Defining Clinical Depression

698 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cause and effects of depression

Defining Clinical Depression People of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life have felt depressed and unhappy at some time in their lives. These periods of sadness usually pass after a short time, but for some people, this feeling can remain for weeks, months, and even years. (1) This prolonged state of unhappiness is called major (or clinical) depression and is characterized by a persistent sad or "empty" mood, loss of interest in favorite activities, difficulty concentrating, and many other symptoms. It is not simply a mental state but an illness that interferes with the way people feel, function, and think.(2) What are the symptoms of Clinical Depression? The American Psychiatric Association considers people to have clinical depression if they exhibit at least five of the following symptoms almost every day for two weeks, and must show at least one of the first two criteria: - depressed or sad mood most of the day - markedly diminished interest or pleasure in daily activities - substantial increase or decrease in appetite - insomnia or excessive sleeping - restlessness or slowness of movement - fatigue or loss of energy - feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt - difficulty concentrating, thinking, or making decisions - recurrent thoughts of death or suicide These symptoms must cause significant impairment of a person's ability to carry on with daily activities. Also, side affects of medication, drug abuse, a medical condition (thyroid abnormalities, for example), or bereavement, should be ruled out first. (3) A definite diagnosis of depression, however, requires an evaluation by a mental health specialist. What causes Clinical Depression? There has been deba... ... middle of paper ... ...tivity in the workplace. (3) Clinical depression affects everyone, not only those who are ill. Internet Sources Text: Rosenzweig, Leiman, and Breedlove. 2nd Edition. Biological Psychology: An Introduction to Behavioral, Cognitive, and Clinical Neuroscience. Sinauer Associates, Massachusetts, 1999. WWW Sources 1) Text: Rosenzweig, Leiman, and Breedlove. 2nd Edition. Biological Psychology: An Introduction to Behavioral, Cognitive, and Clinical Neuroscience. Sinauer Associates, Massachusetts, 1999. 2) Dr. Ivan's Depression Central http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.html 3)Scientific American Article: "The Neurobiology of Depression" http://www.sciam.com/missing.cfm 4)A Depression Web Site http://www.depression.org/ 5)More Information on Depression http://www.depression-info.com/ 6)Depression.com http://www.depression.com/

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Adlerian Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Solution Focused Brief Therapy

    3630 Words  | 8 Pages

    Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2010). Psychology. (2nd ed., p. 600). New York: Worth Pub.

    Read More

  • Biomechanics: Achilles Tendinopathy

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sussmilch-Leitch, S. P., Collins, N., Bialocerkowski, A. E., Warden, S. J., & Crossley, K. M. (2012). Physical therapies for achilles tendinopathy: systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Foot and Ankle Research , 1-16.

    Read More

  • The Graston Technique

    1352 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plantar fasciitis is caused from muscles and ligaments that alter the calcaneous (the big bone on hill of foot) (Daniels and Morrell 2012). The alteration of these muscles and ligaments will inflict pain and discomfort on the patient, and if not treated will cause failure of ligaments, bones, and muscles. The patient was tested with a simple squat technique that showed his heels were coming off the ground (Daniels and M...

    Read More

  • Valley of the Kings

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Valley of the Kings or Valley of the Tombs of the Kings was an underground

    Read More

  • Essay On Ankle Instability

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    Functional ankle instability is described as the tendency of the foot to ‘give way’.1 Functional instability (FI) is defined as the subjective feeling of ankle instability or recurrent, symptomatic ankle sprains (or both) due to proprioceptive and neuromuscular deficits.2 Individuals reporting giving way in the absence of a mechanical deficit are usually classified as having FAI.Incidents of the ankle “giving way”, is reported in 40% to 60% of individuals who suffer at least one ankle sprain. 3,12,16,19,26

    Read More

  • Map Room Assignment: The Valley of the Kings

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Valley of the Kings was first documented in 1799 during Napoleon's exploration of Egypt by one of his scholars. In 1816, Giovanni Belzoni carried out one of the first excavations of the necropolis, unveiling and identifying eight tombs. Other excavations have been carried out since then. Starting in 1902, Theodore M. Davis funded a major and

    Read More

  • Understanding the Healing Practice of Cupping

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    By stimulating the largest organ in our body, that is the skin, cupping is believed to yield immense health benefits.[1] Chinese medicine works based on the principle of flow of energy, _qi_. Illnesses occur when there is a blockage in the flow of energy. Cupping aims at facilitating the free flow of energy to restore balance and healing. There are quite a handful of studies on cupping benefits, but most of them are inconclusive and call for further studies. Here are some of the conditions that could potentially be eased by cupping:

    Read More

  • Comparing Dry Needling Effectiveness in Plantar Heel Pain

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cotchett, M. P., Munteanu, S. E., & Landorf, K. B. compares the effectiveness of trigger point dry needling and sham dry needling in patients with plantar heel pain. They stated that plantar heel pain is not only a common source of pain but also a common source of disability. Within this study, there were 198 patients screened to participated, and of those individuals, 84 were enrolled. Being able to see the effectiveness of dry needling is important because dry needling is a great source for pain management. The participants were randomly split into two groups, a control (sham dry needling) and experiment group (real dry needling). They took measurements for the primary outcome (first-step pain, foot pain) at baseline, 2,4,6 and 12 weeks.

    Read More

  • The Valley Of The Kings: Theban Mapping Project

    2074 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Valley of the Kings is a valley in Egypt which was chosen as the burial ground for a great number of pharaohs and nobles of the New Kingdom; the New Kingdom in Egypt spans the time between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC which includes the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth dynasties of Egypt (Long 2015: 39). In 1979 an organization known as the Theban Mapping Project was organized to strategically catalogue the present and available archaeological record of the Theban Necropolis in the Valley of the Kings. “The TMP’s goal is to establish a historical and contemporary record of all monuments … and to prepare detailed topographical maps, architectural plans and surveys of their history and condition (Weeks 2000:1).” The book

    Read More

  • The Last State, Hawaii

    827 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hawaii’s economy started with trade. The first European trading ships that stopped at Hawaii to trade was in 1786. They were believed to be bringing furs from Oregon to China. However, the economy could not flourish so well without the help of pineapples and sugarcane fields. When the number of sugarcane fields started to increase, many immigrants were attracted because of the high amount of labour required for growing sugarcane. Plantations hired large numbers of Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, and Portuguese. However, the immigrants demanded their own food to be grown as well. This allowed the Chinese to replace poi, a thick gray paste from pounding...

    Read More

  • Four Year Old Development Analysis

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gall, S. B., Beins, B., & Feldman, A. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of psychology. (2nd ed., pp. 271-273). Detroit, MI: Gale Group.

    Read More

  • Major Depressive Disorder

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV); A person who suffers from this disorder must have a depressed mood, or have lost interest in things that would have normally brought them pleasure; for a minimum of two weeks. This must be different then the person’s normal behaviors, and it may not be caused by a general medical condition. (American Psychiatric Association, 1994)

    Read More

  • St. John Wort

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    Depression is a mental illness, which affects millions of Americans each year. Currently there are many prescription drugs, called anti-depressants that have been proven to successfully treat it. The causes of depression are somewhat of a medical enigma, however, it is known that depression is associated with a change in the brains chemistry involving the function of neurotransmitters (Reichert). This chemical change occurs in healthy brain’s, which experience sadness, but ends after the unpleasant stimulus is removed. In people suffering from depression this chemical change does not correspond to any particular stimulus. Symptoms of depression are often incapacitating and include severe and extended sadness, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of emptiness, irritability and anxiety (Reichert, Spake).

    Read More

  • Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anterior knee pain plagues the athletic community, the most common being runner’s knee or patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). One point or another in an athlete’s career they have experienced this kind of pain. When comparing between male and female athletes and who has the higher chance of knee pain, female athletes have a higher prevalence than male athletes (Dolak KL). There are several different mechanisms of patellofemoral pain a few being: pes planus,an increased Q angle, weak, tight or an imbalance in the quadriceps or hip muscles. Recently in my clinic site as the spring sports such as, baseball, soccer and track and field the athlete’s perform a lot of squatting, running, and kneeling which load the patellofemoral joint. We are now starting to see several and treat several athletes with patellofemoral knee pain. Each of them experiencing the pain from a different mechanism. As an athletic trainer we want to treat not only the symptoms, but the mechanism of injury to prevent further injuries down the road. If patellofemoral pain syndrome is not properly treated it can develop into chronic diseases such as chondromalacia or arthritis, maybe eventually leading to a total knee plan. (Lee SE) Treatment while the athletes are young and symptoms aren’t severe is key to preventing further injury.

    Read More

  • Parent-Child Relationship

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edited by Raymond J. Corsini. Encyclopedia of Psychology, Second Edition, Volume 1. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc.

    Read More

More about Defining Clinical Depression

Open Document