Outcome of mood disorders before psychopharmacology: A systematic review

Objectives: This paper systematically reviews all outcome studies of patients with mood disorders treated prior to the widespread use of antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and major tranquillizers. The aim is to estimate recovery and sustained recovery rates and to provide some evidence about the efficacy of modern drug treatments in changing the long-term outcome of mood disorders. Methods: MEDLINE and PSYCHINFO searches for studies on mood disorders published prior to 1970 were performed. Most studies were obtained by hand searching and extensive cross referencing. Information was independently extracted by the two authors. Results: A total of 29 relevant articles were obtained. The studies reviewed over 14,000 patients in total. Patients were mainly inpatients with a predominance of females. The majority of patients suffered from depression. The cohorts were followed up for 1-30 years. The median rate of recovery was 69% (range 17-91%). The time to recovery was generally several months. The median rate of recovering and remaining well was 51% (range 21-67%). Conclusions: The median rate of recovery is less than modern cohorts and the time to recovery longer. However, the rate of recovering and remaining well appears high compared to modern cohorts, although this result may reflect methodological issues. This review provides no support to the belief that pharmacological treatments have resulted in an improvement in the long-term outcome of patients with mood disorders.