Depression in New Haven, 1975-76: an epidemiologic study.

Results of a 1975--76 community survey of psychiatric disorders conducted in New Haven, Connecticut, are presented. These results represent the first application of new research diagnostic techniques to a community sample and demonstrate that major depression is the most common psychiatric disorder with a current prevalence rate of about 4 percent. Most persons with a diagnosis of major depression did not seek treatment from a professional for an emotional problem; few saw a psychiatrist or were hospitalized. They were, however, high attenders of nonpsychiatric physicians for problems they did not identify as emotional, and the majority used psychotropic drugs but usually not a tricyclic antidepressant. The scientific and policy implications of these findings are discussed.