there is general consensus to consider remission after acute antidepressant treatment as the gold standard and main objective of modern antidepressant therapy , but , before the dream becomes reality for the great majority of our depressed patients , innovative strategies and novel etiology - based therapeutic approaches will have to be explored in rigorous controlled investigations combining creative clinical expertise and innovative biomarker research .
the burden of depressive illness constitutes a major public health issue . despite real progress and better tolerance of new antidepressant medications , 
 a significant number of depressed patients still suffer from rather severe residual depressive symptoms.this relative lack of efficacy clearly interferes with their psychosocial functioning and their quality of life . 
 in addition , it is now well - recognized that the failure to reach full clinical remission after antidepressant treatment involves a high risk of relapse or recurrence in patients suffering from major depression . 
 this paper reviews the concept of remission across different definitions , and the potential risk factors associated with the failure to reach clinical remission . 
 the identification of specific residual symptoms in nonremitted patients is also of great importance , in order to assess the predictive value of those symptoms in relation to relapse and recurrence . 
 some methodological issues are also discussed , as well as various therapeutic strategies aimed at relieving residual depressive symptoms . 
 clinical remission remains a qold standard and a primary objective of modem antidepressant therapy .