Does Depression Hurt?

Depression is primarily characterized as an illness with emotional symptoms, such as anxiety, and vegetative symptoms, such as sleep disturbance, so it is not surprising that a great deal of emphasis is placed on the recognition and treatment of depressed mood and these commonly associated symptoms. On the other hand, depression is also an illness that frequently presents with a large number of unexplained physical symptoms. Such symptoms are often not emphasized and are even excluded as components of the formal DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder.