major depressive disorder

in DSM–IV–TR and DSM–5, a mood disorder characterized by persistent sadness and other symptoms of a major depressive episode but without accompanying episodes of mania or hypomania or mixed episodes of depressive and manic or hypomanic symptoms. Also called major depression.

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Psychology term of the day

February 21st 2025

Hoover’s sign

a diagnostic test for neurological (as distinct from psychological) hemiplegia in which the individual in a reclining position attempts to raise the paralyzed leg: An individual with true hemiplegia reflexively presses down the heel of the healthy leg during the test. The absence of the downward movement is a positive Hoover’s sign and suggests psychogenic paresis or malingering. [Charles Franklin Hoover (1865–1927), U.S. physician]