Relationship between the melancholic type of personality (Typus melancholicus) and DSM-III-R personality disorders in patients with major depression.

The relationship between the melancholic type of personality (TM) and DSM-III-R personality disorders (PD) in a sample of 96 outpatients with major depression was investigated using a series of multivariate analyses. The results showed that the personality features of TM were quite different from those of any DSM-III-R PD, including obsessive-compulsive PD, and gave only partial support to the DSM-III-R classification of PD into three clusters. It is suggested that if the personality description of TM be included in the Axis II of DSM-III-R, the description of the Axis could have a wider range of personality features and could be more useful for the clinical praxis and research of depressive patients.