Chapter Five: Part 1 Flashcards
What is a manic episode?
Involves elated, irritable, or euphoric mood (mood that is extremely positive and may not necessarily be appropriate to the situation).
In any year, how many Americans experience a mood disorder?
About 9%
What is a hypomanic episode?
Involves elated, irritable, or euphoric mood that is less distressing or severe than mania and is different from the person’s non depressed state. That is, how a person behaves during a hypomanic episode is different from his or her usually state.
What is typical depression?
Px. Develop insomnia, lose weight, and their poor mood persists throughout the day.
What is atypical depression?
Px. Sleep more, gain weight, and their mood brightens in response to positive events.
Define: Prodrome
Early symptoms of a disorder.
What are the three types of mood disorder episodes?
- Major depressive episode
- Manic episode
- Hypomanic episode
What is the prevalence of MDD?
Approx. 10-25% of women, 5-12% of men develop MDD over their lifetime. Before puberty, the Rates are the same.
- ethnic, education, incomes, marital status a generally afflicted equally.
Describe the comorbidity of MDD.
Most people with MDD also have an additional disorder, such as an anxiety or substance use disorder.
Describe the onset of MDD
Can begin at any age, average onset is mid-20’s, although people are developing MDD at increasingly younger ages.
Describe the course of MDD
- after 1 episode, approx 50-65% will have a 2nd.
- after 2, 70% chance of having third.
- after 3, 90% chance of having fourth.
Describe the gender differences in MDD.
- women are approx. 2x likely as men to develop MDD.
- some women report depressive symptoms become more severe premenstually.
If symptoms of major depression persist for a long period of time, the person may be diagnosed with… Specifically…
Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia). Specifically, chronic depression.
Where have researches found unusually low activity in the brain of depressed people?
Part of the frontal lobe that has direct connections to the amygdala and to other brain areas involved in emotion.
What’s a key role of the frontal lobe? What does this finding hint at for depressed people?
Regulating other brain areas and signals from it can inhibit activity in the amygdala.
- the depressed brain is not as able as the normal brain to regulate emotions.
Lack of motivation has been linked to what in the brain?
Reduced activity in the frontal and parietal lobes.
In reference to nt’s, depression is linked to what?
Dx arises in part from complex interactions among numerous nts and depends on how much of each is released into synapses, how long each nt lingers In synapses, and how the nt’s interact with receptors in other areas of the brain involved with sxs of depression.
Describe the prevalence of dysthymia.
In a given year, 2% of Americans have dysthymia.
Describe the comorbidity of dysthymia.
Compared to MDD, those with dysthymia are more likely to have at least one other psych dx. Particular an anxiety or substance use dx.
Describe the onset of dysthymia
Emerges earlier than MDD.
Describe the course of dysthymia.
By its nature, chronic; symptoms are less likely to fully resolve than with an MDE.
Describe the gender differences found with dysthymia.
Boys/girls are equal.
- in adulthood women are 2 to 3 times more likely than men to develop dysthymia.
The stress-Diathesis model of depression focuses on what part of brain?
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis)
What does the HPA axis do?
Governs the production of the hormone cortisol, which is secreted when stressed is experienced.
According to the stress-Diathesis model, people w/ depression have..
Excess cortisol in their blood which makes the brain more prone to overreacting when experiencing stress. Stress in turn, alters serotonin and norepinephrine systems.
Stress affects the symptoms of depression in part because…
Stress alters the levels of cortisol which in turn impairs the functioning of the hippocampus.
How do genetics play into developing depression?
If one identical twin has depression, the other has 4x chance higher than dizygotic twins.
- might influence how a person responds to stressful events.
What psychological factors play into depression?
- Attentional biases
- Dysfunctional thoughts
- Rumination and Attribution style
- Learned helplessness
What did beck think was the root cause depression?
Cognitive Distortions.
- They tend it have overly negative views about
1. The world
2. The self
3. The future (cognitive triad).
How does rumination contribute to depression?
Ruminations - while experiencing negative emotions some people reflect on these emotions and the events that led to them. Has been linked to depression.
How does attributional style contribute to depression?
Px with Depression consistently attribute neg. events to their own qualities - called an internal attributional style. Are more likely to become depressed.
What three factors make up a neg. attributional style?
Internal, stable, global factors. Those who make consistently stable and global attributions for neg. events whether internal or external, are more likely to feel hopeless in the face of neg events.
