To query the universality of affective disorder markers, particularly the level of consistency between DSM diagnostic criteria and the criteria implicit in popular diagnoses.
Utilization of data from the Santé Québec (1987) survey to compare depression markers reported by respondents who identified themselves or were identified by a member of their household as "suffering from depression" and markers underlying DSM-III diagnostic criteria.
A popular diagnosis of depression is implicitly different from a psychiatric diagnosis considering an interdiagnosis similarity of 9.5%.
It is therefore important to become more knowledgeable about the markers underlying diagnosis of affective disorders.