A few authors have described the clinical picture of dysthymia in groups of elderly patients and pointed out differences from literature reports of dysthymia in younger adults. The present study, an attempt to analyze age effects on clinical characteristics of dysthymia throughout a lifetime, was performed in a sample of 106 patients, all aged > or =18 years, who were diagnosed according to DSM...

CONTEXT Insufficient evidence exists for recommendation of specific effective treatments for older primary care patients with minor depression or dysthymia. OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in primary care settings among older persons with minor depression or dysthymia. DESIGN Randomized, placebo-controlled trial (November 1995-August 1998). SETT...

BACKGROUND Psychiatric comorbidities are common in major depressive disorder (MDD). They may worsen outcome and cause economic burden. The primary objective was to examine the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in MDD. The secondary objectives were to compare the presence of comorbidities between currently active and past MDD, and between patients with and without suicidal risk. METHODS ...

BACKGROUND Our aim was to examine whether comorbid mood and anxiety disorders influence patterns of treatment or the perceived unmet need for treatment among those not receiving treatment for illegal drug use disorders. METHODS Data came from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC, 2001-2002 and 2004-2005, n = 34,653). Lifetime DSM-IV illegal drug use diso...

Since the classic descriptions, depression has been conceived as an episodic and recurrent illness. Depressive episodes with clear onset and offset and sharp contrast with one’s usual mood and behaviors are perhaps the most conspicuous feature of severe mood disorders. However, systematic studies of unselected samples have been telling a different story: a large proportion of individuals suffer...

BACKGROUND The Major Depression Inventory (MDI) is a new, brief, self-report measure for depression based on the DSM-system, which allows clinicians to assess the presence of a depressive disorder according to the DSM-IV, but also to assess the severity of the depressive symptoms. METHODS We examined the sensitivity, specificity, and psychometric qualities of the MDI in a consecutive sample o...

OBJECTIVE 342 Caucasian subjects with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were recruited from pediatric and behavioral health clinics for a genetic study. Concurrent comorbidity was assessed to characterize the clinical profile of this cohort. METHODS Subjects 6 to 18 years were diagnosed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders & Schizophrenia for School aged Children (K-SADS-P ...