Depression and senility.

The literature suggests a closer relationship between reversible depression and irreversible senile organicity than generally has been accepted. Accordingly, Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale was given to 120 men and women, aged 60 or older, of whom 30 of each sex were classified as nonsenile and 30 of each sex were classified as moderately senile by the personnel of senior citizen centers, convalescent hospitals, and nursing homes. The results indicated that moderately senile Ss scored significantly higher on the SRDS than did the nonsenile Ss, that sex differences were not significant, that there were no significant differences between institutionalized and noninstutionalized Ss of either sex in either the nonsenile or the moderately senile groups, and that further refinement of the SRDS and a longitudinal study of personality, experience, and depression would be extremely useful.