The Classification of the Depressions

It is 13 years since Kendell (1976) reviewed the ‘contemporary confusion’ surrounding the classification of depression. Reconsideration of this issue is now timely, especially in light of the development of the new classifications of affective disorder included in DSM–III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980), the revised version, DSM–III–R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987), and the forthcoming ICD–10 (World Health Organization, 1988). Recent activities in neurobiological, genetic and social research also bear importantly on our concepts of the aetiology of depression.