Social functioning and residual symptomatology among outpatients who responded to treatment and recovered from major depression

Abstract

It is unclear whether depressed patients who respond to treatment, and subsequently recover, manifest a significant degree of residual symptomatology and enduring psychosocial impairment. The purpose of this study was to compare the social functioning and symptoms of depressed outpatients who responded to acute treatment, and had a sustained recovery from major depression for 6 months, with psychiatrically normal community samples. The sample (n = 48) was drawn from the NIMH Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program. The Social Adjustment Scale scores and the Symptom Check List of recovered patients were clinically indistinguishable from the community sample scores. These data suggest that patients who benefit from acute treatment and recover from major depression can expect to achieve a normal level of functioning and symptomatology.