Am J Psychiatry 1982; 139:1286-1291
Copyright © 1982 by American Psychiatric Association
Hysteroid dysphoria: an unsuccessful attempt to demonstrate its syndromal validity
RL Spitzer and JB Williams
Hysteroid dysphoria has been described as a chronic illness characterized
by recurrent periods of depression precipitated by a specific type of
stress and associated with a histrionic personality. In addition, there are
specific atypical symptoms. The authors tested the syndromal validity of
this proposed category in a sample of 1,324 patients with mild depression
reported on by psychiatrists in a questionnaire survey. They found 41
(3.1%) who fit a pattern consisting of the basic features of the condition.
However, patients who fit this pattern were not more likely to have
substantially more atypical symptoms than patients without this pattern.
The authors conclude that the syndromal validity of hysteroid dysphoria is
not supported.
