[The presentation of depression in German daily newspapers]

According to results of the latest research, the state of knowledge of the German population regarding depressive disorders has improved during the last years. The question arises to what extent the print media have contributed to this development.

All editions of three German dailies--Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) and Bild Zeitung (BZ)--published in the first months of each quarter in 1990 and 2000 were analysed. All articles that were identified using the search key *depress* were included. A full text search was carried out, except for the editions of SZ and FAZ from the year 2000 which are available on CD-ROM. Using a coding system specifically designed for this study, a quantitative content analysis was carried out taking into consideration both formal and contents-related aspects.

None of the three newspapers investigated helps to promote better understanding of depressive disorders. A comparison between 1990 and 2000 shows that there has been no development towards a more adequate representation of depression in any of the dailies examined. When aspects of the illness are mentioned it is mostly in the form of speculations over etiological factors. Rarely published articles that are rather confusing for lay people mostly report details taken out of their context. The term "depression" is often used metaphorically. Among the few descriptions of people with depression, negative aspects prevail.

The image of depression as a serious mental illness can hardly be developed by reading the newspapers investigated. The improvement in lay people's state of knowledge cannot be attributed to a more adequate representation of depression in the daily newspapers examined.