing on diagnosis and treatment strategies. The 2020 guideline builds on the previous 2015 Clinical Practice Guideline (linked here for reference purposes) and maintains its joint focus on both depressive and bipolar disorders.

Key practice points

The 2020 guideline builds on the previous guidelines (issued in 2015) and provides up-to-date recommendations and guidance within an evidence-based framework, supplemented by expert clinical consensus. 

The 2020 guideline: 

• discusses the diagnosis and management of both depressive and bipolar disorders, recognising that these have increasingly been conceptualised as part of a spectrum
• illustrates step-by-step the clinical management of mood disorders
• provides guidance on the management of psychiatric comorbidities, including comorbid anxiety and comorbid substance use
• considers the clinical management of mood disorders with complex presentations and in special populations. 

Associated resources 

Note: new resources supporting the 2020 guideline will be available soon.

Community resources

• Information for the public on bipolar disorders
• Information for the public on depression

RANZCP webinars

The following webinars provide information about the guideline and are accredited for CPD under section 4.6. [RANZCP member sign-in required].

• Black and blue: bipolar II 
• Electroconvulsive therapy
• Side-effects of antipsychotics