Age-related pathomorphosis of non-psychotic depressive disorders

A study of 333 patients, aged from 18 to 76 years, revealed the significant clinical pleomorphism of depression symptoms in different age-periods. Three types of age-related distribution of symptoms were singled out: 1. common type, characteristic of core symptoms of depression which was associated with the middle age; 2. bimodal type peculiar to nonspecific presentations of depression with peaks in 26-35 years and 46-55 years; 3. this type was not age-related. The sequence of their appearance in the clinical picture of depression is described: apathic depression changes into melancholic depression then into hysterical and asthenic and later into hypochondriac depression.