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Recent life events in schizophrenia and depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

S. C. Jacobs
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., U.S.A., and St. George's Hospital, London
B. A. Prusoff
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., U.S.A., and St. George's Hospital, London
E. S. Paykel
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., U.S.A., and St. George's Hospital, London

Sysnopsis

Depressives and matched first admission schizophrenics were compared with respect to life events experienced in the six months before the onset of illness. Depressives reported more events than schizophrenics, but this excess involved only certain types of events. Depressives reported more exits from the social field, and a variety of undesirable events, particularly those involving interpersonal arguments. They reported no more events in some other classes. These findings support previous work involving life events, particularly exits and undesirable events in the genesis of depression, and indicate that qualitative implications of events influence their effects.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

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