How beautifully leaves grow old.  How full of light and color are their last days.

                                                                    John Burroughs

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© 2006  Calm Waters Psychological Services

With the expected rise in the number of older persons in general and the number of older persons seeking psychological services, psychological testing of older people quite likely will increase as well.

                                                                                     Segal, Coolidge, & Herson, 1998

Major Depression

What is it?  A depressive disorder is a decline in experiencing positive mental health.  Depression involves the body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. A major depression is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a Major Depression cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from Major Depression.

How will I know?  According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual 4th Edition (DSM-IV), five (or more) of the following symptoms are present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning.  At least At least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

1. Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.

2. Diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all activities of most of the day.

3. Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g. a change of more than 5% of body weight in one month).

4. Not sleeping at all or sleeping all the time.

5. Feelings  of restlessness or extreme fatigue.

6. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt.

7. Difficulty concentrating or making decisions.

8. Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation.

 

 

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