Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat It IsSymptomsDiagnosisCausesTreatmentCoping
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What It Is
Symptoms
Diagnosis
Causes
Treatment
Coping
Someone who is depressed may experience a lack of interest and excitement in everyday activities that they once enjoyed, and the overall emotional toll that depression can take on a person’s wellbeing can lead to emotional, physical, and mental issues that can impact nearly every facet of their life.
This serious condition is far more than a bout of the blues. Depression is a persistent condition that diminishes a person’s ability to function in their day-to-day life and can manifest withphysical symptomsas well, including chronic pain or gastrointestinal problems.
For an individual to receive a diagnosis of MDD, their symptoms must have been persistent for more than two weeks. Typical treatment includes psychotherapy as well as medications. In more severe cases of a depressive episode, hospitalization may be required, especially if the individual poses a risk of self-harm or suicide.
Theresa Chiechi / Verywell
What Is Major Depressive Disorder?
Depression goes far beyond the occasional feelings of sadness. Sadness is a normal human emotion, and there’s nothing wrong with feeling sad now and then, especially when there’s a very obvious root cause, such as being passed up for a promotion or something even more tragic such as the loss of a loved one.
Types
There are several specifiers that can further clarify the diagnosis of major depressive disorder, including:
Atypical Depression
The American Psychiatric Association considers this no longer to be a separate disorder, but rather major depressive disorder with atypical features.
Though it varies from person-to-person, it involves mood reactivity, increase in appetite, increased sleep, leaden feeling in the arms or legs, and sensitivity to rejection.
What Is Atypical Depression?
Catatonic Depression
Catatonic depressioncauses abnormal movements and an inability to function verbally and physically for an extended period of time.
Symptoms include not moving or talking or fast and unpredictable movements, changes in appetite and wakefulness, sudden weight loss or gain, feelings of deep sadness as well as guilt, and difficulty concentrating.
Depression With Anxious Distress
This type of depression is also associated with a great deal ofanxiety. To receive this clinical diagnosis, someone suffering must experience persistentfeelings of anxiety, including restlessness and difficulty participating in their daily activities due to a fear that something terrible will happen.
Melancholic Depression
This form of major depressive disorder is indicative of intense loss of pleasure in activities, along with hopelessness, to the point where a person may even feel that their life is not worth living. Like other subtypes, a patient may experience prolonged sadness, anxiety, lack of sleep, as well as changes in their body movement.
Peripartum Depression
This type of major depressive disorder is more commonly known aspostpartum depression. It is a major depressive disorder that occurs during pregnancy or after birth.
It’s quite common, with an estimated 3% to 6% of mothers experiencing the condition.It is associated with stress, anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, despair, extreme exhaustion, andloneliness.
What Is Perinatal Depression?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Now known as major depressive disorder with seasonal pattern, this type of major depressive disorder tends to crop up during the fall and winter months when the weather is colder and the sun sets earlier. It is symptomatic of many of the same mood changes as other subtypes, including feelings of sadness, changes in sleep, low energy, feelings of hopelessness and difficulty concentrating.
Seasonal Affective Disorder: How to Recognize and Manage Symptoms
According to 2017 statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 7.1% of adults in the United States—roughly 17.3 million—had at least one major depressive episode. Women were more likely to be affected than men (8.7% versus 5.3% respectively).
List of Documented Psychological Disorders
These are the most common signs and symptoms associated with major depressive disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health:
The risk of suicide among people with major depressive disorder is elevated compared with the general population. Although the exact risk is difficult to put a number on, it may be over 6%.
What’s more, depression is not only common in adults. In fact, an estimated 3.2% of children aged 3 to 17 have diagnosed depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Younger children may exhibit irritability and clinginess, complain about physical aches and pains, refusing to go to school, or be significantly underweight. Teens may avoid social interaction, do poorly in school, be overly sensitive and easy to anger, or turn to drugs and alcohol.
Alcohol and drug abuse are also common in adults with depression. Some studies suggest that MDD co-occurs in 32.8% with alcohol abuse disorder and 44.3% with substance abuse disorder.
Severe cases may manifest with symptoms of psychosis, including delusion and, in rare cases, hallucination. When this occurs, especially in older people, it can be misdiagnosed as dementia.
Alcohol and Depression: Understanding the Connection
For MDD to be diagnosed, a person must be experiencing five or more of the following symptoms during the same two-week period and at least should either be (1) depressed mood or (2) the loss of interest or pleasure:
Here are some possible differential diagnoses:
What Is Smiling Depression?
Multiple factors play a role in depression, which the APA categorizes as biochemical, genetic, personality, and environmental.These risk factors frequently intersect and can predispose a person to MDD:
What Does Endogenous Depression Mean?
Here are some of the most common forms of treatment for major depressive disorder.
Psychotherapy:
Medications:
Procedures:
You don’t have to feel alone in your mission tocopewith your depression. Here are some practical ways of healing yourself:
When to Seek Emergency HelpIf you think you may be in a position to harm yourself or someone else, call911or your local emergency number ASAP. There are also several treatment resources and support groups that can be sought through theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration(SAMHSA) National Hotline at1-800-662-HELP (4357).If you are having suicidal thoughts, dial988to contact the988 Suicide & Crisis Lifelineand connect with a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call911.
When to Seek Emergency Help
If you think you may be in a position to harm yourself or someone else, call911or your local emergency number ASAP. There are also several treatment resources and support groups that can be sought through theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration(SAMHSA) National Hotline at1-800-662-HELP (4357).If you are having suicidal thoughts, dial988to contact the988 Suicide & Crisis Lifelineand connect with a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call911.
If you think you may be in a position to harm yourself or someone else, call911or your local emergency number ASAP. There are also several treatment resources and support groups that can be sought through theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration(SAMHSA) National Hotline at1-800-662-HELP (4357).
If you are having suicidal thoughts, dial988to contact the988 Suicide & Crisis Lifelineand connect with a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call911.
17 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wisner KL, Sit DK, McShea MC, et al.Onset timing, thoughts of self-harm, and diagnoses in postpartum women with screen-positive depression findings.JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;70(5):490-498. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.87National Institutes of Mental Health.Major depression.National Institute of Mental Health.Depression.Isometsä E.Suicidal behaviour in mood disorders–who, when, and why?.Can J Psychiatry. 2014;59(3):120-130. doi:10.1177/070674371405900303Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Data and statistics on children’s mental health.Conway KP, Swendsen J, Husky MM, He JP, Merikangas KR.Association of lifetime mental disorders and subsequent alcohol and illicit drug use: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2016 Apr;55(4):280-8. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.01.006Worley MJ, Trim RS, Roesch SC, Mrnak-Meyer J, Tate SR, Brown SA.Comorbid depression and substance use disorder: longitudinal associations between symptoms in a controlled trial.J Subst Abuse Treat. 2012;43(3):291-302. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2011.12.010Wagner GS, McClintock SM, Rosenquist PB, McCall WV, Kahn DA.Major depressive disorder with psychotic features may lead to misdiagnosis of dementia: a case report and review of the literature.J Psychiatr Pract. 2011;17(6):432-438. doi:10.1097/01.pra.0000407968.57475.abAmerican Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Association; 2013. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596Bains N, Abdijadid S. Major depressive disorder. In:StatPearls. StatPearls PublishingAmerican Psychiatric Association.What is depression?Lohoff FW.Overview of the genetics of major depressive disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2010;12(6):539-546. doi:10.1007/s11920-010-0150-6Weissman MM, Berry OO, Warner V, Gameroff MJ, Skipper J, Talati A, Pilowsky DJ, Wickramaratne P.A 30-year study of 3 generations at high risk and low risk for depression.JAMA Psychiatry. 2016 Sep 1;73(9):970-7. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1586National Institute of Mental Health.Chronic illness and mental health.Ng E, Browne CJ, Samsom JN, Wong AHC.Depression and substance use comorbidity: What we have learned from animal studies.Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2017 Jul;43(4):456-474. doi:10.1080/00952990.2016.1183020Yang L, Zhao Y, Wang Y, et al.The effects of psychological stress on depression.Curr Neuropharmacol. 2015;13(4):494-504. doi:10.2174/1570159x1304150831150507Larrieu T, Layé S.Food for mood: Relevance of nutritional omega-3 fatty acids for depression and anxiety.Front Physiol. 2018;9:1047. doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.01047
17 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wisner KL, Sit DK, McShea MC, et al.Onset timing, thoughts of self-harm, and diagnoses in postpartum women with screen-positive depression findings.JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;70(5):490-498. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.87National Institutes of Mental Health.Major depression.National Institute of Mental Health.Depression.Isometsä E.Suicidal behaviour in mood disorders–who, when, and why?.Can J Psychiatry. 2014;59(3):120-130. doi:10.1177/070674371405900303Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Data and statistics on children’s mental health.Conway KP, Swendsen J, Husky MM, He JP, Merikangas KR.Association of lifetime mental disorders and subsequent alcohol and illicit drug use: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2016 Apr;55(4):280-8. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.01.006Worley MJ, Trim RS, Roesch SC, Mrnak-Meyer J, Tate SR, Brown SA.Comorbid depression and substance use disorder: longitudinal associations between symptoms in a controlled trial.J Subst Abuse Treat. 2012;43(3):291-302. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2011.12.010Wagner GS, McClintock SM, Rosenquist PB, McCall WV, Kahn DA.Major depressive disorder with psychotic features may lead to misdiagnosis of dementia: a case report and review of the literature.J Psychiatr Pract. 2011;17(6):432-438. doi:10.1097/01.pra.0000407968.57475.abAmerican Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Association; 2013. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596Bains N, Abdijadid S. Major depressive disorder. In:StatPearls. StatPearls PublishingAmerican Psychiatric Association.What is depression?Lohoff FW.Overview of the genetics of major depressive disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2010;12(6):539-546. doi:10.1007/s11920-010-0150-6Weissman MM, Berry OO, Warner V, Gameroff MJ, Skipper J, Talati A, Pilowsky DJ, Wickramaratne P.A 30-year study of 3 generations at high risk and low risk for depression.JAMA Psychiatry. 2016 Sep 1;73(9):970-7. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1586National Institute of Mental Health.Chronic illness and mental health.Ng E, Browne CJ, Samsom JN, Wong AHC.Depression and substance use comorbidity: What we have learned from animal studies.Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2017 Jul;43(4):456-474. doi:10.1080/00952990.2016.1183020Yang L, Zhao Y, Wang Y, et al.The effects of psychological stress on depression.Curr Neuropharmacol. 2015;13(4):494-504. doi:10.2174/1570159x1304150831150507Larrieu T, Layé S.Food for mood: Relevance of nutritional omega-3 fatty acids for depression and anxiety.Front Physiol. 2018;9:1047. doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.01047
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Wisner KL, Sit DK, McShea MC, et al.Onset timing, thoughts of self-harm, and diagnoses in postpartum women with screen-positive depression findings.JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;70(5):490-498. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.87National Institutes of Mental Health.Major depression.National Institute of Mental Health.Depression.Isometsä E.Suicidal behaviour in mood disorders–who, when, and why?.Can J Psychiatry. 2014;59(3):120-130. doi:10.1177/070674371405900303Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Data and statistics on children’s mental health.Conway KP, Swendsen J, Husky MM, He JP, Merikangas KR.Association of lifetime mental disorders and subsequent alcohol and illicit drug use: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2016 Apr;55(4):280-8. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.01.006Worley MJ, Trim RS, Roesch SC, Mrnak-Meyer J, Tate SR, Brown SA.Comorbid depression and substance use disorder: longitudinal associations between symptoms in a controlled trial.J Subst Abuse Treat. 2012;43(3):291-302. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2011.12.010Wagner GS, McClintock SM, Rosenquist PB, McCall WV, Kahn DA.Major depressive disorder with psychotic features may lead to misdiagnosis of dementia: a case report and review of the literature.J Psychiatr Pract. 2011;17(6):432-438. doi:10.1097/01.pra.0000407968.57475.abAmerican Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Association; 2013. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596Bains N, Abdijadid S. Major depressive disorder. In:StatPearls. StatPearls PublishingAmerican Psychiatric Association.What is depression?Lohoff FW.Overview of the genetics of major depressive disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2010;12(6):539-546. doi:10.1007/s11920-010-0150-6Weissman MM, Berry OO, Warner V, Gameroff MJ, Skipper J, Talati A, Pilowsky DJ, Wickramaratne P.A 30-year study of 3 generations at high risk and low risk for depression.JAMA Psychiatry. 2016 Sep 1;73(9):970-7. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1586National Institute of Mental Health.Chronic illness and mental health.Ng E, Browne CJ, Samsom JN, Wong AHC.Depression and substance use comorbidity: What we have learned from animal studies.Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2017 Jul;43(4):456-474. doi:10.1080/00952990.2016.1183020Yang L, Zhao Y, Wang Y, et al.The effects of psychological stress on depression.Curr Neuropharmacol. 2015;13(4):494-504. doi:10.2174/1570159x1304150831150507Larrieu T, Layé S.Food for mood: Relevance of nutritional omega-3 fatty acids for depression and anxiety.Front Physiol. 2018;9:1047. doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.01047
Wisner KL, Sit DK, McShea MC, et al.Onset timing, thoughts of self-harm, and diagnoses in postpartum women with screen-positive depression findings.JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;70(5):490-498. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.87
National Institutes of Mental Health.Major depression.
National Institute of Mental Health.Depression.
Isometsä E.Suicidal behaviour in mood disorders–who, when, and why?.Can J Psychiatry. 2014;59(3):120-130. doi:10.1177/070674371405900303
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Data and statistics on children’s mental health.
Conway KP, Swendsen J, Husky MM, He JP, Merikangas KR.Association of lifetime mental disorders and subsequent alcohol and illicit drug use: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2016 Apr;55(4):280-8. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.01.006
Worley MJ, Trim RS, Roesch SC, Mrnak-Meyer J, Tate SR, Brown SA.Comorbid depression and substance use disorder: longitudinal associations between symptoms in a controlled trial.J Subst Abuse Treat. 2012;43(3):291-302. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2011.12.010
Wagner GS, McClintock SM, Rosenquist PB, McCall WV, Kahn DA.Major depressive disorder with psychotic features may lead to misdiagnosis of dementia: a case report and review of the literature.J Psychiatr Pract. 2011;17(6):432-438. doi:10.1097/01.pra.0000407968.57475.ab
American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.Fifth Edition. American Psychiatric Association; 2013. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Bains N, Abdijadid S. Major depressive disorder. In:StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing
American Psychiatric Association.What is depression?
Lohoff FW.Overview of the genetics of major depressive disorder.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2010;12(6):539-546. doi:10.1007/s11920-010-0150-6
Weissman MM, Berry OO, Warner V, Gameroff MJ, Skipper J, Talati A, Pilowsky DJ, Wickramaratne P.A 30-year study of 3 generations at high risk and low risk for depression.JAMA Psychiatry. 2016 Sep 1;73(9):970-7. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1586
National Institute of Mental Health.Chronic illness and mental health.
Ng E, Browne CJ, Samsom JN, Wong AHC.Depression and substance use comorbidity: What we have learned from animal studies.Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2017 Jul;43(4):456-474. doi:10.1080/00952990.2016.1183020
Yang L, Zhao Y, Wang Y, et al.The effects of psychological stress on depression.Curr Neuropharmacol. 2015;13(4):494-504. doi:10.2174/1570159x1304150831150507
Larrieu T, Layé S.Food for mood: Relevance of nutritional omega-3 fatty acids for depression and anxiety.Front Physiol. 2018;9:1047. doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.01047
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