depression

• DSM-5 categories of depression

  • Major depressive disorder
  • Persistent depressive disorder
  • Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
  • Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
• Major depressive disorder

  Severe but often short-term depression
• Persistent depressive disorder

  Long-term or recurring depression, including sustained major depression and what used to be called dysthymia
• Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder

  Childhood temper tantrums
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

  Disruption to mood prior to and/or during menstruation
• Behaviour characteristics of depression

  • Activity levels
  • Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
  • Aggression and self-harm
• Reduced activity levels

  People with depression have reduced levels of energy, making them lethargic
• Psychomotor agitation


  Agitated individuals struggle to relax and may end up pacing up and down a room
• Disruption to sleep

  A person may experience reduced sleep (insomnia), particularly premature waking, or an increased need for sleep (hypersomnia)
• Disruption to eating behaviour

  Appetite and eating may increase or decrease, leading to weight gain or loss
• Aggression

  People with depression are often imitable, and in some cases they can become verbally or physically aggressive
• Self-harm

  Depression can lead to physical aggression directed against the self, often in the form of cutting or suicide attempts
• Emotional characteristics of depression

  • Lowered mood
  • Anger
  • Lowered self-esteem
• Lowered mood

  People with depression often describe themselves as 'worthless' and 'empty'
• Anger

  People with depression also frequently experience anger, sometimes extreme anger, which can be directed at the self or others
• Lowered self-esteem

  People with depression tend to report reduced self-esteem, with some describing a sense of self-loathing
• Cognitive characteristics of depression

  • Poor concentration
  • Attending to and dwelling on the negative
  • Absolutist thinking
• Poor concentration

  The 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

  People with depression are inclined to pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives, and have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones
• Absolutist thinking

  When a person is depressed they tend to think in all-good or all-bad terms, seeing a situation as an absolute disaster