PSYCH 100 - Module 49 -- Mood disorders

Major depressive disorder is said to occur when signs of depression last at least

2 weeks

State-dependent memory

A depressed mood triggers negative thoughts -- if you temporarily put people in a bad or sad mood, their thoughts, memories, and expectations suddenly become more pessimistic

Mania

A mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state

Norepinephrine

A neurotransmitter -- increases arousal and boosts mood, scarce during depression and overabundant during mania.

Bipolar disorder

Alternating between depression and mania (overexcited, hyperactive state)

Serotonin

Another neurotransmitter that may affect the gene expression for depression

Anxiety vs. Depression

Anxiety is a response to the threat of future loss Depression is a response to past / current loss

Brain structure's correlation with depression and mania

Parts of the brain are slowed down and smaller when depressed, hyperactive and overused when in mania.

Major depressive disorder

Prolonged hopelessness and lethargy. A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, two or more weeks of significantly depressed moods or diminished interest or pleasure in most activities, along with at least four other symptoms.

Mood disorders

Psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes.

Theory for why depression is common among young Westerners

Rise of individualism and decline of commitment to religion/family have forced young people to take personal responsibility for failure/rejection

What feeds depression's vicious cycles? (2)

Self-defeating beliefs and a negative explanatory style

Drugs that help depression

Tend to increase norephinephrine / serotonin supplies -- however exercising also reduces depression as it increases serotonin

An overabundance of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine is most likely to be associated with...

a manic episode.

Bipolar disorder is most likely to be characterized by

alternations between extreme hopelessness and unrealistic optimism.

Mr. Hoffman has always been cautious with his money, but over the past two weeks he has developed grandiose plans to bet his entire life savings on a single horse race. With unrestrained exuberance he has also been giving everybody he sees unsolicited advice on how to make millions in the stock market. Mr. Hoffman's behavior is most indicative of

mania

Amanda's therapist suggests that her depression results from mistakenly blaming herself rather than a slumping economy for her recent job loss. Her therapist's suggestion best illustrates a

social-cognitive perspective.

Inanna suffers from chronic depression. According to the social-cognitive perspective, how is she most likely to respond when told that she performed very poorly on a test she took the previous day?

"I'm academically incompetent and always will be."

Depression cycle

(1) Negative, stressful events --> (2) ruminating, pessimistic explanatory style create --> (3) hopeless, depressed state that --> (4) hampers the way the person thinks and acts. This fuels (1) again.

Two principal forms of mood disorders

(1) major depressive disorder (2) bipolar disorder (manic depressive disorder)

Suffering depression and evolutionary meaning

Biologically speaking, depression is a psychic hibernation; slows us down, defuses aggression, helps us let go of unattainable goals, and restrains risk taking.

The "common cold" of psychological disorders

Depression -- an expression that describes its pervasiveness but not its seriousness ◘ Depression is the #1 reason why people seek mental health services; plagues 12% of Canadian adults and 17% of US adults at some point during their lifetime

Self-defeating beliefs

May arise from learned helplessness; people act depressed, passive, withdrawn after uncontrollable/painful events. ◘ This is more common in women than men because of their tendency to overthink - rumination

Biological perspective on major depression

Mood disorders are indeed inherited -- the heritability of major depression is estimated at 37%

Occupations and bipolar disorder

Those that require creativity and high levels of energy (like artists / music composers) have higher levels of bipolar disorder (mania) than those occupations that require high levels of logic and precision (architects, designers, and journalists).

Linkage analysis

Used to seek out the genes that put people at risk for depression; finds a chromosome neighborhood of where that gene may reside, and then further study of each (house to house) is needed. ◘ complex; multiple genes work together producing small effects that interact with other factors to put some people at greater risk

Explanatory style

Who or what they blame for their failures -- can blame on themselves (leading to depression) or other things ◘ Life's unavoidable failures lead only some people to become depressed because they only blame it on themselves

Since the early 1990s, adolescents with strong mood swings have been increasingly likely to be diagnosed as suffering from

bipolar disorder

The experience of depression ________ risk taking and ________ aggression.

inhibits; inhibits

Severely depressed individuals are especially likely to show reduced brain activity in the

left frontal lobe.

Elaine feels that her life is empty, has lost all interest in her career and hobbies, and wonders if she would be better off dead. She is most likely suffering from

major depressive disorder.

Symptoms of major depressive disorder (must have at least 5 for two weeks)

◘ Depressed mood most of the day ◘ Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in activities ◘ Significant weight loss or gain when not dieting, or significant decreases or increase in appetite ◘ Insomnia or sleeping too much ◘ Physical agitation or lethargy ◘ Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day ◘ Feeling worthless or excessive or inappropriate guilt ◘ Daily problems in thinking, concentrating, or making decisions ◘ Recurrent thoughts of death and suicide

Summarized facts about depression

◘ Many behavioral and cognitive changes accompany depression ◘ Depression is widespread ◘ Women's risk of depression is nearly double men's ◘ Most major depressive episodes self-terminate ◘ Stressful events related to work, marriage, and close relationships often precede depression ◘ With each new generation, depression is striking earlier (late teens now) and often affecting more people with highest rates in developed countries