Depression; study of 100 cases in a general hospital

Abstract

Depression was encountered in 52% of 192 patients during routine psychiatric consultations by residents in a general hospital. The records of the first 100 depressed patients seen were reviewed in details. Half were found to have depressions precipitated by recent events or the vicissitudes of aging, while the other half, predominantly women, had histories of life-long depressive tendencies. Forty-eight percent had concomitant diagnosed organic disease. Seventeen of the 100 had attempted suicide. The manifestations of depression were varied and often misleading, eg, unexplained pain or fatigue. The authors, on the basis of their experience with such patients in the general-hospital setting, propose that the physician who can recognize depression and who appreciates the role which unacceptable anger, guilt, and injured self-esteem play in its etiology can successfully treat many depressed patients by making use of the doctor-patient relationship.