Understanding Depressive Personality Trait
By: Christine Hammond, LMHC
Being
depressive is not the same thing as having depression. The two can look the same to an outside
person as the symptoms are similar. The
major difference is that a depressive can actually have depression but a person
with depression is not depressive.
Depression is situational such as grieving the loss of a friend or it is
chemical such as your body overproducing certain hormones. Depressive is a personality trait and is not
based on situation or chemical factors.
So what is Depressive?
Well, according to the new DSM-V, depressive did not make the final
personality disorder cut and instead is classified under Personality Disorder
Trait Specified (PDTS). This means that
there was not enough research to properly classify depressives as having a
named personality disorder but there is evidence enough that it does
exist. So the traits of depressive are
still classifiable and qualify as a PDTS.
Here is the technical definition based on the new classification:
·
Depressivity
·
Anxiousness
·
Anhedonia - absence of pleasure or the ability
to experience it
The practical definition looks
more like this:
·
Feels dejected, gloomy, and worthless
·
Self-critical and derogatory
·
Is negativistic, critical and judgmental toward
others
·
Pessimistic
·
Feels guilty or remorseful
In the movie
“The Hours”, the three main characters all demonstrated different forms of
depressive personality. While each of
them was depressed for a period of time, such as the suicide attempt, the
overall appearance was a gloomy or depressive state. This was unchanging no matter how hard the
other people in their lives worked to minimize the depressiveness. The depressiveness never when away completely
and two of the three characters learned to live with it.
So how do you deal with a person
who might be depressive? Here are a few
suggestions:
·
Don’t minimize their feelings of inadequacy or
depression; rather reassure them that your support is not contingent upon how
they feel.
·
Do a small act of encouragement or show
gratefulness to them whenever you can without expecting it to change or modify
their behavior.
·
If one thing goes wrong in their life, it all
comes crashing down so don’t overreact even if they are over or under reacting.
·
They spiral easily to a depressive state so keep
things as smooth as possible.
·
They aren’t able to “look on the bright side” so
don’t expect it or get angry when they can’t.
·
Listen to their worries and fears without
criticism or judgment. This is not a
spiritual condition and cannot be fixed through spiritual methods; this is a
personality condition and is as ingrained as the color of their eyes.
It can be
frustrating at times to have a depressive person in your life but their mood
does not need to infect your mood. Learn
to set and maintain good boundaries in your life so you don’t feel responsible
for trying to help them feel better. You
are not responsible. Rather get some
guidance as to how to approach them and have a healthy relationship despite the
depressiveness.
