ABSTRACT
Unipolar depression is a prevalent and debilitating disorder that is associated with substantial work and interpersonal impairment, high health-care expenditures (Simon, Ormel, VonKorff, & Barlow, 1995), increased susceptibility to physical diseases and mortality (Herbert & Cohen, 1993), and a significant risk of suicide (Weissman & Olfson, 1995). Depression has been demonstrated to be associated with increased cortisol productivity and decreased immunocompetence, both of which may contribute to physical health problems and increased mortality rates associated with the disorder (Herbert & Cohen, 1993).
