Depression : Behavioral, Emotional and Cognitive Characteristics Flashcards
What is required to be diagnosed with depression?
At least 5 symptoms must be present every day for two weeks.
The five symptoms must include sadness or loss of interest and pleasure in normal activities.
The person will show impairment in general functioning that has not been caused by other events (death of loved one).
Describe the behavioural characteristics of depression
Shift in energy levels: some might have reduced amounts of energy = fatigue, lethargy and high levels of inactivity = withdraw from work, education and their social life. Some might have high amounts of nervous energy whereby they become agitated and restless (called psychomotor agitation) . They may pace around, wring their hands and tear at their skin.
Social impairment: reduced levels of social interactions with friends and relations.
Weight changes: significant increase or decrease in weight is associated with depression. Some people might eat a lot when they are depressed and therefore put on a lot of weight. Other people have a reduced appetite and eat very little = lose a lot of weight.
Poor personal hygiene: they often have reduced incidence of washing and wearing clean clothes etc.
Sleep pattern disturbance: some might have constant insomnia whereby they have difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep and they might wake up very early. Alternatively they might require a lot of sleep and they might oversleep (hypersomnia)
Aggression and self harm: they are often irritable and they can become physically or verbally aggressive, for instance quitting their job impulsively. They might also be physically aggressive in the form of self harming, such as cutting themselves or attempting suicide.
Describe the emotional characteristics of depression
Loss of enthusiasm: lessened concern with and/or lack of pleasure in daily activities such as hobbies or things that the person used to enjoy.
Constant depressed mood: ever present and overwhelming feelings of sadness/hopelessness and feeling empty.
Worthlessness: constant feelings of reduced worth and/or inappropriate feelings of guilt. They might also experience very low levels of self esteem.
Anger: they might feel anger which might be directed towards others or turned inwards towards the self, which could result in self harm. Depression may arise from feelings of being hurt and wishing to retaliate
Describe the cognitive characteristics of depression
Delusions: some will experience delusions, generally concerning guilt, punishment, personal inadequacy or disease. Some will also experience hallucinations ( can be auditory, visual, olfactory (smell), and haptic (touch))
Reduced concentration : difficulty in paying/maintaining attention, and the person might feel that they cannot stay on task for long periods of time. Slower thought processes than normal and difficulty making decisions (even if the decision seems very simple). This can interfere with the person’s ability to do their job.
Thoughts of death: constant thoughts of death and/or suicide. They might believe that the world would be a better place without them, and they might make plans to end their life.
Poor memory: trouble retrieving memories and their memory might be very poor in general.
Negative thinking: they often have a negative view of the world and they expect things to turn out badly rather than well. They tend to have negative expectations about their lives and relationships, and the world in general. This leads to the self fulfilling prophecy whereby if you expect negative things to happen, then they probably will. Positive factors in their life will be ignored and they have a cognitive bias.
Absolutist thinking: tend to think that situations are all bad if all good.
Tend to think “it was a complete disaster” rather than, “that was good, but there are a few things that could have been better.”
