Diagnosing Depression

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  • Created by: Amy
  • Created on: 10-06-13 16:59
how many symptoms of depression have to be present so depression is diagnosed?
5
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a person must have one of two symptoms to be diagnosed with depression, what are these?
loss of interest in activities; in a depressed mood most of the day, everyday
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what other symptoms are there?
fatigue; weight gain or loss; hypersomnia/insomnia, feelings of worthlessness or guilt; recurrent thoughts of death/suicide
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what is the most common age of onset?
late 20s
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which gender is more likely to suffer from depression?
females
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why?
hormones; more likely to admit symptoms
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although most major depressive episodes disappear eventually, what is still common?
relapse and recurrence
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what is relapse?
when symptoms get worse during a period of incomplete or brief recovery
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what is recurrence?
when a new episode of depressive symptoms follow a period of recovery of more than 2 months
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where does depression mainly cause impaired functioning?
work, marital relationships and child/parent relationships
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who believed that some groups of symptoms that occur together regularly enough must have an underlying cause and believed all mental disorders were distinct from each other?
Kraeplin
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what two major groups of mental illness did he believe there was?
bipolar and schizophrenia
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what diagnostic manuals are his ideas used in today?
DSM, and ICD
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why do some people argue that depression should not be 'medicalised'?
all humans have mood levels, it's natural
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according to this, when should depression be diagnosed?
only when it causes impaired functioning
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how many people who go to their GP with depressive symptoms are not diagnosed? and who found this?
half - Goldberg and Huxley
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what percentage of the population suffer depression?
10%
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what percentage of these people are diagnosed by their GP?
3%
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why might a person's cultural background make depression difficult to diagnose?
people from non-western cultures report more bodily complaints than subject distress- could be misinterpreted if Western-based diagnostic tools are used
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why is it difficult to diagnose depression in people with another medical condition?
it's hard to see whether depression is secondary to the effects on the brain because of the medical condition, secondary to the effects on the brain because of drugs used to treat this disorder or reflective of a primary mood disorder
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why is depression harder to diagnose in men?
less likely to admit symptoms; actual psychological and biological differences in women
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why is diagnosing depression ethical?
because it's unethical to allow someone to suffer without help, so allows them to receive help and get better whilst improving their quality of life
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however why might it be unethical to diagnose someone with depression?
because you are assigning them a label
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why does the current diagnostic method lacking validity?
everyone interprets it and symptoms differently, may not be an accurate measurement
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

a person must have one of two symptoms to be diagnosed with depression, what are these?

Back

loss of interest in activities; in a depressed mood most of the day, everyday

Card 3

Front

what other symptoms are there?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what is the most common age of onset?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

which gender is more likely to suffer from depression?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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