ADVERSE SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND DEPRESSION IN PEOPLE OF PAKISTANI ORIGIN IN THE UK

Background The social origins of depression in people of Pakistani ori gin in the UK are not fully understood; they may not be the same as fo r the indigenous White population. Method Patients attending a GP's su rgery were screened with the Personal Health Questionnaire to detect d epressive illness, which was confirmed using the Psychiatric Assessmen t Schedule; the estimated prevalence of major depression was 42%. Fort y-four people with depression and 33 non-depressed comparison subjects were successfully interviewed using the Life Event and Difficulty Sch edule, either in Urdu or English. Results Seventy-five percent of the sample were Pakistani born; 57% of cases and 33% of non-cases spoke En glish with difficulty. Seventy-five per cent of the cases and 36% of t he non-cases had experienced an independent severe event and/or a majo r difficulty (P = 0.0015). Difficulties associated with depression wer e most commonly in the marital, health and housing categories; overt r acial harassment and discrimination were rare. Conclusions This is a p reliminary study because of the small sample of GP attenders. The soma tic presentation of depression in this population is clear Acceptable forms of social support and help with marital, housing and employment problems will be needed to help relieve the depression in this populat ion.