Major depression
From Expert System: Depression
Major, severe clinical depression is characterized by a disabling and serious group of symptoms which include, among other complaints, four or more of the following:
1 Extremely sad mood to unrelieved despair, usually persisting beyond 2-4 weeks
2. Protracted and profound inability to function normally.
3. Various sleep disorders.
4. Extensive loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyed.
5. Change in appetite or weight loss
6. Physical slowing or agitation. Severe energy loss.
7. Feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
8. Obsession with thoughts of death, dying, and suicide, sometimes with suicidal attempts.
In addition, major depression is often accompanied by anxiety and various physical symptoms. Some patients in this group are classified psychiatrically as belonging to various psychotic categories such as organic mood disorders, manic depression, "schizoaffective" depression, "dysthymia," etc.
Major or serious depression per se is not a diagnosis or a condition you either have or do not have. According to some authorities (Handbook of Depression, Second Edition, Beckham and Leber) despite attempts at classification made by the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV, etc.), there is no valid test for any of these categories, since the actual diagnosis and its severity is, like most mental or emotional illnesses, uniquely expressed in each individual.
Most patients with depression exhibit anxiety which may be accompanied by drug or alcohol abuse. Patients with chronic or severe organic illness such as cancer or severe heart are vulnerable to major depression. A number of patients with major or minor depressive illness present only with physical symptoms without definable "organic" cause. For more extensive discussions, after running the program click on the various helpful links we have provided on the diagnosis page.
If you have any signs or symptoms of major or other depressive illness, or you, your family or associates THINK you have depression, you should seek help from your physician or licensed mental health specialist.
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