Psychological aspects of mood/depression Flashcards
DEPRESSION/DRUG ADDICTION
socio-economic status and depression
higher SES = less chance of dep
resilience
developed through recovering/processing post exposure to trauma and difficulties
-> intermittent trauma = stronger as more time to recover
pain
-useful in indicating when you should stop something harmful
-healthy pain vs pathological pain
mood/feeling fluctuate - is this normal?
this is completely normal. However, it becomes a problem when it’s prolonged → issue
What is the main purpose of moods and feelings?
→ keeps us safe, it is an early warning system. Feelings can be good or bad and we need both to survive
What is a mood?
A temporary emotional state that influences perception and behaviour and fluctuates
Influences on Moods
-both external (e.g., weather, life events) and internal factors (e.g., hormones, personality traits) play a role.
-Society, time period, biology, age and hard wiring also play a role. Today’s society is not okay with feeling bad
- intensity, duration and type of event?
Control Over Moods:
- While some aspects of mood are within our control, others, such as hormonal changes or unexpected life events, are not.
- attend and accept feelings they are a WARNING SYSTEM
-> You have 0 control of what you feel but you have control over the expression of your emotions. = Supression is not good, but accept whatever you think and feel.
- attend and accept feelings they are a WARNING SYSTEM
What affects your mood?
- the life you’ve had before.
- E.g if you’ve had near death experiences etc. you may be less bothered by smaller things.
= The metric of your tolerance has changed - Life’s experiences changes your parameter of what actually influences your mood.
- By trying to change your mood you’re taking a prophylic action
Transition to Disorder:
- A mood becomes a disorder when it persists, leading to significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
- When you can’t trace back the cause → indicative of disorder
treatments for mood disorders
-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT),
-Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT),
-medication,
-and lifestyle changes like exercise.
CBT
attempts to alter the way you see things in the world. We label a lot of emotions as negative in society e.g anger. However, anger signals attack! This is useful information.
Pros and cons of CBT:
PROS: teaches you that it’s not the way something happens but how you react to it that affects you.
CONS: - use of pain rating scales but the issue with this is that it is subject to a person’s pain scale → not the same for everyone
- normal for mood to fluctuate - past, genetics, personality
- Different events could cause the same level of pain in different people, even when the events are seemingly very different e.g major vs minor
metrics for depression diagnosis
how generalisable are they?
-Now 2 weeks but was 6 weeks before
Mood Enhancers:
Marketing strategies are designed to manipulate moods through emotional appeal. Marketing knows how to manipulate your mood.
Awareness
Understanding these tactics can help in mitigating their impact on our mood and decisions.
External influences
- include the environment - weather, social interactions, and life events.
Internal factors
- involve biological aspects such as neurotransmitters and hormones, and psychological factors like personality traits.
-These are underestimated.
-Predisposition to serotonin uptake receptors e.g has an effect and we have no control over this.
-Vitamin D deficiency, lack of sleep and thyroid (physiology) has big effects!
-Diet, environment, personality e.g neuroticism, extraversion etc.
epigenetics:
- behaviours affect future offspring genetics
- Recent research on genetics has been done and how our behaviours affect our genes e.g smoking → affects genes passed on to offspring.
-How you think of the world/how much you think affects your child’s brain.
treatments for depression
- usually in conjunction with medication which allows the person to access therapy
- mild depression - good eve for physical exercise
- exposure and response prevention therapy helps with anxiety
- CBT - mindfulness = helpful from stress to psychosis
- CBT through NHS
- Self-Help Resources: books
-AI - bot chat = less judgy
Psychological theory
- We can choose how we think about things/what we do ⇒ thus can influence how we feel
- BUT be careful:
- randomized controlled trials routinely exclude groups of people who are regularly seen in clinics
- psychiatric diagnoses have limited validity and reliability
misconceptions
- that mentally ill people can get well…
- to an extent - yes but what about long-term chronic or replacing conditions or personality disorders?
- self-harming behaviours might be hard to give up?
Psychoanalysis
- Explores unconscious motives and how they influence behavior and relationships. Constantly criticising will NOT improve anything.
-It doesn’t help us bit only tells us not to accept ourselves.- powerful treatment - good eve for long term meaningful change in people lives
Freud
- people can experiencecatharsisand gain insight into their state of mind by bringing the content of the unconscious into conscious awareness.
-Through this process, a person can find relief from psychological distress. - People use defense mechanisms to protect themselves from information contained in the unconscious.
Surgery vs. Plaster
Some conditions require deeper exploration for long-term change, akin to surgery over a plaster cast for physical injuries.
Psychoanalysis in the Present:
- It is a misconception that psychoanalysis only focuses on past experiences.
-It also addresses current unconscious processes and the therapeutic relationship.
-> Tavistock Clinic’s study, British psychoanalytic council
Exploration and Inquiry
Encourages continuous questioning and critical thinking about the nature of the mind, love, memory, and coincidences.
Music as a Mood Altering Substance:
- Highlights the power of music to influence emotional states.
Neuroplasticity and Mood:
Recent research highlights the brain’s ability to change and adapt, suggesting that interventions like meditation and learning can positively affect mood regulation.
Social Connection:
Strong social ties have been shown to improve mood and mental health, underscoring the importance of community and supportive relationships.
Diet and Mood:
Nutritional psychiatry is an emerging field exploring the link between diet, brain function, and mood, suggesting that certain diets may enhance mental health.
