Abstract
We have established a relationship between recurrent brief depression (RBD) and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in a cohort of 42 outpatients who presented themselves at a clinic for seasonal affective disorder at the Psychiatry Department of the University of Bonn, Germany. Our preliminary data indicate that 31% of the patients who were diagnosed as suffering from either SAD or its subsyndromal form (S-SAD) can also be categorized as RBD (RBD-seasonal) for a 1-year observation period. During the time span of 1 year, RBD-seasonal patients had a mean number of 20±9 episodes, which were accentuated in fall/winter, outnumbering the ones in spring/ summer significantly (P<0.001). The mean duration of each episode was 4.6±2.6 days in the RBD-seasonal group. RBD-seasonal patients experienced seasonal changes as more of a problem and reported a lower percentage of first-degree relatives with a history of depression than the non-RBD-seasonal group.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R). (3rd. edn. revised) Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association
Angst J, Dobler-Mikola A (1985) The Zürich Study: A prospective epidemiological study of depressive, neurotic and psychosomatic syndromes. IV. Recurrent and nonrecurrent brief depression. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 234:408–416
Angst J, Merinkangas K, Scheidegger P (1990b) Recurrent brief depression: A new subtype of affective disorder. J Affect Disord 19:87–98
Buchsbaum MS, Davis GC, Goodwin FK, Murphy DL, Post RM (1980) Psychophysical pain judgements and somatosensory evoked potentials in patients with affective illness and normal adults. Adv Biol Psychiatry 4:63–72
Endicott J, Spitzer RL (1978) A diagnostic interview: the schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 35:837–844
Kasper S (1991) Iahreszeit und Befindlichkeit in der Allgemeinbevölkerung. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Kasper S, Rogers SLB, Yancey A, Schulz PM, Skwerer RG Rosenthal NE (1989a) Phototherapy in individuals with and without subsyndromal seasonal affective disorder: Arch Gen Psychiatry 46:837–844
Kasper S, Ruhrmann S, Haase T, Möller H-J (1992) Recurrent brief depression and its relationship to seasonal affective disorder. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 242:20–26
Kasper S, Wehr TA, Bartko JJ, Gaist PA, Rosenthal NE (1989c) Epidemiological findings of seasonal changes in mood and behavior. Arch Gen Psychiatry 46:823–833
Kasper S, Kamo T (1990) Seasonality in major depressed inpatients. J Affect Disord 19:243–248
Lienert GA (1986) Verteilungsfreie Methoden in der Biostatistik. Bd. 1, 3.Aufl. Hain, Meisenheim am Glan
Montgomery SA (1991) Recurrent brief depression. In: Feighner JP, Boyer WF: Perspectives in psychiatry, Vol. 2. Diagnosis of depression, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester New York Brisbane Toronto Singapore, pp 119–134
Montgomery SA, Montgomery D, Baldwin D, Green M (1989) Intermittent 3-day depressions and suicidal behaviour. Neuropsychobiology 22:128–134
Montgomery SA, Montgomery D, Baldwin D, Green M (1990) The duration, nature and recurrence rate of brief depressions. Neuro-psychopharmacol. Biol Psychiatry 14:729–735
Parker G (1987) Are the lifetime prevalence estimates in the ECA study accurate. Psychol Med 17:275–282
Rosenthal NE, Sack DA, Gillin JC, Lewy AJ, Goodwin FK, Davenport Y, Mueller PS, Wehr TA (1984) Seasonal affectiv disorder, a description of the syndrome and preliminary findings with light therapy. Arch Gen Psychiatry 41:72–80
Rosenthal NE, Genhardt M, Sack DA, Skwerer RG, Wehr TA (1987) Seasonal affective disorder: relevance for treatment and research of bulimia. In: JI Hudson, Poe HG (eds) Psychobiology of Bulimia. APA, Washington DC, pp 203–228
Schrader G, Davis A, Stefanovic S, Christie P (1990) The recollection of affect. Psychol Med 20:105–109
Spitzer RL Endicott J, Robins E (1978) Research diagnostic criteria: Rationale and reliability. Arch Gen Psychiatry 35:773–785
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kasper, S., Ruhrmann, S., Haase, T. et al. Evidence for a seasonal form of recurrent brief depression (RBD-seasonal). Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Nuerosci 244, 205–210 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02190399
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02190399