Depression

Question 1

What is depression?

Answer 1

A mental disorder, characterised by low mood and low energy levels

Question 2

What are the DSM-5 categories of depression?

Answer 2

• Major depressive disorder (severe but short term)
• Persistent depressive disorder (long term/recurring)
• Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (childhood temper tantrums)
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (disruption to mood prior to/during menstruation)

Question 3

What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 3

• Activity levels (reduced-withdrawal from work, social life OR increased- psychomotor agitation)
• Disprution to sleep and eating behaviour (insomnia or hypersomnia, increased/decreased appetite- weight gain/loss)
• Aggression and self harm (irritable and physically/verbally aggressive)

Question 4

What are the emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 4

• Lowered mood (‘worthless’/’empty’- more than feeling sad)
• Anger (directed to the self of others- lead to aggression and self harm)
• Lowered self-esteem (self-loathing)

Question 5

What are the cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 5

• Poor concentration (unable to stick to a task or poor decision making)
• Attending to and dwelling on the negative (ignore the positives, bias towards unhappy events)
• Absolutist thinking (black and white- all good or all bad= disaster)