Characteristics of depression

• Behavioural characteristics


  • Activity levels - reduced energy, not getting out of bed. Psychomotor agitation; difficult to relax
  • Disruption to sleeping and eating behaviour - reduced sleep (insomnia) or increased sleep (hypersomnia). Weight gain or loss
  • Aggression and self-harm - verbal and physical. Physical aggression towards the self, often in the form of cutting or suicide attempts
• Emotional characteristics


  • Lowered mood - 'worthless' and 'empty'
  • Anger - can be directed at self or others, can lead to aggression or self-harm
  • Lowered self-esteem - they like themselves less than usual, self-loathing or hating themselves
• Cognitive characteristics


  • Poor concentration - poor decision-making likely to interfere with work
  • Attending to and dwelling on the negative - ignoring positive aspects, pessimistic, bias towards recalling unhappy events
  • Absolutist thinking - 'black-and-white thinking', when a situation is unfortunate it is seen as a complete disaster