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Depression: distress or disease? Some epidemiological considerations
The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science
|December 1, 1985
Summary
Working-class women show high depression rates. Those seeking psychiatric care and those identified in surveys have similar core symptoms, but differ in presentation, impacting general practitioner management.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Public Health
- General Practice
Background:
- Population surveys indicate a high prevalence of depression among working-class women.
- Understanding the characteristics of these women is crucial for effective healthcare delivery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the depressive symptom profiles and characteristics of working-class women identified in population surveys versus those seeking psychiatric care.
- To explore differences that might influence management by general practitioners.
Main Methods:
- Utilized clinical-type interviews for population surveys.
- Compared core depressive symptoms and patient characteristics between two groups: those identified as cases in surveys and those consulting psychiatrists.
Main Results:
- No significant difference was found in the number of core depressive symptoms between women consulting psychiatrists and those identified as cases in population surveys.
- Differences emerged in specific patient characteristics, which may pose challenges for general practitioners.
Conclusions:
- There is substantial overlap in the severity of depressive disorders between patients seen by psychiatrists and those identified in population surveys.
- Observed differences may stem more from symptom expression and patient characteristics than from the fundamental severity of the depression itself.