Clinical Depression A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON THE DI

This study's research focus is on the diagnostic category of clinical depression which, itself, is a subcategory of the larger diagnostic category of mood disorder. Table 1 presents a breakdown of the basic diagnostic category. As can be seen from examination of this table, once clinical depression is diagnosed, the disorder can be classified into a category (Depressive Disorders) as well as a subcategory (Major Depressive Disorders or Dysthymia).

According to the American Psychiatric Association (See: DSM-IV, 1994), there are a number of factors that are common to the diagnosis of all categories and subcategories of depression. These common factors include: no history of a manic episode, and the presence of symptoms, for at least two weeks, that represent a change from the individual's previous functioning.

In general, symptoms indicative of some form of clinical depression include a depressed mood and/or a loss of interest or pleasure. Also, there can be weight loss or weight gain, sleep difficulties, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, inability to concentrate, and recurrent thoughts of death.

If the episode is the first one, it is classified as a single episode (Major Depressive Episode). For people who have had previous episodes, the disorder is considered a recurrent one. About one-half of those who experience a depressive episode

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e are a number of psychological test findings related to the proper diagnosis of depression. While they point out that there is great variation in the psychometric soundness of formal psychological tests used to measure depression, four tests can be said to have strong levels of validity and reliability. Regarding the performance of depressives on these four psychological tests, Katz and associates (1995) report that individuals with clinical depression tend to obtain: (1) scores of 15 or greater (16-23 = moderate depression; 24 - 63 = severe depression) on the Beck Depression Inventory; (2) a score of 80T or above on the Depression Scale of the MMPI (MMPI-D); (3) a score of 10 or above on the Carroll Rating Scale for Depression (CRS); and (4) a score of 16 or above on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). While psychological tests can be fairly reliable, it is important to understand that these instruments are not without their limitations. Some of these limitations have been discussed by Mays and Croake (1997) who report that one limitation is that such tests never stand by themselves; rather, they must always be evaluated along with other sources of diagnostic data. Further, the authors note that
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Mays Croake, Sacco Beck, Depressive Episode, Depressive Disorder, Dysthymic Disorder, Lin Walker, Shuchter Zisook, Scale Depression, Shaw Emery, According Strickland, major depressive, depressive disorder, major depressive disorder, cognitive therapy, depressive episode, major depressive episode, clinical depression, dysthymic disorder, mood disorders, depressed mood, mays croake, diagnostic criteria, mays croake 1997, sacco beck 1995, american psychiatric association,
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Approximate Pages = 36 (250 words per page)

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