title: Intermittent 3-day depressions and suicidal behaviour.
abstract: Intermittent short-lived episodes of depression were examined in a group of 20 recurrent suicidal attempters without major depression, classified misleadingly as borderline personality disorders on DSM-IIIR, during careful prospective follow-up for between 4 and 6 months. The duration of depressions clustered tightly around a median of 3 days with two thirds lasting between 2 and 4 days. They occurred erratically and unpredictably with a median interval of 18 days and were seen to be moderate to severe measured on the MADRS in 70% of episodes.
authors.affiliation: St Mary's Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D003419:Crisis Intervention; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010507:Periodicity; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012008:Recurrence; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*