CONTEXT Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective biological treatment for major depression. However, there is little agreement about clinically useful predictors of acute ECT outcomes. OBJECTIVE To assess whether age, sex, burden of comorbid physical illness, age at onset, history of recurrence, episode duration, chronic depression or comorbid dysthymia, melancholic features, epi...

People with mood disorders often have disruptions in their circadian rhythms. Recent molecular genetics has linked circadian clock genes to mood disorders. Our objective was to study two core circadian clock genes, CRY1 and CRY2 as well as TTC1 that interacts with CRY2, in relation to depressive and anxiety disorders. Of these three genes, 48 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) whose selecti...

The aim of this study was to determine whether women with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are more likely than those with dysthymia to manifest contradictory Hostile-Helpless (HH) states of mind. A reliable rater blind to diagnosis evaluated features of such mental representations in transcripts of Adult Attachment Interviews from 12 women with BPD and 11 women with dysthymia of similar s...

OBJECTIVE Dysthymia constitutes a chronic, mild affective disorder characterized by heterogeneous treatment effects. Several predictors of clinical response and attendance have been postulated, although research on the role of the psychological variables involved in this mental disorder is still scarce. METHOD Fifty-four adult patients, who met criteria for dysthymia completed an ongoing natu...

BACKGROUND Depression is one of the most frequently reported psychological problems following TBI, however prevalence estimates vary widely. Methodological and sampling differences may explain some of this variability, but it is not known to what extent. METHODS Data from 99 studies examining the prevalence of clinically diagnosed depression (MDD/dysthymia) and self-reports of depression (cli...

The treatment of dysthymia in itself poses a problem in the everyday psychiatric practice and it can be further hindered when accompanied by pronounced personality traits (which are indicative of disorder). Due to its pathology and duration dysthymia interferes with the patient's quality of life and the ability to function in some segments of everyday life. These interferences enticed our patie...

The classification of mood disorders is one of the most highly debated topics in modern psychiatry. The introduction of DSM-III (and its followers) has set a new standard in this controversy but little empirical evidence is available as to how the various classical diagnostic categories of mood disorders by Kraepelin, Schneider, Leonhard, Hamilton, Kielholz, Winokur and others compare with this...