evolutionary significance of emotions !!
sisial at email.msn.com
Sun Mar 5 16:07:13 EST 2000
"Nick Medford" <nick at hermit0.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:G6w+QBA+oVw4EwKO at hermit0.demon.co.uk...
> Yup, just checked my own copy of the EB, that's exactly what it says. But
> has to be wrong. I suspect a zero fell off the end of the figure for
> also suspect these figures refer to a wider spectrum of disorders than
> you or I might refer to as major depression.
Or worse, dropped a two off the front. I found the same figure at
Brittanica.com. I just sent them an e-mail notifying them of the error.
I'll have to be more cautious when using EB in the future.
I finally found a copy of the World Health Report, 1999. It lists the
Unipolar Major Depression: 2.8% (males), 5.8% (females); 4.2% (total)
Bipolar Affective Disorder: 1.1% (males), 1.2% (females); 1.2% (total)
> >Depression in
> >my mind refers to general depression which includes major (unipolar and
> >bipolar) and minor (dysthymic and cyclothymic) affective disorders. My
> >estimates were specifically for major depression. (Actually, I think I
> >have used severe depression rather than major depression, but the meaning
> >the same).
> Personally I wouldn't include
> chronic dysthymia as a major affective disorder.
I'm not sure I understand. I list dysthymia as a minor affective disorder.
> Bipolar disorder actually shows no sex bias. The lifetime prevalence is
> 0.012%, males = females.
This I know for certain. However, "educational" materials distributed by
several pharmaceuticals are claiming a 2:1 ratio for bipolar. This
immediately triggered my distrust of the 2:1 ratio in the absence of actual
data. The EB error gave support to this distrust. (OK, maybe my doctor
should add paranoid to his list of adjectives).
> Yes, the 2:1 ratio is roughly correct for both major and minor, although
> most recent estimate I saw (for minor) was 25% for women, 15% for men.
That was laziness on my part. The APA listed 25% for women and a 2:1 ratio
between women and men. I didn't bother to actually look further for info on
men, but I find 15% as well. The WHO stats support the estimates you gave
for major, so I have to concede here.
> >haven't been able to locate any risk studies specifically oriented
> >major depression.
> I will have a look on Medline next week.
I can do that. I'm stuck with whatever I can find for free either locally or
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