title: Treatment seeking for depression: role of depressive symptoms and comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  General population research has indicated that many persons with lifetime major depression report they have never sought medical help for their illness. We examined the role played by both depressive symptoms and comorbid psychiatric diagnoses in treatment seeking.
  
  
  METHODS
  From standardized psychiatric interviews of 7214 Edmonton residents, we identified 1348 subjects with lifetime depressive illness; 866 subjects (64%) had sought medical treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Psychomotor retardation (odds ratio, OR = 1.4), suicidal ideation (OR = 1.4), comorbid mania (OR = 9.5), comorbid panic disorder (OR = 3.0), and comorbid drug abuse/dependence (OR = 0.6) were significantly associated with treatment seeking in multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finding that only a few depressive symptoms were associated with treatment seeking underlines the importance of public health education to address the undertreatment of depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galbaud du Fort
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Boothroyd
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Bland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis