Mood Disorders

Major Depressive Disorder  The “common cold” of psychological disorders – universal  Occurs when five signs of depression last two weeks or more and are not caused by drugs or another medical condition  Lethargy  Feelings of worthlessness  Loss of interest in family, friends, activities  Stressful events often precede depression  Can have physical symptoms  Dysthymia: symptoms are less severe but last longer (2 years)  More common in women than men  Most major depressive episodes end  Therapy tends to speed up recovery, although those without therapy still often recover  50% of those who recover will have another episode within 2 years

How Common Is It?  At some point in their life, 13% of U.S. adults will be plagued with depression  In any given year, 5.8% of men and 9.5% of women (worldwide) have depression  Number one reason why people seek mental health services  Is striking earlier and earlier and affecting more people  Today’s young adults are 3 times more likely than their grandparents to report depression Maybe they are more willing to disclose it?

Bipolar Disorder (formally known as Manic-Depressive)  Person alternates between depression and mania (each lasting a few days to a few months)  Mania: hyperactive, wildly optimistic states  Normal states may fall in between periods of depression and mania  Between , 4000% increase in diagnoses of bipolar disorder in those 19 and under (20,000 – 800,000 cases!)  Manic phase  Over-talkative, overactive, little need for sleep  Speech can be loud, flighty, hard to interpret  May have inflated self-esteem  Occurs equally between men and women  Architects, designers, journalists suffer bipolar disorder less often than composers, artists, poets, novelists, entertainers  Former relies on precision and logic  Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Ernest Hemingway, Handel – all had bipolar disorder

Causes of Mood Disorders: Biological Perspective  Genetics  Risk of depression increases if you have a parent or sibling with depression  Heritability = 35-40%  Many genes probably work together to interact with other factors to create depression Diathesis-stress approach  Brain  Less brain activity during depressive states and more during mania states  Left frontal lobe (active in positive emotions) is inactive during depressive states  Biochemistry  Reduction in norepinephrine(increases arousal and boosts mood) and serotonin is found in patients with depression  Nicotine (temporarily) increases norepinephrine, so many attempt to self medicate  Drugs that relieve depression increase these neurotransmitters

Depressed Brain

Causes of Mood Disorders: Social-Cognitive Approach  Explore the role of thinking and acting in depression  Depressed people often hold self- defeating beliefs and have a negative explanatory style  Explanatory style = who is to blame for failures?  Those who are depressed tend to explain bad events in terms that are stable (never ending), global (it’s going to affect everything), and internal (it’s all my fault)  Are these things the result or the cause of depression?  Don’t know!

Cycle of Depression 1.Negative stressful events 2.Pessimistic explanatory style 3.Hopeless depressed state. 4.These hamper the way the individual thinks and acts, fueling personal rejection

Biopsychosocial Approach