Abstract
We compared the drug treatments and health service contacts of anxious and depressed patients separated by personality disturbance in 200 patients over 30 years. Contact details with health professionals at 5, 12 and 30 years were recorded and analysed by multilevel models at all time points. Over 30 years, patients with dependent and anankastic personality disturbance and cothymia (the general neurotic syndrome) were 2.27 times more likely to receive selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and new antidepressants (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22–4.24), particularly paroxetine, and were 1.6 weeks (95% CI: 1.2–2.3) longer on the drug than those without the syndrome. Similar results with SSRIs and new antidepressants in patients with personality disorder fell short of significance after adjusting for age, sex and DSM status. Most patients had a DSM diagnosis at follow-up points, and these had increased psychological treatment, psychiatric admissions, multiple drugs, SSRIs and new antidepressants. At later follow-up, most drug treatments decreased apart from psychological treatment, SSRIs and new antidepressants, and baseline personality disorder had little impact on treatment histories compared with others. We conclude that the (Galenic) general neurotic syndrome is associated with greater use of treatments in the long term, showing that combined personality and symptomatic pathology overcomes that of personality disorder alone.