Depression+Bipolar Flashcards
Definitions and characteristics of abnormal effect`
- abnormal effect: abnormal disorders related to moods and emotions
- DSM-V, disturbance of mood, intense, persistent
What is unipolar depression?
Major depressive disorder
Changes in mood
- long period of sadness + despair
- loss of interest in enjoyable activities
change in behaviour
- struggling to concentrate, remember
- fatigue
- difficult to make decisions
- change to appetite, sleeping patterns
- considering/attempting suicide
What is bipolar depression?
Manic symptoms or depressive symptoms Manic: - long period of euophoric, rage - easily distracted - sudden interest in new activities/objects - overconfidence - risky behaviour
Depressive:
- opposite to above
What are the two types of unipolar depression?
- reactive : caused by factors external to the person, stressful life events
- endogenous: caused by factors within the person, genes
Describe Beck Depression inventory (BDI)
- psychometric test measures severity, questionnaire
- 21 items with 4 statements 0-3 likert scale
- covers issue: suicidal thoughts, failure, irritability
- higher score, more severe
Evaluate BDI
Strengths:
- high reliability + validity
- objective, quantatitive, numerical score, allows to see improvements/deterioration over time
Weaknesses:
- does not capture detail, less, than unstructured interview might offer
- self report!!! individual exaggerate, play down symptoms — might reduce validity
What are the 3 explanations of depression?
- biological: Oruc et al
- cognitive: Beck
- learned helplessness: Seligman
Describe Oruc et al, biological explanation
- examined a genetic basis
- DNA bipolar, DNA healthy control (42,49)
- DNA polymorphisms in, serotonin receptor + serotonin transporter genes
- no significant difference —> but, females more likely to show both polymorphism —> variations in genes, explain why females are more susceptible to bipolar disorder
(matched pair, in accordance with same age)
Evaluate Oruc et al, biological explanation
Strengths:
- INTERNAL VALIDITY: looked at both males+females, gender differences recorded, matched pair to eliminate individual differences
- RELIABILITY: scientific measures to compare correlation between family members, subjectivity reduced
Weaknesses:
- not generalisable, if done in different country, cultural bias
- age is extraneous variable
Issues and debates related to Oruc et al
Reductionism VS holism
- reductionist, only research one explanation for the cause (serotonin)
- this was found to be little significance, so other factors may play a role in the development of depressive disorders
Nature VS nurtrue
- nature, biological explanation for causes
- but found no significant difference
Application
- doctors more aware in female patients, as more susceptible to depressive disorders
Describe cognitive explanation, Beck
- COGNITIVE TRIAD
negative views about the world->future-> oneself
Oneself: attributed internally, not capable of being happy
World: presenting them insurmountable obstacles to happiness
Future: anticipates failure/rejection
caused by
1. cognitive distortion, schemas
2. result: symptoms
Evaluation of BDI measure
Strengths:
1. objective: quantitative measurement, numerical score for each person, more objective than unstructured interview
Weaknesses:
- REDUCTIONIST, disregards biological aspects, suggest think negative=depression, extreme emotions? multiple emotions with depression
- LACKS VALIDITY: self report!!!, exaggerate/reduce symptoms, social desirability bias, lacks internal validity
Describe the background study for learned helplessness
- initially discovered by Seligman as a result of number of studies conducted with dogs
Condition 1: dogs experience shock, can escape
C2: experience shock, cannot escape
C3: same as C1, BUT dogs no longer escape
What is learned helplessness, why it can be applied to humans?
- occurs-> endure an unpleasant situation, perceive unpleasantness to be inescapable
- dogs exhibited same characteristics as ppl w depression, e.g. being weak + lose appetite
What is attributional style?
- the application of theory of learned helplessness is known as attributional style
- depressed patients=negative attributional style
- lack of control over negative events
- consistently view things as: internal, stable, global
What are the 3 types of attributional style?
- Internal VS external
- cause is due to individual or situation - stable VS transient
- cause is permanent or not - global VS specific
- cause relates to the whole person or aspect of their characteristics
Describe Seligman et al (APRC)
A: investigate how well attributional style can predict depressive symptoms—> 39 unipolar+12 bipolar
P:
- attributional style questionnaire + BDI
R:
- bipolar+unipolar more negative attributional style (AS) than control
- more severe BDI, more negative AS
- unipolar undergoing cognitive therapy=improvement in attributional style correlated improvement in BDI scores
C:
- attributional style plays an important role in underlying mechanisms of depression
Evaluate Seligman, learned helplessness/attributional style
Strengths:
- VALID: standardised questionnaires, valid and reliable
- RELIABILITY: can be repeated bc high level of standardisation
- USEFUL: predictive of depression, treatment targets attributional style
Issues and debates of Seligman et al (individual, S, Naturenurture, reductionism)
- depression caused by both individual + situational, greater emphasis on situational
- ## nurture, experiences shaped attributional style
What are the 3 treatments and management of depression?
- biological: chemical/drugs (MAO, SSRIs)
- electro-convulsive therapy
- cognitive restructuring (Beck)
- rational emotive behaviour therapy (Ellis)
How does drug treatment work?
- chemical imbalance of neurotransmitters
- drugs increase/decrease levels of neu
- remaining neu. in synaptic gap must be removed
———in 2 ways:
1. re-uptake
2. broken down by enzymes
How does MAOIs work to treat depression?
- MAO=enzyme, breaks down MONOAMINES at synapse
- MAOIs blocks MAO
- monoamine remains LONGER in synapse, continue to act
How does SSRIs work ?
- specific to serotonin
- low levels of serotonin=cause
- blocks reuptake process, reduce rate of reabsorption
- more serotonin attached to receptors
** used in bipolar
What are the risks of using SSRIs?
- mild+temporary side effects=headaches
- severe ones, increase in suicidal thoughts
What principle is REBT based on?
- stoicism
- becomes depressed as a result of internal constructions+perceptions rather than external things
How does the therapy for ECT work? What is the goal?
- ABC model
A: activating event
B: beliefs about activating event
C: consequences (emotional+behavioural)
Goal:
- create and maintain rational patterns of thinking
- by identifying+changing thoughts
- through disputing
Evaluation of Beck’s cognitive explanation
Strengths:
- Proves that it is effective, since used in CBT and REBT, by replacing negative thoughts with positive ones
- Various studies proved Beck’s idea, Lewinsohn et al testing relationship between depression + negative thinking
Weaknesses:
- Holistic, 3 factors leading to depression, cognitive triad, silent assumptions, information processing, hard to establish cause and effect
- only supports individual, depression is only influenced by the patient’s mind, situational factors disregarded
