Subthreshold psychic disorders

Subthreshold psychic disorders are mild, masked, atypical, or intense but b rief psychopathological syndromes below the threshold of standardized diagn oses. They indicate beginning, intermittent, or residual states of well-kno wn psychic disorders or ("comorbid") syndromes associated to other psychic or somatic disorders or possibly partially morbid states by themselves. At least the subthreshold depressions and anxiety disorders are more than twic e as frequent as specified diagnosable psychic disorders and have serious c onsequences with regard to both individual suffering and cost. Primarily th ey are a problem for primary medical care. It is mainly up to the general p ractitioner to recognise beginning or residual psychic disorders underlying disturbed well-being or uneasiness in order to treat them preventively or curatively or to cotreat such comorbid states in somatic diseases. Open que stions of research and possible consequences for health policy are discusse d.