First Published in 2002. In common usage, the term "depression" can refer to the state of being sad or blue, but it also signifies a serious clinical syndrome that affects approximately 10 percent of people at some point in their lives. This clinical syndrome may occur as a primary illness or as a complication of ("secondary to") another mental disorder such as schizophrenia, a medical condition such as hypothyroidism, or the effects of a drug. Based on studies of clinical courses and outcomes, treatment responses, and familial patterns of depression, primary depressive illness is dichotomized into unipolar (depressions only) and bipolar. In bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness, depressions are interspersed with manias- periods of elevated mood, high energy, and lack of sleep. Bipolar disorder is described in a separate volume.
Table of Contents:
EPIDEMIOLOGY Blazer, D.G., Kessler, R.C., McGonagle, K.A., and Swartz, M.S. 'The Prevalence and Distribution of Major Depression in a National Community Sample: The National Comorbidity Survey.' American Journal of Psychiatry 151 (1994). Burke, K.C., Burke, J.D. Jr., Rae, D.S. and Regier, D.A. 'Comparing Age at Onset of Major Depression and Other Psychiatric Disorders by Birth Cohorts in Five US Community Populations.' Archives of General Psychiatry 48 (1991) Judd, L.L., Paulus, M.P., Wells, K.B. and Rapoport, M.H. 'Socioeconomic Burden of Subsyndromal Depressive Symptoms and Major Depression in a Sample of the General Population.' American Journal of Psychiatry 153 (1996). Murphy, J.M., Laird, N.M., Monson, R.R., Sobol, A.M., and Leighton, A.H. 'A 40-Year Perspective on the Prevalence of Depression.' Archives of General Psychiatry 57 (2000). NATURAL HISTORY Kessler, R.C. 'The Effects of Stressful Life Events on Depression.' Annual Review of Psychology 48 (1997). DEPRESSION AND MEDICAL DISORDERS Krishnan, K.R., Hays, J.C., and Blazer, D.G., 'MRI Defined Vascular Depression.' American Journal of Psychiatry 154 (1997). Musselman, D.L., Evans, D.L., and Nemeroff, C.B. 'The Relationship of Depression to Cardiovascular Disease: Epidemiology, Biology, and Treatment.' Archives of General Psychiatry 55 (1998). GENES AND ENVIRONMENT Kendler, K.S., Heath, A.C., Martin, N.G., and Eaves, L.J. 'Symptoms of Anxiety and Symptoms of Depression. Same Genes, Different Environments?' Archives of General Psychiatry 44 (1987). Malhi, G.S., Moore, J., and McGuffin, P. 'The Genetics of Major Depressive Disorder.' Current Psychiatry Reports (2000). Sullivan, P.F., Neale, M.C., and Kendler, K.S. 'Genetic Epidemiology of Major Depression: Review and Meta-Analysis.' American Journal of Psychiatry 157 (2000). Weiss, E.L., Longhurst, J.G., and Mazure, C. 'Childhood Sexual Abuse as a Risk Factor for Depression in Women: Psychosocial and Neurobiological Correlates.' American Journal of Psychiatry 156 (1999). EVOLUTION Nesse, R.M. 'Is Depression an Adaptation?' Archives of General Psychiatry 57 (2000). NEUROBIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR Drevets, W.C., Price, J.L., Simpson, J.R., Todd, R.D., Reich, T., Vannier, M., and Raichle, M.E., 'Subgenual Prefrontal Cortex Abnormalities in Mood Disorders.' Nature 386 (1997). Duman, R.S., Heniger, G.R., and Nestler, E.J. 'A Molecular and Cellular Theory of Depression.' Archives of General Psychiatry 54 (1997). Heim, C. and Nemeroff, C.B. 'The Impact of Early Adverse Experiences on Brain Systems Involved in the Pathophysiology of Anxiety and Effective Disorders.' Biological Psychiatry 46 (1999). Holsboer, F. 'The Corticosteroid Receptor Hypothesis of Depression.' Neuropsychopharmacology 23 (2000). Mayberg, H.S.,
About the Author :
Steven E. Hyman National Institute of Mental Health
