Major depression, also called major depressive disorder (MDD), is a clinical illness far more serious than daily parlance would suggest. Everyone's said or heard someone say, "I'm depressed today." This is usually not major depression, but rather a temporary feeling of sadness, discouragement, or grief, which everyone has from time to time. These mild versions of depressive symptoms are familiar to most people and make up the experiences of everyday life. Most everyone has felt sad, grumpy, or irritable, been distracted or disinterested, not felt like eating, or indulged in excessive eating or sleeping as a reaction to bad news or events. Major depression includes these symptoms and a subjective experience of being sad, unhappy, or dissatisfied, but these feelings are magnified, persistent, and nearly unremitting. They are not passing feelings, but instead they seep into every area of life and rob the individual of the ability to experience pleasure and joy, of desires and motivations. The perspective of the person who suffers major depression is so distorted that the proverbial glass is not only half-empty, but will never be full and may even be broken and dangerous.
Major depressive disorder as a clinical disorder is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). The DSM-IV identifies different clinical entities comprised of groups of symptoms that are statistically validated and reproducible. This system was developed for use by researchers to provide consistency in nomenclature. Thus, when one research describes major depression, other researchers know that this involves certain symptoms and, for the most part, implies certain generally agreed upon potential biological and psychological etiologies, family history profiles, prognosis and response to certain treatments. The DSM-IV is the reference most commonly used to make a psychiatric diagnosis.
Diagnosis of MDD
