Emigration and remigration are one of the greatest modern problems and considered as a factor provoking manifestation and exacerbation of mental disorders as well as pathocharacterological personality changes. In emigrants and re-emigrants peculiarities of course of depressive disorders with different genesis are not investigated, that impedes a development of adequate therapeutic methods.

To study clinical-psychopathological peculiarities of depressive disorders in emigrants and re-emigrants patients with psychogenic (F43.21, F43.22) (69 non-emigrants, 68 emigrants, 67 re-emigrants), endogenous (F31.3, F31.4, F32.1, F32.2, F33.1, F33.2) (65, 66 and 63 patients, respectively) and organic depressive disorders (F06.3) (64, 62 and 61 patients, respectively) were examined.

A clinical-psychopathological investigation, Standardized Personality Examination Method, Lusher's Method of Color Choices, HDRS, HARS, MADRS, and SCL-90-R.

The highest level of severity of depressive disorders in re-emigrants and the lowest level in non-emigrants were registered. Re-emigrants had predominantly depressive, asthenic-depressive and apathic-depressive forms, whereas emigrants had mainly anxious-depressive ones. According to SCL-90-R data, emigrants had higher indexes of somatization, obsessive-compulsive disorders, anxiety, whereas re-emigrants had higher indexes of depression and interpersonal sensitivity as well as an index of distress expression. In patients examined it was determined a predomination of dysthymic personality traits manifested in the frameworks of the leading depressive of anxious-depressive syndromes. An influence of emigration and remigration factors was the greatest in psychogenic depressions and the lowest in organic depressive disorders.

The abovementioned regularities should be taken into account in pharmacotherapy and a social-psychological support for such patients.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.