Neurotic Depression

Neurotic Depression
Man have noted that neurotic depression appears to be a heterogenous disorder that best conceptualized dimensionally.

Core symptoms are listed below:
Pervasive loss of pleasure
Non-reactivity on mood
Distinct quality of mood
Excessive guilt
Major psychomotor change (agitation or retardation)
Reduced vegetative activity

It arises from reaction to life events and premorbid personality.

There is rather less work in the area of sub-classifying neurotic depression (as opposed to distinguishing it from endogenous depression) and the general impression has been that this is a milder or less serious disorder than psychotic and endogenous depression.

Recent work suggests that neurotic or non endogenous depression can have quite poor long term outcome.

In a long term, scientists found that compared to endogenous depressives, neurotics tended to be “younger had shorter index admissions and were less likely to be readmitted to hospital.

In the longer term however they were equally likely to experience further episodes and to commit suicide”.

Clinical symptoms generated four factors
-Negative cognition (with low self esteem, guilt, self criticism and lowered mood)
-Lack of drive (with loss of libido, energia, emptiness, anhedonia)
-Anxiety (insomnia, crying, tachycardia, hypochondria)
-Arousal (appetite loss, weight loss, tiredness, mood worse in the morning)

These factors seem close to those suggested as being core symptoms of depression from cross –cultural studies.
Neurotic Depression