Symptoms Of Major Depression

Depression is thought to be a product of both biological and psychological processes in a person's being. Stress is the fundamental factor in the first two episodes of depression. It is the trigger that starts the feeling of depression and it constantly feeds this until such time that depression has developed into a major stage. During the foremost stage, mental stress is no longer a factor. Genetics and temperament take the place of mental stress during the advanced stages of depression.

Feelings of depression are normal if they do not disrupt the daily activities of the people and the depression cycle does not last more than a few days. Weeks of depression is normally considered as a mild form of depression that may progress to something serious, such as a unipolar depression, bipolar or manic-depressive depression or worse, psychotic depression. Now that people know what causes major depression, they will have to take a look at the different major depression treatments available to understand how they work and if they will work for them. The major depression treatments described in many places can be categorized to fall under two major options. The first category is the psychosocial therapies; the second, the medical therapies option. Psychosocial therapies include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy and Psychoanalytically Oriented Therapy.

Medical therapies normally include hospitalization and administration of antidepressant medications.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for psychological Disorders or DSM, which is the accepted authority on mental disorders, has specified certain criteria for diagnosing depression. The criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or DSM for diagnosing major depressive disorder is the, Depressed mood, or feeling sad, Uninterested in most or all activities that used to be pleasurable, Significant change in eating patterns, either eating too much or too little, Sleep disturbances, either sleeping too much or not being able to get to sleep and stay sleep, Moving too slowly or being agitated, as observed by others, Fatigue or having low energy,

Feelings of worthlessness, Lack of ability to concentrate or make decisions and Recurring thoughts of death.

In order to have a diagnosis of major depressive period, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or DSM requires that five or more of the above-mentioned criteria be present during a 2-week period, and at least one of the symptoms must be either depressed mood or loss of interest in activities. Those people with major depressive disorder experience a drastic disturbance in their daily activities. In fact, most of the people who suffer from major depression have trouble even getting out of bed, and may suffer in their jobs and relationships as a result of this disorder.

Dysthymia is a form of mild psychological depression and the diagnosis for dysthymic disorder is also set out in the DSM. In order to receive a proper diagnosis of dysthymic disorder, the DSM specifies that a depressed mood must have been present for most of the day for at least 2 years. It also specifies that while the sufferer is depressed at least two of the symptoms must be present, poor appetite or overeating, sleep disturbance, fatigue, low self-esteem, poor concentration, and feelings of hopelessness. There are a number of treatment alternatives for depression available today, and people can find one that works for them easily.

• Juliana Breckinridge
• 26/12/2008, 12:59 PM
• 0 Comments