Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mood disorder characterised by the presence of at least one major depressive episode in the absence of manic episodes and other disorders that may better account for presenting symptoms (e.g. schizoaffective disorder). A major depressive episode is defined as the presence of at least five of the following symptoms; depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation or retardation, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt, lack of concentration or indecisiveness, and recurrent thoughts of death. To qualify as a major depressive episode, the five presenting symptoms must contain either depressed mood or loss of interest, persist for a two week period, and represent a change from previous functioning. Diagnosis of MDD includes description of the recurrence and severity (mild, moderate, severe) of episodes, and may be further characterised by features......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 2893
Approximate Pages: 12 (260 words per double-spaced page) |