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The Age of Onset of Unipolar Depression

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Age of Onset of Mental Disorders

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a very common and frequently recurrent mental illness that might occur at any time during the lifespan. The greatest risk period for the onset extends from mid- to late adolescence to early 40s across all countries; however, a first onset in later life is also not uncommon. There is a considerable variability in how “early-onset” and “late-onset” MDD have been defined in the literature with cut-off points distinguishing “early-onset” and “late-onset” ranges from onset in childhood or adolescence to the age of 60. Age of onset (AOO) of MDD is associated with specific symptomatology and clinical outcomes in depressed individuals, and it could be also related to prodromal states of dementia, vascular depression and bipolar disorder. Although there are no AOO-specific treatment guidelines, the treatment recommendations for pre-adult and late-life MDD should be considered with cognizance of the early- and late-onset MDD groups.

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  1. Centre for Affective Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College of London, London, UK

    Nefize Yalin & Allan H. Young

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  1. Nefize Yalin
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  2. Allan H. Young
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Correspondence to Allan H. Young .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Evaluation, IRCCS St John of God Clinical Research Center, Brescia, Italy

    Giovanni de Girolamo

  2. Orygen The National Centre of Excellence, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Patrick D. McGorry

  3. Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programmes, Geneva, Switzerland

    Norman Sartorius

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Yalin, N., Young, A.H. (2019). The Age of Onset of Unipolar Depression. In: de Girolamo, G., McGorry, P., Sartorius, N. (eds) Age of Onset of Mental Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72619-9_6

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