Mood Disorders I and II Flashcards
How common is major depression disorder?
Common:
8-10% of Men
15-20% of Women (lifetime prevalence)
According to DSM 5, 5 of the 9 criteria for major depressive disorder must be present for 2 weeks and represent a change from previous functioning. What are the 9 criteria?
SIG E CAPS
S- Sleep disorders (too much or too little)
I- Interest- loss of interest/pleasure in daily activities
G- Guilt (feelings of worthlessness or excessive, inappropriate guilt)
E- Energy- lack of energy/fatigue
C- Concentration- indecisiveness/inability to concentrate
A- Appetite, changes in weight
P- Psychomotor, either agitation or retardation
S- Suicide: thoughts of suicide or death
Which two of the 9 criteria for MDD must be present?
Depressed Mood
Loss of Interest/pleasure
How does marital status affect depression rate?
Unmarried/divorced/widowed people are at higher risk for depression
Except in old men. Then it doesn’t make a difference
How does income, profession, religion or geography affect rates of depression?
They have minimal impact
Describe the triggers for onset of illness in MDD
Can either be a series of negative life events, or could be one catastrophic event
Do most people have one occurrence of a MDD or is it a reoccurring problem?
For most people, MDD is a reoccurring chronic illness
Name two physiologic findings that correlate with MDD.
Smaller hippocampus
Abnormal serotonin transport protein
Name three classifications of triggering events for MDD
Biological (medicines, substances, disease)
Psychological
Environmental
Differentiate relapse from reoccurance of MDD
Relapse: onset of symptoms while in remission
Recurrence: onset of symptoms following recovery from MDD
What class of disease is MDD?
Neurodegenerative brain disorder
What is one biologic marker we associate with the neurodegenerative process of MDD?
Chronic low levels increases of cortisol.
May be secondary to stress –> disruption in healthy neurogenesis and may add to neurodegeneration
Why is the traditional theory of monoamine control of emotions not fully explanatory?
Antidepressants work by increasing the levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.
At best, remission only occurs in 40% of patients, and only 65% respond to the medication. This indicates there is another process involved.
What is the cytokine thought to be responsible for interruption of serotonin metabolism?
IL-6.
Produced as a part of a chronic inflammatory process
Describe the structural theory of MDD
Depression is caused by abnormal changes in brain architecture.
Atrophy: hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex
Enlargement: anterior cingulated cortex, and insula
Describe the network hypothesis of MDD
White matter abnormalities in tracts between medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus
Depression is therefore a result of miscommunication and misinterpretation of various brain regions involved with interpreting emotions.
How does length of a depressive episode correlate to success in treating it?
The longer the depressive episode lasts, the less likely it is to be treated successfully