|
Depression is a mood disorder in which the predominant feelings are of sadness. Depression describes an individual episode of mood disorder. A depressive episode may be part of a lifetime pattern of mood disorder. The common lifetime diagnoses which include depressive episodes are:
- recurrent depressive disorder
- bipolar affective disorder
- persistent affective disorders
NICE note that depression is a broad and heterogeneous diagnosis
- central to it is depressed mood and/or loss of pleasure in most activities
- severity of the disorder is determined by both the number and severity
of symptoms, as well as the degree of functional impairment
- formal diagnosis using the ICD-10 classification system requires
at least four out of ten depressive symptoms, whereas the DSM-IV system
requires at least five out of nine for a diagnosis of major depression
(referred to in this guideline as 'depression')
- symptoms should be present for at least 2 weeks and each symptom
should be present at sufficient severity for most of every day.
Both diagnostic systems require at least one (DSM-IV) or two (ICD
10) key symptoms (low mood, loss of interest and pleasure or loss
of energy ) to be present.
Notes:
- increasingly, it is recognised that depressive symptoms below the DSM IV
and ICD 10 threshold criteria can be distressing and disabling if persistent
- the most recent NICE guideline covers 'subthreshold depressive symptoms',
which fall below the criteria for major depression, and are defined as
at least one key symptom of depression but with insufficient other symptoms
and/or functional impairment to meet the criteria for full diagnosis
- symptoms are considered persistent if they continue despite active
monitoring and/or low-intensity intervention, or have been present
for a considerable time, typically several months. (For a diagnosis
of dysthymia, symptoms should be present for at least 2 years .)
- case identification and recognition
- NICE advice that clinicians should be alert to possible depression (particularly
in people with a past history of depression or a chronic physical health
problem with associated functional impairment) and consider asking people
who may have depression two questions, specifically:
- during the last month, have you often been bothered by feeling down,
depressed or hopeless?
- during the last month, have you often been bothered by having little
interest or pleasure in doing things?
Reference:
|
