ADULT MAJOR DEPRESSION

Etiology, Signs/Symptoms, & Prognosis

Major Depressive Disorder is correlated with high mortality; up to 15 percent die from suicide. A forthfold increase in death rates are found in those over age 55 years. Dysthymic Disorder may precede Major Depressive Disorder; estimations include that 10 percent of those with Dysthymic Disorder alone will have a Major Depressive Episode, each year. Major Depressive Disorder is sometimes associated with chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, myocardial infarction, carcinomas, or stroke; 20 to 25 percent will develop Major Depressive Disorder. Episodes of Major Depressive Disorder may follow a severe psychosocial stressor (death, divorce, etc.). Chronic medical conditions and substance dependence may contribute to the onset or exacerbation of an episode. The disorder is stated to be twice as common in adolescent and adult females. Rates for men and women ar

. . .
inical outcomes are found in patients with double depression; a particularly low rate of remission of major depression has been found in patients with double depression and high initial symptom severity. Those with dysthymia, even in the absence of major depression, demonstrate a poor outcome. Diagnostic Procedures Diagnostic validity or stability has been established through the use of clinical description, laboratory studies, delimitation from other diagnoses, follow-up, family studies, and structured interviews. Rice, Rochberg, Endicott, Lavori, and Miller (1992) studied diagnostic stability with data collected from 2226 first-degree relatives of 612 probands and data from a reassessment of all relatives after 6 years. Of those diagnosed as positive for major depression at the initial evaluation, 74 percent were positive at follow-up. Those found to be positive at one time and never ill at follow-up, may represent an error in diagnosis, effecting the study or analysis of affective disorders. Thus the importance of diagnostic procedures. The DSM-IV (1994) states: "Major Depressive Disorder is characterized by one or more Major Depressive Episodes (i.e., at least 2 weeks of depressed mood or loss of interest accompanie
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Depressive Disorder, Devereaux Carlson, Major Depression, Burnam Rogers, Performance Depressive, Lavori Miller, Archives Psychiatry, Conclusion Studies, Grove Tuason, McEachran Grochocinski, major depression, major depressive, archives psychiatry, archives psychiatry 49, psychiatry 49, major depressive disorder, depressive disorder, depression archives psychiatry, depression archives, depression found, dsm-iv 1994, tuason 1992, cognitive therapy, devereaux carlson 1992, hollon derubeis evans,
Approximate Word count = 2026
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

More Essays on ADULT MAJOR DEPRESSION