[Diagnostic interpretation of depressive symptoms from a psychodynamic point of view]

The principal aim of this study is: (i) to assess the rate of depressive disorders in a sample of patient in a psychotherapy service of the Department of Psychiatric Sciences and Psychological Medicine at the Sapienza University, Roma; (ii) to focus the psychopathological features of depressive patient through the SCL-90R scale; (iii) to evaluate the correlation between SCL-90R score and categorical diagnosis.

The sample of this study includes 178 patients, who came to our service for a psychotherapy. The anamnestic and clinical information were collected for each patient. Each patient is submitted to the multidimensional scale SCL-90R in the curse of the first interview. A descriptive analysis of all the data collected was made and the principal links between SCL-90 R score and categorical diagnosis were detected.

About 46% of the patients were depressive disorders following the DSM-IVTR diagnostic criteria. About 70% of depressive patients have psychoticism pathological scores, 60% have paranoic pathological scores, 70% anxiety pathological scores and 60% interpersonal sensibility pathological scores. The depressive dimension was pathological in about 77% of anxious patient and in 87% of patient with personality disorders.

The DSM.IVTR categorical psychiatric diagnosis might underestimate important psychopathological dimensions which are underline through a dimensional scale as the SCL-90R and through a psychodynamic diagnostic instrument.