Which item indicates that symptoms cause distress or impairment?

Which item indicates that symptoms cause distress or impairment?

• A. Insomnia or hypersomnia
• B. Recurrent Thoughts of Death
• C. Significant weight change
• D. Functional Impairment

Answer: (D)

Distress or impairment is a key threshold for diagnosing depressive disorders: the symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or interfere with social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Of the options, the one that directly signals this impact is functional impairment, because it explicitly describes the effect of symptoms on a person’s ability to function in daily life. The other items are individual symptoms (sleep disturbance, thoughts of death, weight change) that can occur with a disorder but do not by themselves indicate the level of disruption to functioning.

Distress or impairment is a key threshold for diagnosing depressive disorders: the symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or interfere with social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Of the options, the one that directly signals this impact is functional impairment, because it explicitly describes the effect of symptoms on a person’s ability to function in daily life. The other items are individual symptoms (sleep disturbance, thoughts of death, weight change) that can occur with a disorder but do not by themselves indicate the level of disruption to functioning.