Depression among men made involuntarily redundant.

Ninety-eight men aged 25-50, who were unemployed because of involuntary redundancy and out of work for 2-18 months, completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). Their scores were compared with those of a group of employed men matched for age and social class. The mean GHQ score for the redundant men was 13.0, compared with 4.0 for the employed group. The mean BDI score was 11.1 for the redundant group and 5.6 for the employed group. Eighteen per cent of the redundant men, compared with 6% of the employed group, scored 18 or more which are scores corresponding to those in depressive illness. We conclude that the prevalence of depressive illness may be increased among redundant men.