Depressive disorders in the community: the scene in Great Britain, 1965.

Clinical-epidemiologic data collected in a rural general practice in England over the course of 20 years revealed a lifetime risk for clinically significant depression of approximately 10 cases per thousand. The background and basic findings of this research (published as Depression in the Community in 1965) are reviewed. Difficulties in differential diagnosis are explained, with case vignettes as illustration. The importance of being alert to the possibility of depression in patients presenting to a general medical practitioner is stressed.