Depressive symptomatology and short-term stability at a Nigerian psychiatric care facility

The aims of the study were to examine: the frequency of the subtypes and symptoms of depression, the stability of symptoms in 3 months and to compare the data with previous studies. Ninety-six consecutive patients (31 males, 65 females) fulfilling ICD-10 criteria were assessed. Compared with the WHO study, the core symptoms of depression were similar; pathological guilt and suicidal behaviour were less prevalent, and psychoticism was more prevalent. Overall, 61.5% had severe depression, 64.6% had somatic syndrome, and subjects were in remission at follow-up. The results were similar to those of a report from the hospital 26 years earlier. The purported rarity of guilt, self-depreciation, suicide and psychotic symptoms should not imply rarity of severe depression among Africans; for these are not its commonest symptoms.