Clinical and psychopatological features of endogenous depressions in young women

Abstract

To study the features of psychopatological structure of endogenous depression in young women and to identify correlations between various clinical types of depression and their nosological affilation. The results of clinical/psychopathological examination of 107 female patients, aged 16 to 25 years, with endogenous depression with one of the following ICD-10 diagnosis: (F34.0; F31.3-F31.5; F21.3-F.21.4+F31.3-F31.5; F60.X+F31.3-F31.5) were analyzed. Several types of endogenous depression were identified: 1) hysterical depression with hysterical-conversions, and also the phenomena of delusional fantasies; 2) dysmorphic depression with predominance of over-valued ideas of physical disability, self-inferiority and eating disorder; 3) depersonalization depression with depersonalization-derealization symptoms; 4) psychopath-like depression with exaggerated behavior, opposition and impulsivity; 5) existential depression with a feeling of losing the life meaning and often pessimistic worldview; 6) psychasthenic depression with the low self-esteem and exaggerated introspection combined with obsessive-phobic disorder; 7) anxious-melancholic depression with anxiety, melancholy and ideas of self-accusation and self-inferiority; 8) depression with symptoms of adolescent asthenic insolvency with difficulties of understanding information, increasing intellectual exhaustion. We revealed differences in motives for committing non-suicidal self-harm behavior and suicidal behavior in typological variants of depressions. Hysteroform and psychopathic depressions prevail in personality disorders, while psychosthenic-like, anxious-melancholic and existential depressions are more frequent in affective disorders. Depersonalization depressions are more common in schizotypal disorder. When comparing the types of depressions in boys as reported in previous research with those in girls, the prevalence of hysteroform and anxious-melancholic variants in girls is revealed.