Apart from Alzheimer's dementia, depressive disorders are emerging to account for the next greatest share of disability among older adults. Depressive illnesses complicate the recovery of many important medical illnesses and are associated with suicide death in the elderly at rates exceeding those seen in young adults. This issue of Psychiatric Clinics provides information for general adult psychiatrists, internal medicine geriatricians, and primary care physicians and care extenders to enable them to meet the most basic needs of depressed older adults. Topics in this issue address the...