-Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (disruption to mood prior/during menstruation)
What are behavioural characteristics?
behaviours in which people act, behaviour change when we experience an episode of depression
What are the 3 behavioural characteristics of depression?
Activity levels
Disruption to sleep and eating
Aggression and self-harm
What is Activity levels?
People may have reduced levels of energy, lethargic
Can make people withdrawn from work, education and social life
People in extreme cases won't be able to get our of bed
It can have opposite effect- Psychomotor agitation where agitated people struggle to relax and may constantly move around
What is disruption to sleep and eating?
Associated with changes to sleeping behaviour, a person may have reduced sleep (insomnia), premature walking, increased need for sleep (hypersomnia)
appetite and eating may increase/decrease leading to weight loss/gain
What is aggression and self-harm?
People are often irritated and can become verbally or physically aggressive
this can impact their lives- ending a relationship or quitting a job
depression can lead to physical aggression directed towards themselves-self-harm, suicide, cutting
What are cognitive characteristics?
The way people process information
What are the three cognitive characteristics of depression?
Poor concentration
Dwelling on the negatives
Absolutist thinking
What is poor concentration?
Depression is associated with poor levels of concentration
People may be unable to stick to tasks or find it hard to make decisions they would normally find straightforward
poor concentration and poor decision-making are likely to interfere with work
What is dwelling on the negatives?
People are inclined to pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives
People with depression also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than the happy ones
What is absolutist thinking?
People with depression often tend to think in the terms that most situations are all-good/ all-bad
'black-and-white thinking'
if there's a situation that's unfortunate they see it as an absolute disaster
what are emotional characteristics?
emotion is related to a persons feelings or moods
What are the three emotional characteristics of depression?
lowered mood
anger
lowered self-esteem
What is lowered mood?
Having a lowered mood or feeling sad, these are still defining emotional elements of depression but its more pronounced than the daily experience of sadness/ being lethargic
People with depression often feel 'empty'/'worthless'
What is anger?
People with depression often experience anger and even extreme anger
This can be directed towards themselves or others
emotions can lead to aggressive or self-harm behaviours
What is lowered self-esteem?
Self-esteem is the emotional experience of how much we like ourselves
People with depression tend to have reduced self-esteem (people can like themselves less than usual)
This can be extreme eg/ self loathing and 'hating themselves'