Persistence of chronic mood disorders: a 2 year follow-up

Chronic mood disorder patients who remain frequent and long-term users of psychiatric facilities constitute a major clinical concern today. A 2 year naturalistic prospective follow-up study was conducted on a cohort (n = 40) randomly extracted out of 335 such patients. Longitudinal data involving semi-structured interviews, observer-rated scales and self-report measures were available for 37 patients (93%). While three (8%) remitted completely, the cohort on the average showed no statistically significant change in the severity of depression, social adjustment or global functions during the 2 years under observation. Two baseline features that characterized ameliorated patients were the absence of panic disorder and lower level of education.