Characteristics of depression

• what type of disorder is depression?

  an affective (mood) disorder.
• what is an affective disorder?


  disorders that affect the emotional state of those suffering from them, i.e mood is distorted or inappropriate to the circumstance.
• what is depression characterised by?

  low mood and low energy levels
• What is severe depression known as in the DSM-5?

  Major Depressive Disorder
• how long must symptoms last for before diagnosis?

  2 weeks
• how many symptoms must be present for a diagnosis?

  5 out of 9 in criteria A and at least one of symptoms 1 or 2. Criteria B must also be met.
• what are criteria symptoms A for depression in the DSM-5?

  1) depressed mood, most of the day for most days

  2) loss of interest

  3) weight loss or gain (5%) due to appetite

  4) insomnia or hypersomnia

  5) agitation or retardation

  6) fatigue or loss of energy

  7) feelings of worthlessness / inappropriate guilt

  8) inability to concentrate or indecisiveness

  9) thoughts of death or suicidal thoughts.
• what is criteria symptom B in the DSM-5?


  must have clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other areas of functioning.
• What percentage of Adults in Britain suffer from depression?

  estimated 10% but may be as high as 35% (due to often being retrospective so older people may not be properly diagnosed if they can't remember how long and when symptoms occurred)
• How does depression appear?


  can appear gradually or suddenly. Can happen after an event or out of the blue.
• who can get depression?

  occurs in all social classes and at all ages from childhood to old age.
• What is the intensity of depression?

  depression can be relatively mild, or so intense that the sufferer is at serious risk of suicide.
• Who is more at risk from depression?


  - the risk of women developing major depression (being diagnosed) is roughly double that of men, although suicide is the leading cause of death in men under 50 in the UK.

  - Severe depression is more common in middle and old age, although there has been a steady increase in depressive illness amongst younger people.
• what are the three characteristics of depression?

  - emotional - how the person feel when in depressed state. Patients often describe themselves as feeling 'sad', 'empty' and 'worthless.'

  - behavioural - how the person acts when in depressed state.

  typically behaviours change.

  - cognitive - how a person thinks when in a depressed state. often have cognitive distortions.
• what are the emotional characteristics of depression?

  - lowered mood most of the time for most days. This may be severe sadness or losing interest and feeling completely emotionless.

  - anger, experiencing mostly negative emotions to themselves or others.

  - lowered self-esteem which can lead to liking themselves less or completely hating themselves.
• what are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

  - activity levels - may be fatigued or agitated

  - disruption to sleep and eating behaviour - insomnia / hypersomnia. Loss / gain of appetite.

  - aggression and self-harm - both verbal and physical. To others or themselves. Severely affects relationships.
• what are the cognitive characteristics of depression?

  - poor concentration - difficulty doing and being decisive with simple tasks.

  - attending to and dwelling on the negative - bias to recalling unhappy events and seeing the negative in situations.

  - absolutist thinking - 'black and white thinking'. When a situation is unfortunate, they tend to see it as an absolute disaster.