The Developmental Psychopathology of Depression

Abstract

Unlike anxiety that is a normal developmental experience and progression from infancy through adulthood, depression and other mood disorders are not typical and do not occur in all persons. Of course, all people have feelings of being “blue” or have depressive reactions to life events at times, most of which dissipate. Nearly all adolescents present as being “moody” and irritable at times, which is part of their biological, cognitive, social, and emotional development. For the most part, symptoms of depression are more severe manifestations of typical behaviors, such as feeling “down” or “blue,” which all persons experience at some time. The similarity between anxiety and depression is that a disorder emerges when typical behaviors become intense, chronic, or otherwise developmentally inappropriate and impair functioning. There is significant comorbidity between the conditions, and the severity of specific symptoms varies depending on whether the primary pattern is anxiety or depression. The primary distinction between them from a developmental perspective is that mood disorders are more episodic, which, over time, require smaller environmental stressors to serve as a stimulus for episodes to occur (Pennington, 2002). Conversely, anxiety disorders tend to develop more slowly over time and become relatively stable behavioral patterns and traits.