Characteristics of Depression

Question 1

what are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 1

• activity levels
• disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
• aggression
• self harm

Question 2

what are the emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 2

• lowered mood
• anger
• lowered self-esteem

Question 3

what are the cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 3

• poor concentration
• attending to and dwelling on the negative
• absolutist thinking

Question 4

what are activity levels?

Answer 4

• people with depression have reduced energy levels, making them lethargic
• people tend to withdraw from work, education and social life
• and in some extreme cases can’t get out of bed
• in some cases depression cases the opposite effect = psychomotor agitation
• agitated individuals = struggle to relax and may end up pacing up and down a room

Question 5

what is disruption to sleep?

Answer 5

• changes in sleeping behaviour
• may experience reduced sleep, insomnia, particularly premature waking
• increased need for sleep, hypersomnia

Question 6

what is eating behaviour?

Answer 6

appetite and eating may increase or decrease, leading to weight gain or loss

Question 7

what is agression?

Answer 7

• depressed people are often irritable, and in some cases become verbally or physically aggressive.
• this could lead to the ending of a relationship o quitting a job

Question 8

what is self harm?

Answer 8

depression can lead to physical aggression directed against the self, this may include self-harm, often in the form of cutting or suicide attempts

Question 9

what is lowered mood?

Answer 9

daily experience of feeling lethargic and sad
- people with depression describe themselves as worthless and empty

Question 10

what is anger?

Answer 10

people with depression frequently experience anger

Question 11

what is lowered self esteem?

Answer 11

self esteem = emotional experience of how much we like ourselves, people with depression have reduced self esteem

Question 12

what is poor concentration?

Answer 12

• 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 normally find straightforward
• this can interfere with individual’s work

Question 13

what is attending to and dwelling on the negative?

Answer 13

• people with depressive episode are inclined to pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives

Question 14

what is absolutist thinking?

Answer 14

• have ‘black and white thinking’, when a situation is unfortunate they tend to see it as an absolute disaster