Multiple sources of information are essential for accurate estimation of lifetime prevalences of psychotic disorders. The use of comprehensive methods reveals that their lifetime prevalence exceeds 3%.

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Background: A six-month follow-up study was conducted to determine whether alexithymia is a permanent feature in 169 depressed outpatients. Methods: Diagnosis of depression was confirmed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID-I). Alexithymia was screened using the 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and severity of depression was assessed using the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: Almost 40% of the patients were considered alexithymic at baseline, but only 23% at follow-up. Alexithymic patients were more often moderately or severely depressed than other patients in both study phases. The BDI scores explained 23% (at baseline) and 42% (at follow-up) of the variation in TAS-20 scores. The decrease in the TAS-20 scores was associated with a concurrent decrease in BDI scores. Conclusions: Alexithymic patients with depressive disorders do not appear to form a stable group. On the contrary, alexithymia seems to change as a function of depression. In the light of these results, alexithymia appears not to be a stable personality trait among depressed patients, and furthermore, it seems possible that alexithymic features respond to psychiatric treatment.

Background: Several cross-sectional studies have focused on the low blood folate levels of depressive patients. Nevertheless, no prospective studies have been published on the association between dietary folate and depression. Methods: We studied the association between dietary folate and cobalamin and receiving a discharge diagnosis of depression in a prospective follow-up setting. Our cohort was recruited between 1984 and 1989 and followed until the end of 2000, and it consisted of 2,313 men aged between 42and 60 years from eastern Finland. Results: The mean intake of folate in the whole cohort was 256 µg/day (SD = 76). Those below the median of energy-adjusted folate intake had higher risk of getting discharge diagnosis of depression (RR 3.04, 95% CI: 1.58, 5.86) during the follow-up period than those who had a folate intake above the median. This excess risk remained significant after adjustment for current socioeconomic status, the baseline HPL depression score, the energy-adjusted daily intake of fibre and vitamin C, and the total fat intake. Conclusions: A low dietary intake of folate may be a risk factor for severe depression. This also indicates that nutrition may have a role in the prevention of depression.

Mental disorders in young adulthood are common and often co-morbid, and they may be particularly harmful for education and employment in this age group.

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