major depressive episode

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Explanation of "Major Depressive Episode"

Definition: A "major depressive episode" is a serious period in someone's life when they feel very sad or hopeless for a long time. This feeling is much stronger than just feeling sad for a day or two. People experiencing this may lose interest in things they used to enjoy, feel tired all the time, have trouble sleeping, and may even think about harming themselves.

Usage Instructions

• Part of Speech: Noun
• When to Use: You can use this term when talking about mental health, especially in a medical or psychological context.

Example

• "After several months of feeling very low, she was diagnosed with a major depressive episode by her doctor."

Advanced Usage

In more advanced discussions, you might hear or use this term in conjunction with treatment options or in the context of mental health research, such as: - "Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to help many individuals recover from a major depressive episode."

Word Variants

• Major Depression: This is often used interchangeably with "major depressive episode" to refer to the same condition.
• Depressive Disorders: This is a broader term that includes major depressive episodes and other forms of depression.

Different Meanings

• In a medical context, "major depressive episode" has a specific definition, but in everyday conversation, someone might say they are "depressed" to describe feeling sad or down, which could be temporary and not meet the clinical definition.

Synonyms

• Severe depression
• Major depression
• Clinical depression

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

While there aren't specific idioms or phrasal verbs that directly translate to "major depressive episode," you might hear related phrases like: - "Down in the dumps": This means feeling sad or depressed. - "Hit rock bottom": This means reaching the lowest point in a difficult situation, often related to mental health.

Summary

A "major depressive episode" is a serious mental health condition that involves deep sadness and loss of interest in life. It is important to seek help if you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms.

Academic

Noun

1. (psychiatry) a state of depression with all the classic symptoms (anhedonia and lethargy and sleep disturbance and despondency and morbid thoughts and feelings of worthlessness and sometimes attempted suicide) but with no known organic dysfunction