Abstract
I investigated the frequency of depression in the patients at a clinic for patients with psychosomatic ailments and in pregnant and postpartum women. 1) I selected 29 depressive patients at random in our clinic. Their psychological symptoms were masked completely by many somatic symptoms. 2) I examined the records for all patients (842 cases) at our clinic from 1976 to 1991. The rate of reported depression increased almost without exception every year. In term of age group, there was a significantly higher rate of depression among women in their fifties than in women in their twenties. Depression is included into many types of gynecological diseases ; the most prevalent are postpartum depression, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and climacteric syndrome. The treatment success rates for neurotic-, depressive-, psychosomatic-, and somatic types were 70%, 72%, 80% and 92%, respectively. 3) The depression's incidence of PMS was much higher than that of dysmenorrhea. 4) We investigated serum melatonin through the sleeping period in 6 pregnant women with sleep disturbance and in 6 women without sleep disturbance in the third trimester of pregnancy. The peaks in this hormone came markedly lated and the amplitudes were markedly higher in the women with sleep disturbances than in the women without sleep disturbances, though these where not signifficant in this study (t=1.97). 5) The scores of 'Difficulty in concentration' and 'Depression' in the group who were accompanied by their husbands during labor (n=14) were significantly lower. than those whose husbands were not present (n=107). Both groups were free of complications and all deliveries were normal. This seems to show that the husband's presence during delivery is good for the "maternity blues". 6) I describe two severe patients who needed treatment for depression. One case had a severe psychosomatic disease and had had polysurgery. The other had terminal ovarian cancer, though she had not been informed of her condition by her doctor. This survey concludes that depressive state in the area of gynecology and obstetrics may be related to the endocrinological variables.
