Major depressive episode: Diagnostic caveats

In diagnosing the symptoms, the Psychiatrist or Psychologist must take the following into account:

* These symptoms must cause clinically important distress, or impair work, social or personal functioning, and they should not fulfil the criteria for Mixed Episode.

Major depressive episode:

In order to be diagnosed as suffering from a major depressive episode, the patient must meet the following criteria:

Over a two week period, the patient has consistently experienced five or more of the following symptoms, and these behaviours must be outside the parameters of the patient’s normal behaviour. Either depressed mood or decreased interest or pleasure must be one of the five (although both are frequently concomitant).

Major depressive episode

Major depressive episode is a key symptom of major depressive disorder. It is characterized by severe, highly persistent depression, which is often manifested by lack of appetite, chronic fatigue, lethargy, and sleep disturbances (somnipathy). The victim may think about suicide, and in fact an increased risk of actual suicide is present.

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