What is the definition of clinical depression?

Changes in weight and appetite can be symptoms of clinical depression, says Jeffrey Borenstein, MD, a psychiatrist at The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. He elaborates on the most telling signs of depression.

Transcript

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If a person feels or notices that an activity that they normally would enjoy, if they

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can't enjoy that activity, there's a good chance that they have depression. [MUSIC PLAYING]

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Clinical depression, there's very specific criteria for what we call a major depression.

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But, basically, it means that the person's level of functioning is affected, whether it

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be functioning at home or at work, due to symptoms that include feeling depressed, feeling

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anxious. Often the person has difficulty concentrating. They may have sleep disturbance often with insomnia,

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difficulty sleeping at night, sometimes too much sleep, having a difficult time getting out of bed. Often there's appetite disturbance and weight change,

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sometimes eating too much, often weight loss due to a decrease in appetite. And another very important symptom

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is what we call anhedonia. Comes from the Greek word hedonism, and anhedonia is an inability to enjoy oneself.

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So if a person feels or notices that an activity that they normally would enjoy, such as having

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a catch with a kid or going to the movies with a friend, if they can't enjoy that activity,