[Age distribution of depressive episodes in a community sample]

The age of onset of a first episode of unipolar depression was investigated in a community sample. The question we wanted to answer was whether the age at which people develop their first episode of unipolar depression is randomly distributed over the adult age span. Our results show that between the age of 15 years of age and 30 years of age most unipolar depressions have their first onset. Beyond the age of 40 only a few episodes start. A life table analysis demonstrates that across the life span most depressive failures appear early in adult life. These findings are discussed in the framework of the few earlier studies about the onset and course of depressive psychosis.