About this term
- Quick definition
- A persistent low mood, with sadness, emptiness, or irritability, that is a clear change from the person's baseline.
- Full clinical definition
- Depressed mood is one of the two core diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode in the DSM-5-TR, the other being loss of interest or pleasure. To support a diagnosis, depressed mood must be present most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks, and must represent a clear change from how the person usually feels.
Depressed mood is not the same as sadness. Sadness is a normal emotional response to loss, disappointment, or stress, and it usually resolves with time and support. Depressed mood is a clinical pattern that does not lift in the usual way and is paired with other symptoms in sleep, appetite, energy, concentration, motivation, and self-view.
The way depressed mood is described varies. In adults, it is most often described as sadness, emptiness, or feeling down. In adolescents, it is often described as irritability or boredom. In older adults, it sometimes shows up as a flat, unengaged demeanor rather than overt sadness.
- Epidemiology
- Depressed mood is reported in nearly all patients meeting criteria for a major depressive episode and is one of the two anchor symptoms required for diagnosis. About 8.4 percent of U.S. adults meet criteria for major depressive disorder in a given year (NIMH, 2022).
- What it can feel like
- A weight that does not lift. A persistent flatness. Crying that is not tied to a specific event. In adolescents and many men, more irritability than sadness, with a short fuse over small things. In older adults, sometimes a slowing of speech and movement that family members notice before the person does.
- Why it matters
- Depressed mood is one of the two anchors of a depression diagnosis. It is also one of the most disabling parts of the condition. People describe it as the thing that turns ordinary tasks into a project. It does not respond reliably to advice or to positive thinking. It does respond to treatment of the underlying depression, often over weeks rather than days.
- How clinicians assess it
- A clinician asks how the person has been feeling over the past two weeks, with attention to duration, intensity, change from baseline, and effect on daily life. Item 2 of the PHQ-9 ("Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless") screens for depressed mood. A score of two or three on item 2, combined with other PHQ-9 items, raises clinical concern.
- Treatment implications
- Treatment of the underlying depression is the main path. Several psychotherapies have strong evidence: cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral activation, and interpersonal therapy. Antidepressants are effective for a substantial share of patients (roughly half show a meaningful response to the first agent tried; STAR*D). Sleep regularity, daily movement, and steady social contact support both.
- Related terms
- Anhedonia. Emotional numbness. Major depressive disorder.
- Related articles
- Major depressive disorder. Treatment.
Sources
- American Psychiatric Association. DSM-5-TR.
- Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001.
- World Health Organization. ICD-11.
- National Institute of Mental Health. Major Depression statistics. NIMH, 2022.