MAJOR DEPRESSION, DYSTHYMIA AND DEPRESSIVE PERSONALITY-DISORDER

The separation of persistent depression into meaningful and useful sub categories, including major depression, dysthymia, recurrent brief dep ression, and depressive personality disorder, is the subject of much d ebate. Depressions can be grouped on the basis of their type and sever ity of symptoms, aetiology, clinical course, or their association with other psychiatric illnesses. Several investigators have conducted epi demiologic and family studies to evaluate the prevalence of depressive disorders, their diagnostic stability over time, and the amount of ov erlap among the disorders. Although progress has been made toward a be tter understanding of the different disorders, insufficient evidence e xists to support the hypothesis that these disorders are separate and distinct from one another. However, preliminary data suggest that depr essive personality disorder is separate from the other disorders. Addi tionally, several questions have been raised, particularly the extent to which differentiation between the depressive disorders, specificall y major depression and dysthymia, has an impact on treatment decisions .