[Subthreshold depressive disorders: description and importance for secondary prevention in psychiatry].

"Subsyndromic" or "subthreshold" mood disorders belong to the category of mood disorders. Because newly studied, few informations are available up to date. The Appendix B of the DSM IV introduces six categories of research criteria which characterize these disorders and give us the thread of our study. From Hippocrate to contemporary specialists, many authors reported mild forms of mood disorders, including the Kraepelin or the psychoanalyst authors views. Dysthymic Disorder, Minor Depressive Disorder and Brief Recurrent Depressive Disorder are different categories of subthreshold unipolar disorders. During their course, these disorders overlap each other and with major mood disorders. Many studies, carried out in primary care practice, pointed out the severe impairment in social functioning, experienced by these patients. We propose a review of "Minor Depressive Disorders", focusing on some points: definitions, epidemiologic studies, "functional impact" of this kind of disorders, comorbidity and therapeutical considerations. Prevalence of suicide is extensive in non major depressive disorders. We discuss interest of "subsyndromic concept" aiming at the prevention of major mood disorders. Moreover, this concept leads to a new clinical approach in the care of mood disorders and provides new fields for psychopathological research.