Depressive disorders are presently the most common psychopathologic syndromes afflicting the elderly (Butler & Lewis, 1982). However, in that age group, a very common reason for failure to treat them is a failure of recognition (Gurland, 1982). Considering the fact that the percentage of elderly amongst the general population is increasing rapidly, the need for prompt recognition of symptoms of depression is readily apparent. Development of the GDS (GDS) was a step in this direction. In this article, we provide data on the GDS from recent studies and introduce a shorter version.