Depression Flashcards
define depression
a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
what are the DSM-5 categories of depression
major depressive disorder - severe but often short-term depression
persistent depressive disorder - long-term or recurring depression, including sustained major depression
disruptive mood dysregulation disorder - childhood temper tantrums
premenstrual dysphoric disorder - disruption to mood prior to and/or during menstruation
describe activity levels characteristic of depression (behavioural)
people with depression have reduced levels of energy, making them lethargic
this has a knock-on effect with withdrawals from everyday life
it can be so severe that people cannot get out of bed
can have the opposite effect - psychomotor agitation - struggling to relax
describe disruption to sleep and eating behaviour characteristics (behavioural)
a person may experienced reduced sleep (insomnia), particularly premature waking, or an increased need for sleep (hypersomnia)
similarly, appetite and eating may increase or decrease, leading to weight gain or loss
describe aggression and self-harm characteristics (behavioural)
people may become verbally or physically aggressive as they are often irritable, can have serious knock-on effects on a number of aspects of their life
can lead to physical aggression directed against the self, including cutting or suicide attempts
describe lowered mood characteristics (emotional)
lowered mood is more pronounced than in the daily kind of experience of feeling lethargic and sad
people will often describe themselves as worthless and empty
describe anger characteristics (emotional)
experience of negative emotions is not limited to sadness, people can frequently experience extreme anger, directed at the self or others, such emotions can lead to aggressive or self-harming behaviour
describe lowered self-esteem characteristics (emotional)
self-esteem is the emotional experience of how much we like ourselves
people with depression tend to report reduced self-esteem
can be quite extreme, describing themselves as self-loathing
what are the cognitive aspects of depression
concerned with the ways in which people process information, people with depression tend to process information about several aspects of the world quite differently from the ‘normal’ ways
describe poor concentration characteristics (cognitive)
person may find themselves unable to stick to a task as they usually would, or they might find it hard to make decisions that they would usually find straightforward
this interferes with the individual’s work
describe attending to and dwelling on the negative characteristics (cognitive)
when experiencing a depressive episode people are more inclined to pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives
people will also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones
describe absolutist thinking (cognitive)
people tend to see a situation as all-good or all-bad, ‘black-and-white thinking’
when a situation is unfortunate they tend to see it as an absolute disaster
