Objective: To query the universality of affective disorder markers, particularly the level of consistency between DSM diagnostic criteria and the criteria implicit in popular diagnoses.
Method: 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.
Results: A popular diagnosis of depression is implicitly different from a psychiatric diagnosis considering an interdiagnosis similarity of 9.5%.
Conclusion: It is therefore important to become more knowledgeable about the markers underlying diagnosis of affective disorders.