Summary
In a longitudinal cohort study of young adults from the Canton of Zurich in Switzerland (Zurich Study), seasonal patterns of several psychiatric and psychosomatic syndromes were investigated in two interviews over a period of three years. At an age of 27–28 years, 23% of the depressives, 15% of the neurasthenic subjects, and 14% of the subjects with backache reported an increased susceptibility in autumn and/or winter. With respect to the course we found that 10.4% of the subjects of the longitudinal sample (n=417) suffered from seasonal depression (including individuals with subsyndromal seasonal difficulties) overtwo consecutive years. Specific symptoms, such as hypersomnia, increase of appetite or weight gain, were not found to be consistently associated with seasonal depression. A comparison of actual and retrospective reports on seasonal depression resulted in a very low reliability. In view of these results the seasonal subtype of depression should be diagnosed with caution, except when the diagnosis is based on longitudinal observations and/or external sources of information (e.g. family members, partner).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-III-R), 3rd edn, revised. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC
Angst J, Dobler-Mikola A, Binder J (1984) The Zurich Study—A prospective epidemiological study of depressive, neurotic and psychosomatic syndromes. I. Problem, Methodology. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 234:13–20
Angst J, Dobler-Mikola A (1984) The Zurich Study — A prospective epidemiological study of depressive, neurotic and psychosomatic syndromes. II. The continuum from normal to pathological depressive mood swings. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 234:21–29
Angst J, Merikangas K, Scheidegger P, Wicki W (1990) Recurrent brief depression: a new subtype of affective disorder. J Affect Dis 19:87–98
Blehar MC, Rosenthal NE (1989) Seasonal affective disorders and phototherapy. Arch Gen Psychiatry 46:469–474
Boyce P, Parker P (1988) Seasonal affective disorder in the southern hemisphere. Am J Psychiatry 145:96–99
Derogatis LR (1977) SCL-90. Administration, scoring and procedures manual-I for the R (revised) version and other instruments for the psychopathology rating scale series. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Garvey MJ, Wesner R, Godes M (1988) Comparison of seasonal and nonseasonal affective disorders. Am J Psychiatry 145:100–102
Haggag A, Eklund B, Linaker O, Götestam KG (1990) Seasonal mood variation: an epidemiological study in northern Norway. Acta Psychiatr Scand 81:141–145
Kasper S, Wehr TA, Bartko JJ, Gaist PA, Rosenthal NE (1989) Epidemiological findings of seasonal changes in mood and behavior. Arch Gen Psychiatry 46:823–833
Kasper S, Wehr TA, Rosenthal NE (1988) Saisonal abhängige Depressionsformen (SAD). I. Grundlagen und klinische Beschreibung des Syndroms. Nervenarzt 59:191–199
Rosen LN, Targum SD, Terman M, Bryant MJ, Hoffman H, Kasper SF, Hamovit JR, Docherty JP, Welch B, Rosenthal NE (1989) Prevalence of seasonal affective disorder at four latitudes. Psychiatry Res 31:131–144
Rosenthal NE, Sack DA, Gillin JC, Lewy AJ, Goodwin FK, Davenport Y, Mueller PS, Newsome DA, Wehr TA (1984) Seasonal affective disorder: A description of the syndrome and preliminary findings with light therapy. Arch Gen Psychiatry 41:72–80
Suter E, Marti B, Tschopp A, Wanner HU (1991) Effekte von Jogging auf psychisches Befinden und saisonale Stimmungsschwankungen: Eine randomisierte Studie mit gesunden Frauen und Männern. Schweiz Med. Wochenschr 121:1254–1263
Vollrath M, Wicki W, Angst J (1989) The Zurich Study. VIII. Insomnia: Association with depression, anxiety, somatic syndromes, and course of insomnia. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 239:113–124
Vollrath M, Koch R, Angst J (1990) The Zurich Study. IX. Panic disorder and sporadic panic: symptoms, diagnosis, prevalence, and overlap with depression. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 239:221–230
Wehr TA, Rosenthal NE (1989) Seasonality and affective illness. Am J Psychiatry 146:829–839
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Supported by grant 32-9502/3.873-0.88 from the Swiss National Science Foundation
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wicki, W., Angst, J. & Merikangas, K.R. The Zurich study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Nuerosci 241, 301–306 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02195980
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02195980