Chapter 7 - Depressive Disorder Flashcards
What is Depression?
A low, sad state marked by significant levels of sadness, lack of energy, low self-worth, guilt, or related symptoms, life’s challenges seem overwhelming
What is Mania (opposite of depression)?
A state or episode of euphoria or frenzied activity/energy in which people may have an exaggerated belief that the world is theirs for the taking
What is a Depressive Disorder?
The group of disorders marked by unipolar depression, they do not experience mania. They return to a relatively normal mood when their depression lifts
What is unipolar depression?
Depression without a history of mania
What is bipolar disorder?
A disorder marked by alternating or intermixed periods of mania and depression
What is unipolar mania?
Is not regarded as existing by the psychology community
How is a depressive disorder different from feeling “depressed”
A depressive disorder brings severe and long-lasting psychological pain that may intensify as time goes by
What are the five areas of functioning? (symptoms of depression)
Emotional, Motivational, Behavioural, Cognitive, and Physical
True or false, people with depression can manage to function?
True, although their depression typically robs them of much effectiveness or pleasure
What are the emotional symptoms of depression?
Feel sad, dejected, miserable, empty, humiliated, anxiety, anger, or agitation. Tend to lose their sense of humour, report getting little pleasure from anything, some cases displayed anhedonia
What is anhedonia?
An inability to experience any pleasure at all
What are the motivational symptoms of depression?
Lose desire to pursue their usual activities, lack of drive, initiative, and spontaneity, they may force themselves to go to work, talk with friends, eat meals, or have sex
What are the behaviour symptoms of depression?
Usually less active and less productive. Spend more time alone and may stay in bed for long periods. May also move and speak more slowly
What are the cognitive symptoms of depression?
Hold extremely negative views of themselves. Consider themselves inadequate, undesirable, inferior, perhaps even evil. Blame themselves for nearly every unfortunate event, even things that nothing to do with them. Rarely credit themselves for positive achievements
What is pessimism (cognitive symptom of depression)?
Usually convinced that nothing will ever improve, they feel helpless to change any aspect of their lives, expecting the worst, they are likely to procrastinate. Sense of hopelessness and helplessness makes them especially vulnerable to suicidal thinking
What effect does depression have on a person’s intellectual ability?
Intellectual ability is very poor, feel confused, unable to remember things, easily distracted, and unable to solve even the smallest problems
What evidence has laboratory studies shown about a person with depression’s performance?
Depressed people do perform somewhat, but not extremely, more poorly than non depressed people on tasks of memory, attention, and reasoning (can also be interpreted as motivational symptoms
What are the physical symptoms of depression?
Physical ailments as headaches, indigestion, constipation, dizzy spells, and general pain. As well as, disturbances in appetite and sleep are particularly common, typically eat less, sleep less and feel more fatigued or they eat and sleep excessively
Diagnosing a major depressive episode according to DSM-5
A major depressive episode is a period of two or more weeks marked by at least 5 symptoms of depression, including sad mood and/or loss of pleasure. Episode may include psychotic symptoms
What are the psychotic symptoms of depression (in extreme cases)?
Loss of touch with reality, such as delusions and/or hallucinations
What is a delusion?
Bizarre ideas without foundation
What is a hallucination?
Perceptions of things that are not actually present
What are the several types of disorders listed in the DSM-5
Major Depressive Disorder, Persistent Depressive Disorder, Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
What is Major Depressive Disorder?
A severe pattern of depression that is disabling and is not caused by such factors as drugs or a general medical condition
What condition must be met to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder?
A major depressive episode without having any history of mania
How can Major Depressive Disorder additionally be described?
Seasonal, catatonic, peripartum, melancholic
What does seasonal mean?
Seasonal if it changes with the seasons (ex: recurs each winter). People who experience depression in the winter may secrete more melatonin during the winter
What does catatonic mean?
Catatonic if it is marked by either immobility or excessive activity
What does peripartum mean?
Peripartum if it occurs during pregnancy or within four weeks of giving birth
What does melancholic mean?
If the person is almost totally unaffected by pleasurable events
What is persistent depressive disorder?
A chronic form of unipolar depression marked by ongoing and repeated symptoms of either major or mild depression. Experiences the symptoms of major or mild depression for at least 2 years
What is persistent depressive disorder with major depressive episodes?
A pattern that describes the chronic form of unipolar depression has repeated major depressive episodes
What is persistent depressive disorder with dysthymic syndrome?
A pattern that has less severe and less disabling symptoms
What is premenstrual dysphoric disorder?
A disorder marked by repeated episodes of significant depression and related symptoms during the week before menstruation. The inclusion of this pattern in DSM-5 is controversial
What is disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
Combination of persistent depressive symptoms and recurrent outburst of severe temper. Emerges during mid-childhood or adolescence.
What commonly triggers episodes of unipolar depression?
Triggered by stressful events in an individual’s life
What is a reactive (exogenous) depression?
Follows clear-cut stressful events, important to note: even if a stressful event occurred before the onset of depression, that depression may not be reactive
What is an endogenous depression?
Seems to be a response to internal factors
What do today’s clinicians usually concentrate on?
Recognizing both the situational and the internal aspects of any given case of unipolar depression
What are the current explanations of Unipolar depression?
Biological, psychological and sociocultural factors
What is the biological explanation of Unipolar depression?
Suggest there are genetic factors, that some people inherit a predisposition to unipolar depression
What are the three kinds of research? (biological/genetic factors view)
Family pedigree, twin, and gene studies
What are family pedigree studies?
Select people with unipolar depressions as pro bands, examine their relatives, and see whether depression also afflicts other members of the family. If a predisposition to unipolar depression is inherited, a proband’s relatives should have a higher rate of depression than the population at large