Depression (1 day)

Feeling ‘down’ or depressed is a common experience. Because of this we may not always quite understand that for some people Depression may be totally devastating and indeed life-threatening. Depression ignored can be extremely high risk and a ‘pull yourself together’ attitude can be most unhelpful.

This course aims to provide an overview of the different types of Depression, why people get depressed, the progress of the condition and the risks involved. Learners will reflect on the support needs of the person as well as medical and other interventions.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course learners should understand:

• Definitions of Depression (with reference to the DSM)
• What is meant by ‘Clinical Depression’
• What is meant by ‘Chronic Depression’
• How and by whom Depression is diagnosed
• The difference between Reactive Depression and Endogenous Depression
• Who gets Depression-statistics
• What causes Reactive Depression:
        -A medical view
        -A social view
        -Other ideas
• The signs and symptoms of Reactive Depression
• Treatments available:
        -Medication
        -Talking help
        -Others
• How the support worker can help .
• What causes Endogenous Depression
• The signs and symptoms of Endogenous Depression
• Treatments available:
        -Medication
        -Talking help?
        -Others
• How support workers can help
• How Mania connects with Depression
• How Bipolar Disorder connects with Depression
• What causes Bipolar Disorder-different views
• Signs & Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
• Treatments and support for Bipolar Disorder
• Suicide-the risks*
• The statistics
• The need to be vigilant
• Self-help and available resources

Training methods:

• Tutor presentations
• Group work
• Feedback
• Role play
• OHP/PowerPoint
• Chalk & talk
• Handouts

* Suicide is not explore in-depth on this course. We do provide a specific Suicide course.

CP196/5.9