DSM-IV Depression - Word Medicine

'The Feel Better Report' is specifically designed to shift your emotional state from that of depression, no matter what the cause, to a more neutral state of mind where you are able to recognize hope, faith, and a future that is worth having.

This is to be used when a person is truly down to such a low degree that life almost seems unbearable.

Note: When you read The FEEL BETTER Report six days in a row, it teaches your mind a habit of thought so that it permanently does these thinking patterns automatically.

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Below is an article on DSM-IV Depression that you may find helpful.

According to the DSM-IV, a person who suffers from major depressive disorder must either have a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities consistently for at least a two week period. This mood must represent a change from the person's normal mood; social, occupational, educational or other important functioning must also be negatively impaired by the change in mood. A depressed mood caused by substances (such as drugs, alcohol, medications) or which is part of a general medical condition is not considered to be major depressive disorder. Major depressive disorder cannot be diagnosed if a person has a history of manic, hypomanic, or mixed episodes (e.g., a bipolar disorder) or if the depressed mood is better accounted for by schizoaffective disorder and is not superimposed on schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder or psychotic disorder. Further, the symptoms are not better accounted for by bereavement (i.e., after the loss of a loved one) and the symptoms persist for longer than two months or are characterized by marked functional impairment, morbid preoccupation with worthlessness, suicidal ideation, psychotic symptoms, or psychomotor retardation.

This disorder is characterized by the presence of the majority of these symptoms:

Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (In children and adolescents, this may be characterized as an irritable mood.)
Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day
Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5 of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day
Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day
Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day
Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

^{Source:
American Psychiatric Association.
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders.
4th edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association,
1994.
Article on DSM-IV Depression is
taken from

http://depression.about.com/cs/diagnosis/a/mdd.htm}

Also, below are some additional questions and answers on DSM-IV Depression that you may find helpful.