Mood Disorders

Mood changes that seem inappropriate for or inconsistent with the situations to which they are responding. 2 Categories: 1.Major depression – Feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, worthlessness, guilt and great sadness 2.Bipolar disorder – Cycle of mood changes from depression to wild elation

Depression

Major Depression A mood disorder characterized by extreme and persistent feelings of despondency, worthlessness and hopelessness –Prolonged, very severe symptoms –Passes without remission for at least 2 weeks –Global negativity and pessimism –Very low self-esteem

Symptoms of Major Depression Must Exhibit for 2 Weeks or Longer Emotional—sadness, hopelessness, guilt, turning away from others Behavioral—tearfulness, dejected facial expression, loss of interest in normal activities, slowed movements and gestures, withdrawal from social activities Cognitive—difficulty thinking and concentrating, global negativity, preoccupation with death/suicide Physical—appetite and weight changes, excess or diminished sleep, loss of energy, global anxiety, restlessness

Prevalence and Course of Major Depression Most common of psychological disorders. It affects about 100 million people worldwide and 12 million Americans annually. 8 to 18% of general population will experience depression sometime in their lifetime. Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with major depression Untreated episodes can become recurring and more serious 15% of severely depressed people commit suicide.

Self-Rating Depression Scale

Scoring Your Self-Rating Depression Scale Reverse Your responses (1=5, 2=4, 3=3, 4=2, 5=1) to items: 2, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20 Now add up all your numbers (including the new reversed scores) to find you total score. Range of total scores will be 20 to 80. Scores of suggest mild to moderate depression Scores of indicate moderate to severe depression Scores 70 and above indicate severe depression.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression) A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness of depression and the overexcited and unreasonably optimistic state of mania Used to be called manic-depressive disorder Many times will follow a cyclical pattern

Mania Period of abnormally high emotion and activity –Supreme self-confidence - delusional –Grandiose ideas and movements – too many goals in too little time –Flight of ideas – rapid and loosely shifting thoughts that jump from topic to topic. –Hallucinations – hearing or seeing things not there.

Depression Extended period of feeling sad, listless, and drained of energy

Mania and Depression Play “Mood Disorders: Mania and Depression” (7:34) Segment #31 from The Mind: Psychology Teaching Modules (2 nd edition). Shows person with BiPolar, Major Depression and group therapy.

Prevalence and Course of Bipolar Disorder Onset usually in young adulthood (early twenties) Mood changes more abrupt than in major depression No sex differences in rate of bipolar disorder Affects about 2 million Americans annually. Commonly recurs every few years A small percentage of people with the disorder display rapid cycling, experiencing four or more manic or depressive episodes every year. Can often be controlled by medication (lithium)

Causes of Mood Disorders

Psychological Views Psychoanalytic – Depressed people suffer from a real or imagined loss during childhood which makes the person angry. –They internalize this anger onto themselves. Learning – Learned Helplessness – depressed person has learned through experience that events in their lives are out of their control. –They expect that future events will be bad and there is nothing they can do about it.

Cognitive Factors Depressed individuals attribute events using the following characteristics: –Stable: the bad situation will last for a long time –Internal: they are at fault –Global: all of life is bad

Cognitive Bases for Depression Hopelessness theory –depression results from a pattern of thinking –person loses hope that life will get better –negative experiences are due to stable, global reasons e.g., “I didn’t get the job because I’m stupid and inept” vs. “I didn’t get the job because the interview didn’t go well”

Attributions

Negative Automatic Thoughts Finding Your Score Add up your total score. Scores will fall from 30 (no depression) to 150 (maximum depression). Mean (average) score is 79.6 for depressed people and 48.6 for nondepressed people. This “test” looks for specific measures of depression: –Personal dissatisfaction & desire for change (items 14 & 20) –Negative Expectations (items 3 & 24) –Low Self-Esteem (items 17 & 18) –Helplessness (items 29 & 30)

Biological Factors Mood disorders have a hereditary nature to them % had a close relative affected with the disorder. Depressed individuals tend to have depressed brains. –PET scans indicate less activity during periods of depression.

Ups & Downs of Bipolar Disorder PET scans show that brain energy consumption rises and falls with the patient's emotional switches. Red areas are where the brain rapidly consumes glucose. Blue areas are low areas of activity.

Biological Explanations Neurotransmitter theories – Person doesn’t have enough of… –Noradrenaline –Serotonin Antidepressants increase the availability of noradrenaline and serotonin. They relieve the symptoms of major depression in about 80% of the people who take them Lithium has been used to treat bipolar disorder and to prevent its recurrence. It appears to regulate the availability of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Genetic component –more closely related people show similar histories of mood disorders

Biological & Psychological Factors Depression may be a variation of learned helplessness. Helplessness seems to lower the level of noradrenaline which makes depression worse.

Seriously depressed moods result from a combination of factors, which affect each other. Altering any one component can alter the others. Bio-Psycho-Social Model of Depression

Depression’s Vicious Cycle