An Angry Man? Look For A Depressive Syndrome
06 Sep 2005
It has been proposed that aggression and especially anger attacks play an
important role in the symptomatology of depression.
Furthermore, it has been hypothesized that these symptoms are more prevalent in
males than in females.
It has been conducted a study in 217 depressed patients (104 females, 113 males)
without psychiatric comorbidity using questionnaires. Study subjects had
previously been treated as inpatients and were contacted after discharge from
hospital by mail or phone. Overall response rate was 69.6%.
Patients were asked to retrospectively rate their state during their last depression.
Males obtained higher scores on irritability (p = 0.010) and showed a tendency
to overreact (p = 0.018) during their last depressive episode. They had suffered
significantly more often from anger attacks than female patients (4.3 ± 7.52
versus 1.2 ± 2.97 anger attacks per month; p = 0.001).
Further multivariate analyses displayed that men had significantly lower impulse
control and more frequently showed symptomatic substance intake and hyperactive
behavior during their depression, whereas women suffered more often from
hypersomnia and heaviness in limbs (p < 0.0001).
The findings are indicative of gender differences in symptoms related to lowered
impulse control in depressed patients. Further study is required to replicate
and extend these results and to assess the significance of aggression as a
gender-specific diagnostic criterion for depression.
Reference URL
http://www.karger.com
SOURCE: http://www.alphagalileo.org
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
Back to News