AFFECTIVE DISORDERS– CONTINUED Perez | LPA | February 23

Sociocultural level of analysis: Social and Cultural Factors in depression Brown and Harris (1978): Social Origins of Depression– Conducted with women, found 29 of 32 women make depressed when a severe life event occurred. Life events that resemble previous experiences are more likely to lead to depression. Life events that are considered “severe,” according to Brown and Harris: –Lacking employment away from home. –Absence of social support –Having several young children at home –Loss of mother at an early age –History of childhood abuse

Sociocultural level of analysis: Social and Cultural Factors in depression Diathesis-Stress Model: Interactionist approach to explaining psychological disorders. Claims that depression may be the result of a hereditary predisposition. WHO looked into cultural symptomology: –Sad –Affect –Loss of enjoyment –Anxiety –Tension –Lack of energy –Loss of interest –Inability to concentrate –Ideas of insufficiency, inadequateness, and worthlessness. Common symptoms across Iran, Japan, Canada, and Switzerland.

Sociocultural level of analysis: Social and Cultural Factors in depression Kleinman: Somatization is a typical form of expression in China  the bodily symptoms of psychological dysfunction are impossible to compare cross-culturally because it may be experienced with substantially different symptoms or behaviors in another culture. –China: Lower back pain –Western Culture: Feelings of pain or guilt Somatization Disorder is a mental disorder characterized by recurring, multiple, and current, clinically significant complaints about somatic symptoms. Chinese rarely complain of feeling sad or depressed. Marsella: affective symptoms are typical of individualistic cultures.

EATING DISORDER

Eating Disorders: Bulimia Nervosa Bulimia Nervosa: An eating disorder characterized by the undertaking of binge-eating and then use compensatory methods to prevent weight gain. National Institute of Mental Health: Between 2 & 3% of women and % of men in the US have been diagnosed with Bulimia. Frude (1998): Female to Male Ratio of Bulimia sufferers is approximately 10 Females to 1 Male. More than 5 million people are believed to experience an eating disorder in the U.S. alone. Symptomology of Bulimia: –Isolated episodes of binge-eating & purging –Preoccupation with eating –Idealization of thinness –Fear of becoming fat  Body dissatisfaction and desire to be thin is high in Iranian Culture.

ABCS SYMPTOM- OLOGY A: Feelings of inadequacy, guilt, or shame B: recurrent episodes of binge eating; use of vomiting, laxatives, exercise, or dieting to control weight. C: negative self-image; poor body image, tendency to perceive events as more stressful than most people would; perfectionism. S: Swollen salivary glands; erosion of tooth enamel; stomach or intestinal problems and, in some cases, heart problems.

ETIOLOGY OF BULIMIA

Biological Strober (2000): found that first degree relatives of women with bulimia nervosa are ten times more likely than average to develop the disorder. Serotonin: Increased levels of serotonin stimulate the medial hypothalamus and decrease food intake. Smith(1990) found that when serotonin levels were reduced in recovered bulimic patients  engaged in cognitive patterns that were related to eating disorders (i.e., feeling fat).

Cognitive Body-Image distortion hypothesis (Bruch 1962): eating disorder patients suffer from the delusion that they are fat. –Patients reflect their emotional appraisal rather than their perceptual experience. –Slade & Brodie (1994): those who suffer from an eating disorder are in fact uncertain about the size and shape of their own body. Gender Difference: Men generally select very similar figures to their own sex, whereas women choose ideal and attractive body shapes. Cognitive Disinhibition (Polivy and Herman): occurs due to dichotomous thinking.

Socio- cultural ”Perfect Body Figure” has changed over the years. –1950’s: Female sex symbols had much larger bodies compared to present day A more rounded figure has been considered ideal in other cultures, which suggests that the current position might be open to change. People are constantly comparing themselves with others  Which leads to, standards of beauty becoming increasingly unattainable-- particularly for women. Eating disorders can lead to depression, and begin with the need for [women] to go on a diet. There is a worldwide cultural emphasis on thinness as the ideal body shape. Sanders and Bazalgette (1993) study on dolls  Dolls body types were transformed into human measurements and found that the dolls had tiny hips and waists, with greatly exaggerated inside leg measurements.