A limited number of patients admitted to psychiatric acute wards or Psychiatric Intensive Care Units are admitted with a fluctuating array of psychiatric symptoms including brief depressive episodes. These patients do not fit into the present diagnostic systems due to short duration of affective symptoms and the flucuating arrays of other symptoms. Case histories indicate that these patients have psychiatric conditions due to epilepsy or organic brain dysfunctions.

In the study acutely admitted patients filling criteria for two recent DSM-4 axis 1 diagnoses (one is a brief depressive period) during the last two weeks are compared to age- and sex-matched patients acutely admitted with a major depressive disorder. The patients are rated with a number of rating scales at admittance, day 5, after two weeks and three months. EEG and QEEG are taken three times the first week. MRI, drug screening and blood screening of medication-consentrations are taken.