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Elliot S. Gershon, MD
National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program Bldg 10, Room 3N218 Bethesda, MD 20205

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984;41(1):104-105.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.—

The great differences in reported familial morbid risk for affective disorders, especially for major depression, are remarkable. We¹ have tabulated morbid risk estimates for major depression in different studies: in 13 studies of relatives of bipolar patients, the range was 0.5% to 22.4%; in seven studies of unipolar patients the range was 5.1% to 17.5%; and in three studies of normal control subjects, the range was 0.7% to 5.8%.

These numbers cause one to ask if reliable estimates are at all possible, and what the true morbid risks are. I submit that there is no "true" morbid risk, and that observed rates may vary for many demonstrable reasons (Table). These include cultural factors (nationality, urban or rural residence, and age at time of examination) and procedural factors (diagnostic criteria and the method of obtaining information). But reliable, reproducible estimates can be achieved with careful attention to procedure and diagnostic . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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