The phenomenon of despair in patients with depression

Objective: Despair is a common feature of depressive disorders. The aim was to characterize the cognitive-affective phenomenon of despair in patients with a depressive disorder by means of the newly developed Bochum-Stuttgart Despair Scale (BSVS) in comparison to the Northwestern Ego Integrity Scale (NEIS).

Methods: A total of 33 depressed patients and 33 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects were studied with respect to despair but also with respect to biographical and psychometric characteristics such as depressiveness, hopelessness, fear of finality and suicidality.

Results: Depressed patients were significantly more despondent than healthy subjects in both BSVS-Cognitive and BSVS-Emotional, and this was also reflected in the NEIS-Despair subscale.

Conclusion: Despair of depressed patients is probably constituted by different factors than the despair of mentally healthy individuals.