[Emotional disorders. Stable mental health and chronic illnesses over a 10-year course in the general population]

In a comparison of extreme groups 124 german inhabitants of the city of Mannheim were investigated. They descended from a representative sample with 600 persons out of 3 years of birth (1935, 1945, 1955) in the general population (psychotic disorders were excluded). They were within a period of 10 years either in stable mental health or in chronic illness. The comparison between this two groups concerned demographic variables, development during childhood, personality, stressful life events, social network and clinical data. The ascertained prevalence is 12.7% (from n = 600) for stable mental health and 3.5% for chronic illness. The group with the highest risk of chronic diseases is those of women and men with bad achievement and small social competence.