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The Classification of Depressions: A Review of Contemporary Confusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

R. E. Kendell
R. E. Kendell*
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh EH10 5HF
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Extract

During the last fifty years, and particularly the last twenty, innumerable different classifications of depressive illness have been proposed, and several disputes are smouldering away between the protagonists of rival schools. Much of this is too well known to need, or bear, repetition. But the conflicting claims and proposals are now so numerous, and methodological problems loom so large, that those who are not intimately involved have increasing difficulty in understanding what is going on; while those who are involved are mostly too intent on developing and promoting their own particular schema to review the overall situation in any broader context. This article is an attempt to describe the main elements in a confusing situation, to outline the important problems, and to indicate the areas of agreement that are beginning to emerge, without advocating any particular solution.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 129 , Issue 1 , July 1976 , pp. 15 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1976 

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