lesson 8 depression

Question 1

diagnosis of depression

Answer 1

-at least 5 symptoms must be present everyday for two weeks
-5 symptoms must include sadness or loss of interest and pleasure in normal activities
-person will show impairment in general functioning and has not been caused by other events

Question 2

behavioural characteristics of depression

Answer 2

Shift in energy levels- depressed people may have reduced amounts of energy resulting in fatigue lethargy and high levels of inactivity, might lead to withdrawal from work, education and their social life, some might have high amounts of nervous energy wherevy they become agitated and restless = psychomotor agitation, they may pace around, wring their hands, tear at their skin
Social impairment- reduced levels of social interactions with friends and relations, may distance themselves from friends and family
Weight changes- significant increase or decrease in weight associated with depression, some people might eat great amounts and therefore put on a great deal of weight, others might have a reduced appetite and eat very little therfore lose a great deal of weight
Poor personal hygiene- reduced incidence of washing and wearing clean clothes
Sleep pattern disturbance- often chracterised by constant insomnia whereby they have difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep and they might wake up very early, alternatively might require large amounts of sleep and might oversleep (hypersomnia)
Aggression and self harm- sufferers of depression are often irritable and can become verbally or physically aggressive, self harm/attempting suicide

Question 3

emotional characteristics of depression

Answer 3

Loss of enthusiasm- lessened concern with and/or lack of pleasure in daily activities such as hobbies or things 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, might also experience very low levels of self-esteem
Anger- person 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

Question 4

cognitive characteristics of depression

Answer 4

Delusions- some depressive patients will experience delusions, generally concerning guilt, punishment, personal inadequacy or disease, some will also experience hallucinations which can be auditory, visual, olfactory, haptic
Reduced concentration- can be difficulty paying/maintaining attention and person might feel that they cannot stay on task for long periods of time, might have slower thought processes than normal and difficulty making decisions even if a simple one, this can interfere with persons ability to do their job
Thoughs of death- constant thoughts of death and/or suicide, might believe world is a better placw without them and might make plans to end their life
Poor memory- will have trouble retrieving memories and their memory might be very poor in general
Negative thinking- often have a negative view of the world and they expect things to turn out badly rather than well, tend to have negative expectations about their lives and relationships and the world in general, leads to self-fulfilling prophecy whereby if uou 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- most situations not all bad or good, sufferers of depressions tend to think in this format and they usually think about events in absolutist terms