Recent epidemiological research in the general population and primary care demonstrated that a substantial proportion of disabling depressive syndromes do not meet the diagnostic criteria for major depression. This observation proposes less restrictive diagnostic definitions of depression. However, a gain in sensitivity may induce a substantial loss of specificity. A variety of diagnostic definitions of subthreshold depression has been proposed balancing both aspects. However, the less restrictive diagnostic definitions are, the lower the specificity. This report explores variants of subthreshold depression characterized by current and subsequent disability in a prospectively investigated sample of general practice patients (n = 400), recruited within the framework of the WHO study "Psychological Problems in Primary Care and a survey in the general population. Duration of episodes, recurrence and number of associated symptoms are the main diagnostic variables. Brief depression with multiple episodes per year (including recurrent brief depression as defined by ICD-10) is comparable to major depression by social disability and subsequent course in the sample under study.