ABSTRACT
In our everyday language or social conversations, it would be fair to conclude that depression is more likely to be understood as being synonymous with the concept of unhappiness. For example, someone might say that something (say, the weather) made him or her depressed, or that the news was depressing. This is likely to imply unhappiness about something or some situation. However, from a clinical perspective depression is more than the unhappiness experienced by most people at some point in their lives. The DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) defines a depressed mood or loss of interest and pleasure in nearly all activities as the essential feature of a major depressive episode. It also specifies that the duration of the depressed mood should be for at least two weeks. Some of the other criteria for a major depressive episode include significant weight loss or weight gain, insomnia, psychomotor agitation or retardation, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, poor concentration, and, in some instances, suicidal ideation. These symptoms should result in significant distress or impairment of social and occupational functioning. Finally, a bereavement 158process cannot better explain the aforementioned symptoms. DSM-IV specifies that the symptoms should not be due to a general medical condition, and that where this is the case, a mood disorder due to a general medical condition should be diagnosed. Major depressive disorder should also not be confused with, for example, an adjustment disorder, which is a time-limited response to a stressor.
