Depression Flashcards
depression
mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
behavioural - a way people act
cognitive - refers to the process of ‘knowing’ including thinking, reasoning , remembering , believing
DSM categories of depression and depressive disorders
major depressive disorder - severe but often short term depression
persistent depressive disorder - long term / recurring depression (including sustained major depression , used to be called dysthymia)
disruptive mood dysregulation disorder : childhood temper tantrums
premenstrual dysphoric disorder - disruption to mood prior to an or during menstruation
behavioural characteristics of depression
activity levels - typically they have reduced energy levels - making them lethargic. has a knock on effect - people tend to withdraw from work , education and social life, sometimes people can’t get out of bed. Sometimes, depression can lead to the opposite effect (psychomotor agitation - struggle to relax.
disruption to sleep and eating: depression can cause changes to sleeping. A person can experience reduced sleep especially early waking or increased need to sleep. Also appetite may increase / decrease - weight gain/ loss. Behaviours are disrupted by depression
aggression and self harm : often irritable , some case verbal or physically aggressive. Can have serious knock on effects on a number of aspects of their life.
e.g. someone with depression may have verbal aggression ending relationship or quitting a job
Depression can also lead to physical aggression to self. Self harm, cutting, suicide attempts
emotional characteristics of depression:
lowered mood : an emotional element of depression but more pronounced in daily experience feeling lethargic and sad - feeling ‘worthless’ or ‘empty ‘
anger - frequent anger and sometime extreme anger. can be directed to self or others . emotional behaviour can lead to self harming behaviour
lowered self esteem - self esteem is the emotional experience of how much we like ourself. people with depression tend to have lowered self esteem which can be quite extreme
cognitive characteristics of depression
poor concentration - depression associate with poor levels of concentration. Person may find themselves unable to stick with a task or struggle to make decisions
attending to and dwelling on the negative: paying more attention to negative aspects and ignoring positives. they also have bias when recalling unhappy events rather than happy one
absolutist thinking: most situations are not all good or all bad. when a person is depressed, they tend to think like this - ‘black and white thinking’. When a situation is unfortunate they tend to see it as an absolute disaster.
