Major depressive episode

A major depressive episode (MDE) is a period characterized by symptoms of major depressive disorder. Those affected primarily exhibit a depressive mood for at least two weeks or more, and a loss of interest or pleasure in everyday activities. Other symptoms can include feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, anxiety, worthlessness, guilt, irritability, changes in appetite, difficulties in concentration, difficulties remembering details, making decisions, and thoughts of suicide. Insomnia or hypersomnia, aches, pains, or digestive problems that are resistant to treatment may also be present. Although the exact origin of depression is still not clear, it is believed to involve biological, psychological, and social aspects. Factors like socioeconomic status, life experience, genetics, and personality tendencies are believed to be factors in the development of depression and may represent an increased risk of developing a major depressive episode. In the United States and Canada, the costs associated with major depression are comparable to those related to heart disease, diabetes, and back problems and are greater than the costs of hypertension. According to the Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, there is a direct correlation between a major depressive episode and unemployment. Treatments for a major depressive episode include psychotherapy and antidepressants, although in more severe cases, hospitalization or intensive outpatient treatment may be required. Depressed mood is the most common symptom of a major depressive episode Either a depressive mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in everyday activities for most of the day or every day must be present for a diagnosis of a major depressive episode. In addition, the person may experience one or more of the following emotions: sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, indifference, anxiety, tearfulness, pessimism, emotional numbness, or irritability. In children and adolescents, a depressed mood often presents as irritability.

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Thalamic contributions to psychosis susceptibility: Evidence from co-activation patterns accounting for intra-seed spatial variability (μCAPs)

Dimitri Nestor Alice Van De Ville, Thomas William Arthur Bolton, Farnaz Delavari, Nada Kojovic

The temporal variability of the thalamus in functional networks may provide valuable insights into the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. To address the complexity of the role of the thalamic nuclei in psychosis, we introduced micro-co-activation patterns ( ...

Wiley2024

Amygdala subdivisions exhibit aberrant whole-brain functional connectivity in relation to stress intolerance and psychotic symptoms in 22q11.2DS

Dimitri Nestor Alice Van De Ville, Farnaz Delavari, Halima Rafi

The amygdala is a key region in emotional regulation, which is often impaired in psychosis. However, it is unclear if amygdala dysfunction directly contributes to psychosis, or whether it contributes to psychosis through symptoms of emotional dysregulation ...

SPRINGERNATURE2023

20-years work investigating the shine-through paradigm in the schizophrenia spectrum: what is next?

Michael Herzog, Simona Adele Garobbio, Maya Roinishvili

In the past 20 years, our laboratory has proved the shine-through paradigm to be a very sensitive endophenotype for schizophrenia. The shine-through paradigm is a visual backward masking task, where the target is a vertical vernier followed by a 25-element ...

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Atypical depression

Atypical depression is defined in the DSM IV as depression that shares many of the typical symptoms of major depressive disorder or dysthymia but is characterized by improved mood in response to positive events. In contrast to those with atypical depression, people with melancholic depression generally do not experience an improved mood in response to normally pleasurable events. Atypical depression also often features significant weight gain or an increased appetite, hypersomnia, a heavy sensation in the limbs, and interpersonal rejection sensitivity that results in significant social or occupational impairment.

Cyclothymia

Cyclothymia (ˌsaɪkləˈθaɪmiə ), also known as cyclothymic disorder, psychothemia / psychothymia, bipolar III, affective personality disorder and cyclothymic personality disorder, is a mental and behavioural disorder that involves numerous periods of symptoms of depression and periods of symptoms of elevated mood. These symptoms, however, are not sufficient to indicate a major depressive episode or a manic episode. Symptoms must last for more than one year in children and two years in adults.

Psychotic depression

Psychotic depression, also known as depressive psychosis, is a major depressive episode that is accompanied by psychotic symptoms. It can occur in the context of bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. It can be difficult to distinguish from schizoaffective disorder, a diagnosis that requires the presence of psychotic symptoms for at least two weeks without any mood symptoms present. Unipolar psychotic depression requires that psychotic symptoms occur during severe depressive episodes, although residual psychotic symptoms may also be present in between episodes (e.

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