Primary and secondary affective disorder. 1. Past social history and current episodes in 92 depressed inpatients

Abstract

Patients with a clinically significant depressive syndrome are divided into those with another preexisting psychiatric illness (secondary affective disorder) and those whose depression antedates any other diagnosable psychiatric illness (primary affective disorder). Ninety-two randomly selected patients with primary and secondary affective disorder were followed throughout their hospitalization. The current paper reports differences between the two groups in the following areas: past social history; recent psychiatric history including suicidal behavior, type of onset of symptoms and reason for admission; drinking patterns; and certain areas of current symptomatology. Patients with secondary affective disorders have been shown to have a greater disturbance in practically every area.