Understanding Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD, is a serious mental health condition. It affects how a person feels and can make daily life very challenging. To diagnose someone with MDD, doctors use specific guidelines found in a book called the DSM-5.

Here are the key signs that help identify MDD:

1. Feeling Sad:

   • The person feels sad almost every day, for most of the day.
   • This feeling can be reported by the person or noticed by friends and family.

2. No Joy in Activities:

   • There’s a big drop in interest or enjoyment in almost everything.
   • This change is noticeable to both the person and those around them.

3. Other Symptoms:

   • To be diagnosed, at least five of these symptoms must happen over two weeks:
     • Losing weight without trying, gaining weight, or changes in appetite.
     • Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much.
     • Feeling restless or moving much slower than usual.
     • Always feeling tired or low on energy.
     • Feeling worthless or guilty about things.
     • Struggling to focus or make decisions.
     • Often thinking about death or wanting to die.

4. Lasts Two Weeks or More:

   • These symptoms need to stick around for at least two weeks.

5. Impact on Daily Life:

   • The symptoms should cause significant problems in life—like with work, school, or relationships.

6. Not Caused by Other Issues:

   • The depression should not come from substance use (like drug abuse or medication) or another medical condition (like thyroid problems).

7. No Other Explanation:

   • The symptoms shouldn’t fit better with another mental health condition.

In simple terms, to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, a person must show a long-lasting feeling of sadness and a group of other symptoms that make daily tasks hard to manage. It's important to make sure these feelings aren’t just caused by another health problem or drug use. MDD is a serious disorder that needs proper treatment to help those affected.