The Pragmatic Classification of Depression
MARTIN G. BLINDER M.D.1
1 Fellow in Community Psychiatry, the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, San Francisco, Calif
The current nosology of depression is based upon the Kraepelinian classification of mental disorders as definite disease entities. Although the system is flexible enough to permit its use by diverse schools of thought regarding psychopathology and is thus satisfactory in many ways, its utility as a guide to treatment is often limited. As a practical guide to treatment avoiding etiological judgments, the author proposes a new schema for classification based upon predominant symptoms and signs and upon response to therapy.
