Lesson 8 - Depression: Behavioural, Emotional & Cognitive Characteristics Of Depression

Question 1

Ao1: diagnosis of depression

Answer 1

• at least 5 symptoms must be present every day for two weeks.
• the five symptoms must include sadness or loss of interest and pleasure in normal activities
• person will show impairment in general functioning that has not been caused by other events (death of loved one)

Question 2

What are the 6 behavioural characteristics of depression (action)?

Answer 2

1) shift in energy levels:
- reduced amounts of energy resulting in fatigue; withdraw from social life; some may have high amounts of energy levels

2) social impairment:
- reduced levels of social interactions

3) weight changes:
- significant increase or decrease in weight

4) poor personal change:
- reduced incidence of washing & wearing clean clothes

5) sleep pattern disturbance:
- constant insomnia/hypersomnia

6) aggression & self harm:
- often irritable & can become physically/verbally aggressive

Question 3

What are the 4 emotional characteristics of depression (feelings)?

Answer 3

1) loss of enthusiasm:
- lessened concern/lack of pleasure in daily activities

2) constant depressed mood:
- overwhelming feelings of sadness & feeling empty

3) worthlessness:
- constant feelings of reduced worth & inappropriate feelings of guilt

4) anger:
- might be directed towards others or turned inwards towards the self

Question 4

What are the 6 cognitive characteristics of depression (thinking)?

Answer 4

1) Delusions:
- experience delusions, generally concerning guilt, punishment, personal inadequacy or disease
- experience hallucinations, which can be auditory, visual, olfactory (smell), and haptic (touch)

2) Reduced concentration:
- difficulty in paying/maintaining attention, and the person might feel that they cannot stay on task for long periods of time

3) Thoughts of death:
- constant thoughts of death and/or suicide
- might believe that the world would be a better place without them, and they might make plans to end their life

4) Poor memory:
- trouble retrieving memories and their memory might be very poor in general

5) Negative thinking:
- have a negative view of the world and they expect things to turn out badly rather than well
- positive factors in their life will be ignored and they have a cognitive bias

6) Absolutist thinking:
- usually think about events in absolutist terms, “it was a complete disaster” rather than, “that was good, but there are a few things that could have been better.”