Posted by Noa on November 7, 1999, at 19:25:07
In reply to Re: atypical depression and tricyclics , posted by Scott L. Schofield on November 7, 1999, at 17:26:35
My very uneducated guess is that the "typical" presentation of depression ocurrs more frequently in men than in women, and that early studies of depression used male subjects. So the model of what is "typical" depression was based on the acute major depression occuring in the "typical" male subject. When more and more women started showing up for treatment, presenting with "atypcial" features, the symptoms were compared (contrasted) with what was the textbook version of depression (insomnia, lack of appetite, no mood responsivity to social stimulation, etc.) and called them "atypical". I would guess that there are more "atypicals" than textbook major depression.
Some researchers are grouping the unipolar depressions with bipolar illness--because the "atypical" version is akin to the depressive states of those with bipolar. some researchers are also looking at the so-called mood based personality disorders as cyclical mood disorders, with hypomania presenting more often as irritability, and depression being of the "atypical" type. I think this is a positive move, because the name "personality disorder" sounds like a character fault, which has moral overtones, in the person who is suffering.
poster:Noa
thread:4802
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991108/msgs/14761.html