depression

• depression?

  a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
• Emotional characteristic of depression

  Lowered mood - experience of feeling lethargic and sad. People with depression often describe themselves as 'worthless' and 'empty.

  Anger - People with depression frequently experience anger, sometimes extreme anger. such emotions lead to aggressive or self-harming behaviour.

  Lowered self-esteem - emotional experience of how much we like ourselves. People with depression have reduced self-esteem.
• cognitive characteristics of depression?

  Poor concentration - person may find themselves unable to stick with a task as they usually would, or they might find it hard to make decisions that they would normally find straightforward.

  Attending to and dwelling on the negative - pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones

  Absolutist thinking- This is sometimes called 'black-and-white thinking. This means that when a situation is unfortunate they tend to see it as an absolute disaster.
• Behavioural characteristics of depression ?

  Activity levels - reduced levels of energy, making them lethargic. people tend to withdraw from work, education and social life. can be so severe that the person can't get out of bed.

  Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour - associated with changes to sleeping behaviour. person may experience reduced sleep, premature waking, or increased need for sleep. appetite and eating may increase/decrease, leading to weight gain or loss.

  Aggression and self-harm - People with depression are often irritable, and can be verbally or physically aggressive. serious knock-on effects on a number of aspects of their life. also lead to physical aggression directed against the self.