Depression

Question 1

What is depression?

Answer 1

Depression is a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels. All forms of depression and depressive disorders are characterised by changes to mood.

Question 2

How many types of depression have been identified by the DSM-5?

Answer 2

The DSM-5 has proposed four types of depression.

Question 3

Which four types of depression have been identified by the DSM-5?

Answer 3

• Major-depressive disorder
• Persistent depressive disorder
• Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Question 4

What is major depressive disorder?

Answer 4

Major depressive disorder is severe but often short-term depression.

Question 5

What is persistent depressive disorder?

Answer 5

Persistent depressive disorder is long-term or recurring depression, including sustained major depression and what used to be called dysthymia.

Question 6

What is disruptive mood dysregulation disorder?

Answer 6

Disruption mood dysregulation disorder refers to childhood temper tantrums.

Question 7

What is premestrual dysphoric disorder?

Answer 7

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder refers to disruption to one’s mood prior to or during menstruation.

Question 8

Characteristics of depression can be classified in which three ways?

Answer 8

• Behavioural characteristics
• Emotional characteristics
• Cognitive characteristics

Question 9

What are the three behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 9

• Activity levels
• Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
• Aggression and self-harm

Question 10

How are activity levels affected by depression?

Answer 10

Typically sufferers of depression have reduced levels of energy, making them lethargic. This has a knock-on effect, with sufferers tended to withdraw from work, education and social life. In extreme cases the can be so severe that the sufferer cannot get out of bed.

In some cases depression can lead to the opposite effect known as psychomotor agitation. Agitated individuals struggle to relax and may end up pacing up and down the room.

Question 11

How does depression negatively impact sleep and eating behaviour?

Answer 11

Depression is associated with changes to sleeping behaviour. Sufferers may experience 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 less. Such behaviours are disrupted by depression.

Question 12

How does depression result in aggression and self-harm?

Answer 12

Sufferers of depression are often irritable, and in some cases they can become verbally or physically aggressive. This can have serious knock-on effect on a number of aspects of their life. For example, someone experiencing depression might display verbal aggression by ending a relationship or quitting a job. Depression can also lead to physical aggression directed against the self. This includes self-harm, often in the form of cutting, or suicide attempts.

Question 13

What are the three emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 13

• Lowered mood
• Anger
• Lowered self-esteem

Question 14

How can depression cause one to experience a lowered mood?

Answer 14

People with depression will often experience a low mood. Patients often describe themselves as ‘worthless’ and ‘empty’.

Question 15

Clients with depression can experience anger. How might this present itself?

Answer 15

Sufferers of depression frequently experience anger which can be directed as the self or others. This could result in self-harming behaviour.

Question 16

Clients with depression may experience low self-esteem. How might this present itself?

Answer 16

Self-esteem is the emotional experience of how much we like ourselves. Sufferers of depression tend to report reduced self-esteem. This can be quite extreme, with some sufferers of depression describing a sense of self-loathing.

Question 17

What are cognitive characteristics of depression concerned with?

Answer 17

The cognitive aspect of depression is concerned with the ways in which people process information. People suffering from depression tend to process information quite differently from the ‘normal’ ways that people without depression thing.

Question 18

What are the three cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 18

• Poor concentration
• Attending to the negative
• Absolutist thinking

Question 19

Depression can result in people experiencing poor concentration. How does this present itself?

Answer 19

Depression is associated with poor levels of concentration. The sufferer 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 would find straightforward. Poor concentration and poor decision making are likely to interfere with the individual’s work.

Question 20

Depression causes one to attend to and dwell on the negative. How does this present itself?

Answer 20

When suffering a depressive episode people are inclined to pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. In other words they tend to see a glass as half empty rather than half full. Sufferers also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones.

Question 21

Depression can cause absolutist thinking. How does this present itself?

Answer 21

Most situations are not all-good or all-bad, but when a sufferer is depressed they tend to think in these terms. They sometimes call this ‘black and white thinking’. This means that when a situation is unfortunate they tend to see it as an absolute disaster.