Although the existence of chronic depression has been recognized for a
long time, their definition was too inaccurate to enable reliable stu
dies concerning their treatment. Among the numerous diagnostic classes
that patients with chronic depression were assigned to, neurotic depr
ession was the most common one, and was often considered to be unrespo
nsive to antidepressant medication. Since DSM-III introduced 'Dysthymi
c Disorder', a new research was developed on the efficacy of tricyclic
antidepressants, MAOIs or new antidepressants, whose results reversed
previous opinion on its unresponsiveness. However the interpretation
of those studies are hampered by methodological problems, yet unresolv
ed, pertaining to the difficulty to differentiate dysthymia and major
depression, to the frequency of 'double-depression', the usual mildnes
s of symptoms in dysthymia, and the need of long-term trials. (C) 1997
Elsevier Science B.V.