Comparison of clinical characteristics of opium-induced and independent major depressive disorder.

Psychiatric disorders and among them depression are common in substance dependent patients. The aim of this study is to compare the clinical characteristics of those that appear to have substance-induced depression and those that have independent major depression. One-hundred eighty-four independent and 187 opium-induced (OID) depressed male patients that met the DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder were randomly selected.

Do memory complaints represent impaired memory performance in patients with major depressive disorder?

Memory complaints are found to be associated with depression. However, the question is, "How much these subjective complaints indicate objective memory impairments?" The aim of this study is to determine whether subjective memory complaints represent objective memory impairments and to establish the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and subjective memory complaints. Sixty-four patients with MDD were assessed for objective memory performance through subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale-III.