| agitated depression | A form of depression characterized by incessant activity and restlessness.
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| anhedonia | A mood abnormality among schizophrenics in which the person's experience of pleasure is reduced. Often experienced by people during major depressive episodes, the inability to enjoy accustomed activities leads to a lack of interest in those activities.
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| antidepressant medication | Drugs used to elevate mood in depressed patients.
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| antimanic medication | Drugs, principally lithium, used to prevent and treat manic episodes.
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| attachment theory | Theory holding that people who had close, caring bonds with a caregiver while growing up are more apt to develop an adaptive, interpersonal style of relating to others (i.e., a "secure" attachment style).
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| bipolar disorder | A mood disorder involving both manic and depressive episodes.
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| catecholamine hypothesis | The biochemical theory that increased levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine produce mania, while decreased levels produce depression.
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| comorbidity | A condition in which a patient meets the criteria for more than one DSM-IV Axis I disorder.
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| continuity hypothesis | Theory resting on the idea that depression appears to be an exaggerated form of everyday sadness.
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| cyclothymic disorder | A chronic mood disorder in which, for years, the person goes no longer than a few months without a phase of hypomanic or depressive behavior.
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| delusions | False beliefs that have no basis in reality.
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| depression | An emotional state characterized by the exaggeration of negative feelings. The person becomes inactive and dejected and thinks nothing is worthwhile.
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| dexamethasone suppression test (DST) | A laboratory test used to identify people suffering from endogenous depression. In nondepressed individuals, dexamethasone suppresses cortisol secretion for at least 24 hours. Cortisol secretion of individuals with endogenous depression returns to high levels within 24 hours despite administration of dexamethasone.
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| dysthymic disorder | A chronic mood disorder involving a mild, persistent depression. Symptoms are similar to those of a major depressive episode, but they are not as severe or as numerous.
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| electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) | The administering of an electric shock to a patient, thus inducing a convulsion; used in the treatment of serious depression.
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| endogenous | In depression, the term used to describe patients whose symptoms are primarily physical.
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| hallucinations | Sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of any appropriate external stimulus.
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| helplessness-hopelessness syndrome | A thought process characteristic of deeply depressed persons in which they regard their condition as irreversible, believing that they are both unable to help themselves and unlikely to be helped by external forces.
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| hypomanic episode | Briefer and less severe manic episode.
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| interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) | Short-term therapy for depression that looks for solutions and strategies to deal with interpersonal problems rather than spending time on interpretation and analysis.
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| learned helplessness | In behavioral theory, the depressed person's inability to initiate adaptive responses, possibly due to a helplessness conditioned by earlier, inescapable trauma.
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| lithium | A mood-altering drug used to control manic episodes.
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| major depressive disorder | A condition characterized by one or more major depressive episodes with no intervening periods of mania.
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| major depressive episode | An extended period of intense depression that usually begins and ends gradually and causes a radical change in most aspects of the individual's functioning.
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| mania | An emotional state characterized by the exaggeration of positive feelings. The person becomes feverishly active and excited and feels capable of accomplishing anything.
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| manic episode | An extended period of intense mania that usually begins and ends suddenly and causes a radical change in an individual's social functioning.
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| MAO inhibitors | The first important class of antidepressants. Although named on the assumption that they block the action of monoamine oxidase (MAO), their mechanism has not been established.
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| mixed episode | An episode of mania that also meets the criteria for a major depressive disorder.
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| mood disorders | Emotional conditions in which feelings of depression or mania become so extreme and prolonged that the person's life is completely disrupted. Also called affective disorders.
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| reactive | In depression, the term used to describe patients whose symptoms are primarily emotional and cognitive.
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| retarded depression | A type of depression in which there is little spontaneous motor activity. Movement is slow and deliberate, with a minimum number of gestures and little verbalization.
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| seasonal affective disorder (SAD) | A mood disorder characterized by depression that occurs only during the winter.
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| selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) | A class of antidepressants that work by blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin.
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| social-skills training | A behavioral therapy that teaches depressed or schizophrenic people basic techniques for engaging in satisfying interactions with others.
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| tricyclics | A class of drugs widely used to treat depression, which generally works by blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine by the presynaptic neuron.
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