SUMMARY
Negative symptoms have been assessed in 34 cases of major depression (ROC) using the scale for assessment of negative symptoms. Negative symptoms were found to be quite frequently observed in these cases; common negative symptoms were inability to enjoy recreational interests and activities (76%), feelings of anhedonia (64.7%) and physical anergia (55.9%). Poverty of speech was found to be more in younger patients (P < .001). Avolition was seen more frequently in unmarried (P < .05) patients. No other signiticant correlation was noticed between demographic variables and negative symptoms. The implications of evaluating negative symptoms systematically in depressives are for future research especially for prognostication, treatment responses and classification of depression based on such symptoms.
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