Chief Complaint
The chief complaint presented by depressed patients often pints immediately to the diagnosis of depression; although it sometimes suggest a physical disturbance.
Skillful questioning can generally determine whether the basic symptomatology is present.
The chief complaint may take a variety of forms:
*an unpleasant emotional state
*a changed attitude toward life
*somatic symptoms of a specifically depressive nature
*somatic symptoms not typical of depression
Although depression is generally considered an affective disorder, it should be emphasized that a subjective change on mood is not reported by all depressed patients.
As in many other disorders, the absence of a significant clinical feature does not rule out the diagnosis of that disorder. Only 53 percent of the mildly depressed patients acknowledges feeling sad or unhappy.
Chief Complaint
The most popular articles
-
Treating Severe Depression At its worst, depression is severe depression. Until it's so severe that months or even years of treatment ar...
-
Cyclothymic disorder is a rare mood disorder causes emotional ups and downs. The disorder characterized is by emotional reactivity and affec...
-
How is high blood pressure measured? Accurate blood pressure measurement is important for diagnosis. Raised blood pressure is a symptomless ... -
The escalation in the problem, as well as the facts relating to recurring episodes of depression show that while the first line treatment o... -
Depression Anyone can be an emotional eater. After a failed marriage, one woman found she had gained 60 pounds. Yes, some could be linked ...
