Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge the use of information contained in The Parkinson’s Disease Society fact sheet ‘Depression and Parkinson’s ’ in compiling this information.
Our thanks to Professor Heiner Ellgring, Institute for Psychology, Würzburg University, Germany, for his help in reviewing this article.
Depression is characterised by sad mood and/or a diminished ability to enjoy things, accompanied by other symptoms including:
It is very rare for someone to experience all of these symptoms, but depression is usually diagnosed when a number of them have been present every day for at least two weeks. Of course, having one symptom in isolation does not mean that a person is depressed because the majority of the symptoms are not exclusive to depression.
Evidence of trepanning surgery (cutting a hole in the skull) in Stone Age societies has led some anthropologists to believe that this was a treatment for mental illness – as a way of releasing demons or evil spirits.
Term used by Freud to refer to sexual energy - the human sexual urge, desire or drive.
