[Masked depression].

Depressive disorders which masked by somatic symptoms is called masked depression. Masked depression is not a specific type of depression, but the general practitioners often misdiagnose it, because patients complain only somatic symptoms and most practitioners are not aware of it belongs to depression. Usually masked depression is mild, but is apt to chronic, and some patients become worse and might attempt suicide. The cause of depression is still obscure, but according to the results of many somatic tests, somatic findings are important. And differential diagnosis is also important. Concerning the treatment of mild depression, the patients dislike usual antidepressants because of the side effects. Then the author recommend to use a small dose of the drugs and some oriental herbal medicines. Oriental herbal medicines have fewer side effects, and effective for vegetative symptoms.