A clinically relevant guide to the differential diagnosis of depression.

Reviewing the current literature on affective disorders reveals controversy and confusion at the most fundamental levels of terminology and description. A valid, etiologically and pathophysiologically grounded nosology has not as yet emerged. To the practicing clinician, the therapeutic and prognostic significance of the various diagnostic categories is of greatest interest. In this paper, those diagnostic categories with the most clearly demonstrated and empirically supported therapeutic and prognostic significance are outlined in a flow sheet format with accompanying text. Areas of diagnostic overlap and terminological confusion are delineated.