Impairment of work and leisure in depressed outpatients. A preliminary communication.

In a detailed analysis of the effects of depression on a broad range of social, marital, vocational adjustment and leisure time activities in 176 outpatients with mild to moderate depressions, major disturbances were seen in all areas of functioning. These disturbances were most pronounced in the areas of work and social leisure. Except for continued impairment in leisure, these disturbances were considerably attenuated in those patients who were at a mild or asymptomatic level of depression at the time of comparison. These data suggest that functions which depend on traditional roles in family or at work tend to oscillate with the level of depression, whereas functions that require personal initiative (e.g. leisure) may remain abnormal well into the interepisodic phase. The reported disturbances were especially marked in dysthymic or chronic depressives who seem to suffer from the long-term effects of depression.