Clinical depression
The term depression can also lead to a period of economic downturn, such as the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Depression is a mental illness that can affect mood, cognition, and physiological functioning. Each year about 21 million American adults (nearly 10% of the population) suffer from depression or a related illness[1]. The primary symptoms of depression include feeling sad or melancholic and losing in interest in activities that are usually enjoyable. Depression can also include significant, unintentional weight loss; difficulty sleeping or oversleeping; restlessness; fatigue or loss of energy; feeling worthless or inappropriately guilty; difficulty thinking or concentrating; and thoughts of suicide[2]. While everyone experiences symptoms of depression from time to time, these symptoms are usually transient and often in response to outside stressors. Although depression is sometimes triggered by life events, sufferers also often describe feeling sad for no reason at all.
Depressive Disorders
Major Depressive Disorder.
Dysthymia.
Bipolar Disorder.
References
- ↑ Robins, L.N. & Regier, D.A. (1990). Psychiatric Disorders in America: The Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. New York: The Free Press.
- ↑ American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.