MANIFESTATIONS OF DEPRESSION IN PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

The symptoms of 36 people with varying degrees of intellectual disabil ity (ID) who had had an ICD-10 depressive syndrome in the preceding ye ar were compared with 46 non-depressed people with comparable degrees of ID. Throughout the spectrum of ID, symptoms of depressed affect and sleep disturbance were significantly different between the groups. Wh ile symptoms in people with mild ID were reflected in the standard dia gnostic criteria, this was not the case in people with moderate and se vere ID. With increasing disability there was a move towards 'behaviou ral depressive equivalents' such as aggression, screaming and self-inj urious behaviour. Diagnostic criteria for depression among people with severe ID, should place more emphasis on behavioural 'depressive equi valents'.