Psychology
Depression
Depression is a mental health disorder characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in activities. It can impact a person's thoughts, emotions, and physical well-being, often leading to difficulties in daily functioning. Symptoms may vary in severity and duration, and treatment typically involves a combination of therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes.
Written by Perlego with AI-assistance
Related key terms
1 of 5
10 Key excerpts on "Depression"
eBook - PDFAssessment and Therapy
Specialty Articles from the Encyclopedia of Mental Health
- Howard S. Friedman(Author)
- 2001(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
VII. CONCLUSION Depression is an experience that has been shared by most human beings at one time or another. Thus, it can be thought of as a feeling state that is within the realm of normal functioning. If the frequency, inten-sity, and duration of this feeling increase, it can be-come a pathological process. After it crosses a certain threshold, criteria for which are now well-defined, it is diagnosed as a specific mental disorder. Mental health interventions that focus on this disorder in-clude preventive, treatment, and maintenance inter-ventions, of which treatment is the most developed and the most available. The public health impact of Depression is considerable. Advances in the identifica-tion and dissemination of effective mood management strategies could have a major impact in the health of our societies. BIBLIOGRAPHY Akiskal, H. S., & McKinney, W. T. J. (1973). Depressive disorders: Toward a unified hypothesis. Science, 182, 20–29. American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statis-tical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of Depression. New York: Guilford Press. Beckham, E. D., & Leber, W. R. (Eds.). (1995). Handbook of de-pression: Treatment, assessment, and research (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press. Bruce, M. L., Takeuchi, D. T., & Leaf, P. J. (1991). Poverty and psychiatric status: Longitudinal evidence from the New Haven Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. Archives of General Psy-chiatry, 48, 470 – 474. Depression Guideline Panel. (1993). Depression in primary care: Vol. 1. Detection and diagnosis (Clinical Practice Guideline No. 5 AHCPR Publication No. 93-0550). Rockville, MD: De-partment of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Depression Guideline Panel. (1993). Depression in primary care: Vol.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- College Publishing House(Publisher)
Appetite often decreases, with resulting weight loss, although increased appetite and weight gain occasionally occur. Family and friends may notice that the person's behavior is either agitated or lethargic. The concept of Depression is more controversial in regards to children, and depends on the view that is taken about when self-image develops and becomes fully established. Depressed children may often display an irritable mood rather than a depressed mood, and show varying symptoms depending on age and situation. Most lose interest in school and show a decline in academic performance. They may be described as clingy, demanding, dependent, or insecure. Diagnosis may be delayed or missed when symptoms are interpreted as normal moodiness. Depression may also coexist with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), complicating the diagnosis and treatment of both. Older depressed people may have cognitive symptoms of recent onset, such as forgetfulness, and a more noticeable slowing of movements. Depression often coexists with physical disorders common among the elderly, such as stroke, other cardiovascular diseases, Parkinson's disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Causes The biopsychosocial model proposes that biological, psychological, and social factors all play a role in causing Depression. The diathesis–stress model specifies that Depression results when a preexisting vulnerability, or diathesis, is activated by stressful life events. The preexisting vulnerability can be either genetic, implying an interaction between nature and nurture, or schematic, resulting from views of the world learned in childhood. These interactive models have gained empirical support. For example, researchers in New Zealand took a prospective approach to studying Depression, by documenting over time how Depression emerged among an initially normal cohort of people.
eBook - PDFMen and Depression
Clinical and Empirical Perspectives
- Sam V. Cochran, Fredric E. Rabinowitz(Authors)
- 1999(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Depression: A Disorder of Mood Depression is considered a disorder of mood (sometimes called an affec- tive disorder, signifying the disturbance ofaffect) in all widely used classification and diagnostic schemes. In general, a mood disorder repre- sents a departure from what we might consider to be a typical mood state experienced by most persons most days of their fives. Depressive disorders are characterized by sad, guilty, remorseful, tired, withdrawn, moods and the influence of these moods on a person's day-to-day behavior. Depression, as we know it, is sometimes called unipolar Depression when not accompanied by the mania of bipolar disorder. Depression itself is a misnomer. Some scientists think what we usually consider Depression may be better characterized as a syndrome rather than a discrete or specific disorder since a syndrome may have many causes that result in what appears to be the same constellation of symp- toms (Winokur, 1997). Bipolar or manic--depressive disorders are characterized by both the depressed aspect of mood and a manic component of mood. Mania refers to an elated, expansive, or elevated mood that is frequently accompanied by restlessness, increases in motor behavior, distractibility, racing thoughts, and irritability. This component of mood disorder, too, is thought by some to be better characterized as a syndrome than a specific disorder. Psychiatric nomenclature and diagnostic schemes have advanced dra- matically in the past 50 years. Diagnostic criteria for mood disorders have become progressively more specific, particularly with the coordina- tion of the World Health Organization's decennial International Classifi- Figuring Depression in Men 7 cation of Diseases (I.C.D.) and the American Psychiatric Association's official Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals of Mental Disorders (Gold, 1990).
- David Pilgrim, Anne Rogers, Bernice Pescosolido, David Pilgrim, Anne Rogers, Bernice Pescosolido(Authors)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
They also reveal how deeply Depression is embedded in the cultural and social conditions. For this reason, it is crucial to look at Depression in its cultural context and to consider its social determinants. Pilgrim and Bentall (1999) point out that using existing clinical definitions, two individuals with completely different symptoms could be diagnosed with the same condition. This is because Depression and its diagnostic criteria overlap with other conditions to such an extent that it is most often impossible to distinguish in a particular case between Depression, anxiety or even medical conditions, such as chronic fatigue syndrome (Pilgrim and Bentall, 1999). Some theorists thus see Depression as existing on a continuum with ‘normal’ states (Schwartz, 2000). However, others see it as cat-egorically different and not related to ‘normal’ states of unhappiness or sadness. Kleinman and Good (1985) in a study of the relevance of the concept of depres-sion across culture argue that Depression differs depending on who identifies and defines it. For clinicians, they comment, ‘Depression is a common, often severe, sometimes mortal disease with characteristic affective (sadness, irritability, joy-lessness), cognitive (difficulty concentrating, memory disturbance) and vegetative (sleep, appetite, energy disturbances) complaints which has a typical course and predictable response rates to treatment’ (Kleinman and Good, 1985: 9). Following Foucault (1973) and Porter (2002), Bendelow (2009) argues that ‘across most of “western” society the growth of scientific medicine in general and psychiatry in particular has meant that medicalization has been the most dominant means of response [to emotional instability] since the nineteen century’ (Bendelow, 2009: 81).
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- The English Press(Publisher)
The criteria have been criticized because they do not take into account any other aspects of the personal and social context in which Depression can occur. In addition, some studies have found little empirical support for the DSM-IV cut-off criteria, indicating they are a diagnostic convention imposed on a continuum of depressive symptoms of varying severity and duration: Excluded are a range of related diagnoses, including dysthymia, which involves a chronic but milder mood disturbance; recurrent brief Depression, consisting of briefer depressive episodes; minor depressive disorder, whereby only some of the symptoms of major Depression are present; and adjustment disorder with depressed mood, which denotes low mood resulting from a psychological response to an identifiable event or stressor. Subtypes The DSM-IV-TR recognizes five further subtypes of MDD, called specifiers , in addition to noting the length, severity and presence of psychotic features: • Melancholic Depression is characterized by a loss of pleasure in most or all activities, a failure of reactivity to pleasurable stimuli, a quality of depressed mood more pronounced than that of grief or loss, a worsening of symptoms in the morning hours, early morning waking, psychomotor retardation, excessive weight loss (not to be confused with anorexia nervosa), or excessive guilt. • Atypical Depression is characterized by mood reactivity (paradoxical anhedonia) and positivity, significant weight gain or increased appetite (comfort eating), excessive sleep or sleepiness (hypersomnia), a sensation of heaviness in limbs known as leaden paralysis, and significant social impairment as a consequence of hypersensitivity to perceived interpersonal rejection. • Catatonic Depression is a rare and severe form of major Depression involving disturbances of motor behavior and other symptoms. Here the person is mute and almost stuporose, and either remains immobile or exhibits purposeless or even bizarre movements.
eBook - PDFNeurologic Differential Diagnosis
A Case-Based Approach
- Alan B. Ettinger, Deborah M. Weisbrot(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
There are also subtypes of Depression that may be unique in and of themselves, requiring different treatment (e.g. the Depression associated with bipolar illness, psychotic Depression, and the mood disorders comorbid with CNS illnesses [6]). There are two major categories of mood disor- ders, unipolar and bipolar affective disorder. Unipolar Depression is broken down into Major Depressive Dis- order (MDD), Dysthymia, and Mood Disorder NOS (not otherwise specified). Major Depressive Disorder is defined as lasting 2 weeks or longer and must include Depression or anhedonia and at least five elements of the following list: loss of pleasure in normal activi- ties, irritability, problems with weight or sleep, loss of energy and drive, difficulty with concentration, prob- lems making decisions, hopelessness, guilt and frus- tration, sadness, and feeling of being better off dead. Dysthymia is often more persistent than MDD but milder in intensity [4]. This chapter is not designed to cover the features of Bipolar Affective Disorder (BAD), but it is important to recognize it since it is treated differently and may be exacerbated by antidepressant therapy. Features of the illness have been described elsewhere [7]. As time has progressed, we have become more cognizant that Depression is more than a neurotrans- mitter dysfunction but rather involves circuits and integrated pathways in the brain that link cortical, subcortical, and limbic connections [8]. Thus it is not surprising that Depression can be both a cause and a consequence of medical illnesses. Comorbidity of Depression can be seen with coronary heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and in neurologic illnesses as well. In addition, the association of anxiety and Depression appears to be frequent in medical illnesses and may increase morbidity [9]. Neurologic Differential Diagnosis, ed. Alan B. Ettinger and Deborah M. Weisbrot. Published by Cambridge University Press. c Cambridge University Press 2014. 119
eBook - PDF- Rob Butler, Cornelius Katona(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
There are no age-specific diagnostic criteria. It has been argued that the high prevalence of comorbid physical and cognitive disorders in older people should lead to symptoms that may be attributable to such comorbidity being disregarded in diagnosing MDD. Another approach has been to place greater weighting on psychological symptoms. These approaches, however, introduce further complexity so that an inclusive approach would seem the most appropriate in symptom interpretation. At a more fundamental level, MDD is simply an umbrella term that does not illuminate aetiology in an individual patient or help guide treatment for the clinician. In particular, Depression is not a unitary disorder, so it is important to recognise distinct subtypes [7]. The most common such subtype is non-melancholic (also called neurotic or reactive) Depression, which is characterised by the essential symptom of a change in mood – which may be expressed in terms other than ‘Depression’ – with associated features such as anhedonia, changes in sleep, appetite and weight, fatigue and impaired concentration. It is understood as being precipitated by a salient life event in a vulnerable individual. Melancholic (or endogenous) Depression is a more severe subtype that is commoner with age [8]. In addition to the symptoms listed above, it is characterised by the disturbance in affect being disproportionate to stressors – in particular, non-reactive mood and perva- sive anhedonia – more prominent cognitive impairment and psychomotor disturbances. The latter may include slowed movement and speech, or spontaneous agitation. Some melancholia patients experience additional psychotic symptoms, when a diagnosis of psychotic Depression is appropriate. Mood-congruent delusions about guilt, financial ruin or terminal disease are typically encountered. Another subtype, atypical Depression, char- acterised by hyperphagia and weight gain, has also been identified but is least common [7].
eBook - PDF- Philip C. Kendall(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
VI. CONCLUSION This review has attempted to analyze and update three major con-temporary psychological approaches to Depression which emphasize cognitive variables as mediators of depressive reactions. Their contri-butions have greatly expanded our knowledge of and interest in this most common of major psychiatric complaints, and their limitations as discussed in this article are instructive for the future development of this field. Doubtless there will continue to be theories that aim to ac-count for Depression in a single theoretical position, but the implica-tion of this review is that only multifaceted models can hope to capture the complexity of depressive phenomena. While we may currently lack the tools and concepts to develop complete models, a cognitive-behav-ioral approach to the study of person-environment interactions prom-ises important achievements. In the final analysis, however, the goal of complete predictability of Depression construed as a single entity seems unrealistic. There are too many important and dynamically in- 66 Constance L. Hammen REFERENCES Abramson, L., Seligman, M., & Teasdale, J. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 4 9 -7 4 . Alloy, L., & Abramson, L. (1979). Judgment of contingency in depressed and non-depressed students: Sadder but wiser? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Gener-al, 108, 4 4 1 -4 8 5 . Alloy, L., & Abramson, L. (1981). Depression, nonDepression, and cognitive illusions. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles. Arieti, S., & Bemporad J. (1980). The psychological organization of Depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1 3 6 0 -1 3 6 5 . Bandura, A. (1978). The self-system in reciprocal determinism. American Psychologist, 33, 3 4 4 -3 5 8 . Barthé, D., & Hammen, C. (1981). A naturalistic extension of the attributional model of Depression.
eBook - PDFDepression
A Primer for Practitioners
- Steven Richards, Michael G. Perri(Authors)
- 2002(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
Depression is more common among adult women than men. Depression often occurs with other mental disorders, includ-ing anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and eating disorders; it is also frequently associated with chronic health problems, such as cancer and heart disease. The typical episode of Depression lasts from 12 to 20 weeks. Most depressed people recover within a year, but most of these people will relapse back to serious Depression on several occasions during their lifetime. Thus, prevention of relapse is a major treatment challenge facing depressed patients and their therapists. Clinical guidelines for the assessment of depressed patients were presented, including recommendations to always conduct a thorough interview and to never omit an assessment of the potential for suicide. 16 Depression: SYMPTOMS AND THEORIES ABOUT THERAPIES Suggested Readings At the end of each chapter, we present a few suggested readings. This will be helpful for practitioners who wish to pursue a few of the most important and recent readings regarding the topics in that chapter. Discussions Diagnosis • DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000a) is used by most mental health professionals in the United States. The DSM-IV was initially published in 1994 (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). A newer edition with revised text—but identical diagnostic criteria—was published in 2000 (American Psychiatric Association, 2000a). Although the diagnostic criteria remain the same in the 2000 edition, its text discussions of matters such as prevalence, asso-ciated features, and course of Depression have been updated. This reference is indispensable for practitioners who frequently work with depressed patients. Comorbid Conditions • Mineka et al. (1998) reviewed the association between Depression and anxiety disorders. These comorbid conditions are common, and this scholarly review is interesting and helpful.
eBook - PDF- Rob Poole, Robert Higgo, Catherine A. Robinson(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
There is a prima facie case that where the origins of unhappiness lie in social conditions, it would be better to address these directly, either at the individual or at the societal level. The illusion of solutions through therapeutic intervention may be damaging. Depression as an illness Until the 1960s, psychiatry regarded anxiety and Depression as separate condi- tions. Three main subtypes of Depression were recognised. The first was manic- Depression, now known as bipolar affective disorder, which is still regarded as a separate disease entity. The second was a severe form of Depression that tended to recurrence in the absence of episodes of mania. It was characterised by bio- logical features such as sleep disturbance, and was often associated with mood- congruent delusions. This was variously known as melancholia, psychotic depres- sion or endogenous Depression. The term ‘endogenous’ reflected the belief that the condition lacked external antecedents. Sir Aubrey Lewis gave a lucid historical account of melancholia in a seminal paper (Lewis, 1934). Finally, there was neurotic or reactive Depression that was essentially a response to social and psychological circumstances. The 1960s and 1970s were a period when psychiatric nosology was subject to intense research effort. Although the model of three distinct types of Depression corresponded to clinical experience, it was difficult to find supporting evidence for systematic differences between two (or more) distinct types of unipolar Depression. Indeed, it was difficult to show that Depression and anxiety clustered into separate disorders. The ‘endogenous’ nature of Depression was called into question as evidence accumulated that relapse was associated with antecedent adversity, mainly through life-event research. Robert Kendell summarised the evidence in the mid 1970s (Kendell, 1976), noting that there was continuing confusion over the nosology of Depression.
Index pages curate the most relevant extracts from our library of academic textbooks. They’ve been created using an in-house natural language model (NLM), each adding context and meaning to key research topics.
