Clinical depression is found more in some Western countries like Australia where one in four women and one in six men will be found to suffer from it. It has been found that clinical depression is the main cause of disability in the US and the World Health Organization tell us that it is expected to become the secondary leading cause of disability in the world by 2020 after heart disease.
Clinical depression symptoms are varied and often include feelings and emotions that can be found in people without depression. Due to this health practitioners have to determine a proper diagnosis by applying a number of symptomatic criteria as suggested in the DSM-IV-TR or ICD-9/ICD-10.
The DSM-IV-TR criteria tells us for accurately diagnosing clinical depression, a person may be diagnosed as clinically depressed if he/she exhibits one of the following two elements for a period of two weeks or more:
A depressed mood or being unable to find pleasure from usually pleasurable events (otherwise known as Anhedonia).
Combining any of the two elements above with any five of the list of other symptoms experienced over the same two-week period is sufficient to diagnose clinical depression in a person:
* Being overwhelmed by feelings of sadness or fear
* Or inability to feel emotion (feeling empty)
* Finding less pleasure or interest in all, or almost all activities, even activities that they used to find pleasure in
* A changing of appetite and a noticeable affect either up or down in weight.
* Disruptive sleep patterns, which may cause insomnia, loss of REM sleep, or excessive sleep otherwise known as hypersomnia.
* Agitation affecting the psychomotor functions, or retardation
* Feeling drained, a mental or physical loss of energy.
* Feelings of guilt, helplessness, despair, anxiety or fear
* Trouble concentration or making decisions
* Slowing of cognition, including memory
* Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide including trying to kill oneself
A person can be diagnosed with clinical depression despite the fact that they do all of the criteria. As well as, the debate over the relative importance of genetic or environmental factors, or gross brain problems as against psychosocial functioning, is still currently ongoing.
Treating clinical depression may be different for each individual and that is important to remember. In fact, there are as many methods used to treat clinical depression as there are symptoms. Never the less, the two main methods used when treating the condition are usually medication and psychotherapy. In the event that medication fails, it is possible that a third treatment known as ECT or electroconvulsive therapy may be tried.
Definition Of Clinical Depression
But just because one person is moping around and just generally hating the world around him or her, doesn't mean that it's already depression, but if this kind of behavior, the feeling of emptiness, loss of self-worth and absolutely no hope for happiness just goes on and on, then, yes, that individual is very much, indeed, depressed.
Still, there are various types of depression, from Manic or Bipolar depression - characterized by sudden and extreme changes in one's mood wherein one minute he or she is in an elevated state of euphoria while the next minute (day or week) he or she is feeling to be in a personal hell, Postpartum depression - characterized by a prolonged sadness and a feeling of emptiness by a new mother wherein physical stress during child birth, an uncertain sense of responsibility towards the new born baby can be just some of the possible factors why some new mother go through this, Dysthimia - characterized by a slight similarity with depression, although this time, it's been proven to be a lot less severe, but of course with any case, should be treated immediately, Cyclothemia - characterized by a slight similarity with Manic or Bipolar depression wherein the individual suffering from this mental illness may occasionally suffer from severe changes in one's moods, Seasonal Affective Disorder - characterized by falling in a rut only during specific seasons (i.e. Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall) studies however, prove that more people actually fall in to a rut more during the WInter and Fall seasons and lastly, Mood swings, wherein a person's mood may shift from happy to sad to angry in just a short time.
Clinical depression however, or as some might call as 'major' depression, is actually the medical term for depression. Actually clinical depression is more of a disorder rather than an illness since it basically covers only those who are suffering from symptoms related to depression. Clinical depression is how doctors usually refer to "depression" when giving a diagnose of their patient. It's basically just a medical term.
However, in spite of being an actual disorder, Clinical depression may well be treated. Doctors are actually highly optimistic that their patients who are suffering from Clinical disorder will be well on their way towards good mental health as long as they treated as soon as they have been diagnosed with Clinical depression. Patients who have been seeking for treatments for Clinical depression have proven to be quite successful in their quest, given that 80 percent of actual Clinical depression patients have been treated and has somewhat found relief from their disorder.
For those who may be seeking some answers for their Clinical depression related questions, the depression section of the health center is highly recommended, as well as books on psychiatry and the internet - which can offer a lot of helpful information with regards to Clinical depression although self-medication/treatment is highly disapproved of. Clinical depression may not pose as much as a threat as the other types of depression, but it is best to leave it to the hands of professionals who can safely attend to and cure this disorder.
Both Henry Anderson & John Samson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Henry Anderson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Depression Cure. is you free resource for depression and depression related information. Visit. Henry Anderson's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.
John Samson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Depression Cure, Self Esteem and Dogs. For tips on and. John Samson's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.
Bike To School Day They have a knowledgeable and friendly staff that may help you about rental properties in Puerto Vallarta