Depression

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The DSM-5 recognises four categories of depression;

Major Depressive Disorder - severe but often short term depression

Persistent Depressive Disorder - long term/recurring depression including sustained major depression

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder - childhood temper tantrums

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder - mood disruption before and during menstruation

Behavioural Characteristics of Depression:

Activity Levels - Typically people with depression have reduced energy levels making them lethargic. This has a knock on effect meaning people may withdraw from work, education and their social lives. In extreme cases a person may not be able to get out of bed. In some cases it can lead to psychomotor agitation where a person struggles to relax and may end up pacing up and down a room

Sleep & Eating Disruption - Sufferers may experience reduced sleep (insomnia) or increased sleep (hypersomnia). Appetite and eating may also increase/decrease leading to weight gain/loss

Aggression & Self Harm - Sufferers of depression are often irritable and in some cases they can become verblly/physically aggressive. Depression can also lead to physical aggression directed against the self. This includes self harm and suicide attempts

Emotional Characteristics of Depression:

Lowered Mood - Patients often describe depression as feeling worthless and empty not just sad

Anger - Sufferers of depression often experience anger, sometimes extreme anger. This can be directed at the self or others

Lowered self-esteem - sufferers of depression often experience lowered self-esteem meaning they like themselves less than usual. This can be quite extreme with some sufferers of depression reporting a sense of self-loathing i.e. hating themselves

Cognitive Characteristics of Depression:

Poor Concentration - Sufferers of depression may find themselves unable to stick with a task as they usually would or they may find it hard to make decisions that they would normally find straightforward. Poor concentration and decision making are likely to interfere with the individual's work

Focusing on the Negative - When suffering a depressive episode people are inclined to pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. Sufferers also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones

Absolutist Thinking - 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 tht when a situation is unfortunate they tend to see it as an absolute disaster