How to Analyze Depression Disorders
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 25% of the American adult population experiences some form of depression each year. There are multiple types of depression disorders and clinicians need to use their best judgment and experience in analyzing and diagnosing patients.Things You'll Need
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)
Instructions
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Analyzing Depression Symptoms
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Make a list of all the possible depression disorders that a person may be suffering from. The major types of depression disorders include major depression, bipolar disorder, dysthymic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, seasonal affective disorder and postpartum depression.
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Interview the person being analyzed for a depression disorder and make notes of all the major symptoms and signs that he or she is reporting. Classic signs of depression disorders that you'll want to take note of include persistent sad feelings, feelings of hopelessness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, sleeping problems, fatigue or loss of interest and possible thoughts of suicide.
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Refer to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) by the American Psychiatric Association to help make an official diagnosis. This manual lists all the possible medically recognized mental health and depression disorders.
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Take note of and write down any further symptoms, called specifiers, that you observe about the person or which are reported to you. Specifiers are detailed information about the diagnosis you have made and help to classify the depression disorder further. For example, the diagnosis of Major Depression, recurrent with catatonic features, means that a person is experiencing major depression combined with unusual body movements or mannerisms (i.e. rigid posture and bizarre body positions as examples).
Descriptions of other specifiers like melancholic features, rapid-cycling and atypical features can be found by looking in the DSM-IV.
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