Characteristics for Depression

• Behavioural characteristics Change in activity levels - can cause the individual to withdraw from daily life e.g not going to work.
• Behavioural characteristics- Affected sleep - insomnia (being unable to sleep) or hypersomnia (sleeping more than usual)
• Behavioural characteristics- Affected eat - can lead to increased amount of ‘comfort eating’ or less eating e.g due to self consciousness.
• Emotional characteristics Sadness - is the key defining emotion linked to depression, the lowered mood can lead to the person feeling hopeless
• Emotional characteristics- Loss of interests - the person suffering may lose interest in all of the things that used to bring them pleasure.
• Emotional characteristics- Anger - people with depression often have anger outbursts, these can be directed at themselves or others. This can also be a behavioural characteristic as the anger can lead to them causing harm to themselves or others.
• Cognitive characteristics- Persistent negative beliefs about themselves and their abilities, this is often caused by them having unrealistic expectations of themselves.
• Cognitive characteristics- Slower thought processes - the person may have difficulty concentrating and making decisions.