As you learned, the DSM-5 lists several different subtypes of depression known as specifiers. These are not specific disorders; rather, they are labels used to indicate specific patterns of symptoms or to specify certain periods of time in which the symptoms may be present.

• with anxious distress: a person experiences anxiety in the form of tenseness, restlessness, lack of focus, fear, or of losing control
• with mixed features: a person experiences some manic symptoms alongside depression, such as elevated moods, increased energy, or talkativeness
• with melancholic features: a person experiences lack of interest or pleasure in activities
• with atypical features: a person dealing with depression may also experience elevated moods for certain periods of time or around particular people, or they may show weight gain or increased appetite, or excessive sleep
• with mood-congruent psychotic features: a person may also experience delusions or hallucinations
• with catatonia: a person may show catatonic symptoms, such as staying still or immobilized for long periods of time
• with seasonal pattern (formerly known as seasonal affective disorder): applies to situations in which a person experiences the symptoms of major depressive disorder only during a particular time of year (e.g., fall or winter). In everyday language, people often refer to this subtype as the winter blues.
• with peripartum onset: symptoms appear during pregnancy or in the weeks following birth

For this assignment, you will pick at least two subtypes of depression and create an interactive, or a short learning activity—similar to others you’ve encountered throughout the course. The purpose of the interactive is to provide yourself and others the opportunity to better understand concepts from the content in order to make it more approachable and interesting. The best interactives may be eligible to be incorporated into the course for future students!

You will make these interactives using H5P, using the course presentation tool. The presentation should have a minimum of 4 slides and a maximum of 10. The course presentation feature in H5P works like this:

H5P Course presentation

The goal is to create an activity that provides a deeper review or an opportunity to elaborate upon the subtypes. You could also pull in current research or other engaging articles to expound upon a topic.

STEP 1: Pick at least subtypes of depression that you found interesting and want to explore in further detail.

STEP 2: Research the subtypes. Read more about the selected subtypes in general terms, but also review current research and journal articles related to the topic. You are required to include at least one reference to an outside source in the interactive. Any and all content you use inside of the interactive needs to be written in your own words and appropriately cited OR it needs to be openly licensed, and appropriately attributed.

Similarly, any images used should be openly licensed or in the public domain (CC0, CC-BY, or CC-BY-SA). You can search for openly licensed images within Flickr or other platforms, but google also offers search tools to help you find images that allow for reuse. You can click “tools”, then the dropdown menu will come down and allow you to select “labeled for reuse,” as shown below.

STEP 3: Write out your plan for the interactive. It works well to storyboard it first on a document so you know what you’ll want to include on each slide. For example:

Slide 1: Introductory paragraph on topic.
Slide 2: First subtype text and example or image.
Slide 3: Multiple choice question about subtype, with feedback.
Slide 4: Second subtype text and example or image.
Slide 5: Multiple choice question about subtype, with feedback.
Slide 6: Conclusion.

STEP 4: Go to H5P.org and create a free account, or visit H5P.com and sign up for a trial account. Click “Try out H5P.” Because the trial program (H5P.org) sometimes does not let you use the course presentation tool, it is best to begin with an uploaded template.

Download this Course Presentation template and upload it to get started. Click “Use” to begin with your own editable version of the template. Modify the existing content and delete the slides you don’t need.

Read through the tutorial on creating a course presentation for more editing ideas.

STEP 5: Create your interactive! Read through this brief tutorial on adding attributions or use the guides within H5P to help you create the type of content you need.

STEP 6: Copy and paste the URL of your interactive into the discussion forum, along with a short description of why you made it and where you think it best fits into the course content.

Grading Rubric