mood disoders Flashcards
main symptoms of depression
- mood out of proportion to any cause
- anhedonia
- changes in appetite, sleep & activity (more or less)
- psychomotor retardation or agitation
- lack of energy & fatigue
- thoughts of worthlessness, guilt, shame
psychomotor retardation vs agitation
retardation = everything they do is slowed down - walk, talk & gesture slowly
agitation = feel physically agitated, cannot sit still & may move around or fidget aimlessly
major depressive disorder
a severe bout of depressive symptoms lasting 2 weeks or more
- diagnosis require depressed mood or anhedonia + at least 4 other symptoms for at least 2 weeks
- symptoms must be sever enough to interfere with daily life
1 depressive episode = MDD, single episode
more than 2 (separated by at least 2m) = MDD, recurrent episode
persistent depressive disorder
more chronic form - depressed mood for most of the day, for more days than not, for at least 2 years
- in children & teens - at least 1 year
- must not have been without symptoms for more than 2 months
comorbidity of depression
substance abuse
anxiety disorders
eating disorders
may be cause or result of another disorder
what are the 8 subtypes of depression
depression with anxious distress
depression with mixed features
depression with melancholic symptoms
depression with psychotic features
depression with catatonic features
depression with atypical features
seasonal affective disorder
depression with peripartum onset
depression with anxious distress
prominent anxiety symptoms as well as depressive symptoms
depression with mixed features
meet the criteria for MDD & have at least 3 symptoms of mania, but don’t meet criteria for manic episode
depression with melancholic features
the physiological symptoms of depression are very prominent
depression with psychotic features
people experience delusions & hallucinations
content may be consistent with typical depressive themes (mood-congruent)
or content may be unrelated to depressive themes or mixed (mood-incongruent)
depression with catatonic features
show strange behaviors known as catatonia
can range from a complete lack of movement to excited agitation
depression with atypical features
an odd assortment of symptoms
seasonal affective disorder
a history of at least 2 years of experiencing & fully recovering from major depressive episodes (MDE)
become depressed when daylight hours are short & recover when they are long
depression with peripartum onset
when the onset of an episode occurs during pregnancy or in the 4 weeks following birth
prevalence, age & gender of depression
life prevalence ranges from 3% (japan) – 16% (US)
children - 2.5% & teens 8.3% (US)
age: 18-29 most likely, lowest rates over 65, rise again over 85
gender - twice as common in women
genetic factors for depression
multiple genetic abnormalities likely contribute
abnormalities in serotonin transporter gene = dysfunction in regulation of ST = affects stability of moods
neurotransmitter theories for depression
monoamines like ST, NE & dopamine
- large amounts found in limbic system (sleep, appetite & emotion)
- many processes within brain cells that affect functioning of NTs may go awry in MDD – e.g. abnormalities in synthesis of ST & NE may contribute
- release process of ST & NE (regulated by STG) may be abnormal in depression + receptors may be less sensitive or sometimes malfunction
prefrontal cortex in depression
(attention, planning, problem solving, memory)
reduced metabolic activity, reduction in volume of grey matter & lower brain-wave activity, especially in LH
anterior cingulate in depression
(stress response, emotional expression, social behavior)
different levels of activity = problems in attention, planning of appropriate responses, coping & anhedonia
hippocampus in depression
(memory, fear-related learning)
smaller volume & lower metabolic activity – damage could be result of chronic arousal of body’s stress response (cortisol)
amygdala in depression
(directing attention to stimuli that are emotionally significant)
increased activity = may bias people toward aversive or emo arousing info = rumination over neg memories & neg aspects of env