Major Depression in Patients with Closed Head Injury

One hundred and twenty patients with closed head injury (CHI) were interviewed with regard to depressive symptoms at least two years after the date of injury. Seventy-seven percent of these patients met DSM-III criteria for major depressive disorder. Approximately half of the depressed CHI patients did not manifest depressive symptoms until at least six months after being injured. Bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia were quite uncommon following CHI. These findings indicate that head injury patients are at substantially increased risk for development of major depressive disorder. Findings suggest that all CHI patients be screened for depressive symptoms at a time well after they appear to have made a seemingly "full" recovery.