Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology

2015 Edition
| Editors: Ian P. Stolerman, Lawrence H. Price

Depressive Disorders: Major, Minor, and Mixed

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First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36172-2_369
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Synonyms

Clinical depression; Depression; Unipolar depression

Definition

The depressive disorders comprise a spectrum of clinical syndromes characterized by persistent depressed mood or sadness, loss of interest (apathy), or loss of pleasure (anhedonia). These symptoms are to be distinguished from the transient feelings of unhappiness or sadness that constitute normal reactions to the disappointments or losses experienced in everyday life. The symptoms of depressive disorders cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning and are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition. Depression is generally differentiated from bereavement, the expectable constellation of depressive symptoms following the loss of a loved one, although depression may be diagnosed if such symptoms are sufficiently severe and pervasive or are not characteristic of a “normal” grief reaction in the...

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References

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Butler HospitalProvidenceUSA