Depression (redirected from psychotic depression)

depression, in economics

depression, in economics, period of economic crisis in commerce, finance, and industry, characterized by falling prices, restriction of credit, low output and investment, numerous bankruptcies, and a high level of unemployment. A less severe crisis is usually known as a recession, a more common occurance generally thought to be a normal part of the business cycle; it is technically defined as as two consecutive quarterly declines in the gross national product. Recessions mark a downward swing in the curve of the business cycle and are caused by a disequilibrium between the quantity of goods produced and the consumers' ability to purchase. If a recession continues long enough, it can turn into a depression. Neither term has ever been distinctly defined by a set of criteria, however, so it is difficult to say at what point the two merge. A short period in which fear takes hold of companies and investors is more properly called a panic and does not necessarily occur in every depression, but lack of confidence in business is always present in an economic downturn.

A depression develops when overproduction, decreased demand, or a combination of both factors forces curtailment of production, dismissal of employees, and wage cuts. Unemployment and lowered wages further decrease purchasing power, causing the crisis to spread and become more acute. Recovery is generally slow, the return of business confidence being dependent on the development of new markets, exhaustion of the existing stock of goods, or, in some cases, remedial action by governments. Depressions and recessions today tend to become worldwide in scope because of the international nature of trade and credit.

Insufficient numbers of profitable investment outlets, overexpansion of commerce, industry, or agriculture, a stock-market crash, the failure of a great banking or industrial firm, or war may be among the precipitating factors of a downturn. In antiquity, and even up to the 18th cent., depressions had chiefly noneconomic causes, such as wars and weather-induced crop failures. From c.1700 to 1825 economic crises were in the main speculative or commercial; since 1825 they have been increasingly industrial, although the Japanese recesions of the 1990s were caused in part by reduced consumer demand.

The economic crises of the 20th cent. saw the entry of governments into large areas of the economy that had previously been in private hands. Job reeducation programs, government employment of the previously unemployed, and increased public welfare responsibilities are among the programs adopted to alleviate depressions. Moreover, by applying Keynesian economic principles to public policy, governments have sought to affect the business cycle directly and prevent depressions. Large-scale public works expenditure (pump priming), tax cuts, interest rate adjustments, and deficit spending during recession are among the measures that have been taken to reduce the severity of periodic economic downturns such as those experienced in the United States in 1982 and internationally in the early 1990s and 2000s.

See also Great Depression.

Bibliography

See M. Bernstein, The Great Depression (1987); C. P. Kindleberger, The World in Depression, 1929–1939 (rev. ed. 1986) and Manias, Panics, and Crashes (rev. ed. 1989); W. C. Mitchell, Business Cycles and Their Causes (1989); A. W. Mullineux, Business Cycles and Financial Crises 1990).

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depression, in psychiatry

depression, in psychiatry, a symptom of mood disorder characterized by intense feelings of loss, sadness, hopelessness, failure, and rejection. The two major types of mood disorder are unipolar disorder, also called major depression, and bipolar disorder, whose sufferers are termed manic-depressive (see bipolar disorder). Other types of depression are recognized, with characteristics similar to the major mood disorders, but not as severe: they are adjustment disorder with depression, dysthymic disorder, and cyclothymic disorder.

Close to 20% of Americans are likely to suffer major depression at some time, and women tend to be more susceptible to the disorder than men. Major depression is likely to interfere significantly with everyday activity, with symptoms including insomnia, irritability, weight loss, and a lack of interest in outside events. The disorder may last several months or longer—and may recur—but it is generally reversible in the short run.

Bipolar disorder is much rarer, affecting only about 1% of the U.S. population; women and men tend to be equally susceptible. Its sufferers alternate between states of depression—similar to that which is experienced in unipolar disorder—and mania, which is characterized by intense euphoria and frenetic activity. Bipolar disorders are often interspersed with periods of relatively normal behavior, which may last for long periods of time between episodes of depression or mania. Manic-depressives have an extremely high rate of suicide, and episodes of the disorder tend to recur.

Medical evidence suggests that depressive states may be connected to deficiencies in the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin. Drug therapy includes various antidepressants that act on the flow of neurotransmitters and lithium for bipolar disorder (antidepressants can cause mania when used to treat depression in bipolar patients). There also has been success with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for major depression.

In recent years, theorists have argued that many depressed individuals depend upon others for their self-esteem, and that the loss of one of these emotional supports often precipitates a depressive reaction. A number of psychologists contend instead that depression is a result of learned helplessness, which occurs when a person determines through experience that his actions are useless in making positive changes. Other theorists have shown that genetic factors play a major role in depression.

Bibliography

See L. Wolpert, Malignant Madness (2000).

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depression

In economics, a major downswing in the business cycle characterized by sharply reduced industrial production, widespread unemployment, a serious decline or cessation of growth in construction, and great reductions in international trade and capital movements. Unlike recessions, which may be limited to a single country, severe depressions such as the Great Depression encompass many nations. See also deflation; inflation.

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depression

Neurotic or psychotic disorder marked by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies. Probably the most common psychiatric complaint, depression has been described by physicians from at least the time of Hippocrates, who called it melancholia. Its course is extremely variable from person to person; it may be fleeting or permanent, mild or severe. Depression is more common in women than in men. The rates of incidence increase with age in men, while the peak for women is between the ages of 35 and 45. Its causes can be both psychosocial (e.g., the loss of a loved one) and biochemical (chiefly, reduced quantities of the monoamines norepinephrine and serotonin). Treatment is usually a combination of psychotherapy and drug therapy (see antidepressant). A person who experiences alternating states of depression and extreme elation is said to suffer from bipolar disorder.

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depression

1. a mental disorder characterized by extreme gloom, feelings of inadequacy, and inability to concentrate

2. Pathol an abnormal lowering of the rate of any physiological activity or function, such as respiration

3. an economic condition characterized by substantial and protracted unemployment, low output and investment, etc.; slump

4. Meteorol a large body of rotating and rising air below normal atmospheric pressure, which often brings rain

5. (esp in surveying and astronomy) the angular distance of an object, celestial body, etc., below the horizontal plane through the point of observation

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Depression

History the worldwide economic depression of the early 1930s, when there was mass unemployment

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depression [di′presh·ən]

(geology)

A hollow of any size on a plain surface having no natural outlet for surface drainage.

A structurally low area in the crust of the earth.

(meteorology)

An area of low pressure; usually applied to a certain stage in the development of a tropical cyclone, to migratory lows and troughs, and to upper-level lows and troughs that are only weakly developed. Also known as low.

(psychology)

A mood provoked by conscious awareness of an idea or feeling that was previously pushed into the unconscious.

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Depression 

(of the snow line), the amount of lowering of the snow line during climatic cooling caused by a drop in summer or mean annual temperatures and by an increase in solid precipitation. During ice ages, depression was accompanied by an increase in glaciation of mountain areas and by continental glaciation. Maximum depression of the snow line in the high latitudes may reach the level of the world ocean. The depression of the snow line is determined primarily by the elevation of relict cirques situated lower than the present snow line.

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Depression 

(1) In geomorphology, any lowering of the earth’s surface; in the narrow sense it is a trough or basin lying below sea level. Depressions may be dry (for example, the Turfan depression) or filled with water (the Caspian Sea).

(2) Tectonic depression, an area of downwarping of the earth’s crust that is completely or partially filled with precipitation (for example, the Tadzhik depression in Middle Asia).

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Depression 

in medicine, a pathological state of melancholy, dejection, and inescapable despair, characteristic of a number of mental illnesses.

Depression often arises as a reaction to a difficult life situation, in many mental illnesses (manic-depressive psychosis, schizophrenia), in neuroses, with the prolonged use of certain medications (for example, chlorpromazine), and in physical illnesses. Depression must be distinguished from the natural (physiological) reaction of a person to unpleasant experiences, life failures, and psychic traumas. Depression is manifested by ideational, emotional, and motor inhibition (sometimes by inhibition of only one or two of the above areas of psychological activity). In serious cases it is manifested by delusions of persecution (the patient thinks he is being accused or blamed for poor work or unethical behavior) or by self-condemnation and self-deprecation (the patient accuses himself of dishonesty, poor work, and misdeameanors, regards himself as guilty for the destruction of his family, the collective, or the whole world) and by hypochondria (he feels that terrible changes have occurred in his internal organs, as a result of which he will forever ail and suffer). Treatment of patients with severe depression is conducted in psychiatric hospitals, since the patients are often persistently suicidal and self-destructive, and therefore require daily surveillance, which can be accomplished only in special medical institutions. Depression is treated with psychotropic (antidepressive) drugs, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychotherapy.

B. S. BAMDAS