Rehabilitation Science 2020; 5(3): 18-23 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/rs doi: 10.11648/j.rs.20200503.11 ISSN: 2637-5931 (Print); ISSN: 2637-594X (Online) Epilepsy and Depression, Comorbidity Problems of Treatment Tactics Nadir Aliyev 1, * , Zafar Aliyev 2 1 Department of Psychiatry and Drug Addiction, Azerbaijan State Advanced Training Institute for Doctors Named by A. Aliyev, Baku, Azerbaijan Republic 2 Departments of Psychiatry, Azerbaijan Medical State University, Baku City, Azerbaijan Republic Email address: * Corresponding author To cite this article: Nadir Aliyev, Zafar Aliyev. Epilepsy and Depression, Comorbidity Problems of Treatment Tactics. Rehabilitation Science. Vol. 5, No. 3, 2020, pp. 18-23. doi: 10.11648/j.rs.20200503.11 Received: August 14, 2020; Accepted: August 24, 2020; Published: September 21, 2020 Abstract: Objective: Despite the availability of literary data on the treatment of comorbidity of epilepsy and depression, their therapy has not been fully resolved. However, epilepsy and depression are often combined. Materials and Methods: The aim of the study was development therapy in the comorbidity of epilepsy and depression in adults. The study included 100 patients with epilepsy. The severity of depression was studied by using the Hamilton scale, ICD-10 and DSM-5 criterions. Patients were observed at the Mental Health Center of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan from January 2018 to January 2020 for 24 months. Patients took standard antiepileptic drugs (depakin-chrono 1000 mg/day, lamotrigine 150 mg/day, levitracetam 3000 mg/day) and antidepressant drug-citalopram was taken 10 mg twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Results: Depression of varying severity was detected in 70 % of the examined patients 10 cases of mild, 40 moderate and 20 case of severe depression without psychotic symptoms. Conclusion: The combination of anticonvulsants with antidepressants Citalopram 10 mg in morning and evening (per os) reduces the frequency of seizures and reduces the severity of depression. The study of comorbidity of epilepsy and depression is of great theoretical and practical importance. First, it will contribute to the early detection of depression. Second, prevent suicides. Third, it will help reduce refractory epilepsy. Finally, improve their quality of life for patients with epilepsy. Keywords: Epilepsy, Depression, Comorbidity, Treatment 1. Introduction Around 400 BC, Hippocrates observed that “melancholy usually becomes epileptics and epileptics become melancholic” [1]. Recurrent seizures are associated with a number of harmful effects. Seizure-related deaths can account for up to 40% of all deaths in patients with chronic epilepsy. The rate of sudden death, which accounts for 7-17% of deaths among patients with epilepsy, is estimated to be 27 times higher in patients with seizures than those who do not have seizures [2]. The incidence of epilepsy in the European countries and the United States is about 40-70 cases per 100,000 population, while in developing countries the incidence is much higher. It is interesting that the incidence of epilepsy in men, especially in old and senile age, is higher than that of women [3]. Some authors indicates that depression deserves special attention due to its high frequency (10-30% of patients) and the risk of suicide occurring among epileptic patients is much more frequent than the average among population [4, 5]. Further, the author believes that in addition to changes in the mood as a result of primary epileptic brain dysfunction, negative social stigmatization plays an important role in the development of depression, which leads to restrictions on education, occupation, social contacts, spending of free time. According to various authors, depressive disorder in epilepsy occurs from 22% to 58% of patients [6]. In addition, the relationship between epilepsy and depression in the literature, the treatment of combined pathology, molecular basis etc. [7, 8].