unipolar depression explanation

Question 1

unnamed biological explanation of Unipolar Depression

Answer 1

Monoamine Hypothesis

Question 2

AO1 of monoamines

Answer 2

• The monoamine hypothesis states a group of transmitters called monoamines which includes serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenalin exist in lower levels in the brains of depressed patients.
• One role of serotonin is to regulate other NT so low levels of serotonin lead to low levels of noradrenaline and a deficit in the dopamine reward pathway. Without this regulation erratic brain functioning and thinking patterns can occur
• The lack of serotonin appears to be related to anxiety and compulsions the symptoms of unipolar depression such as disruption of sleep also seem to relate to the deficiencies of the monoamine neurotransmitters.
• For a person with UD when a monoamine neurotransmitter is released by the presynaptic neuron a pump like reuptake mechanism immediately begins to recapture some of the molecules before they are received by the post synaptic neurone.
• It is also thought that depressed people produce too much monoamine oxidase meaning that any of the neurotransmitters that remain in the synaptic gap are broken down too fast.

Question 3

3 strengths of monoamines

Answer 3

+ bunney et al found that urinary levels of noradrenalin decreased during episodes of depression.
+Coppen found that SSRI’s are successful in order to help reduce symptoms showing that dopamine has a role in depression
+ The level of NT rise very quickly once an individual is on medication and usually take 7-14 days

Question 4

3 weaknesses of monoamines

Answer 4

• Thase et al found that depressed patients acc had increased levels of noradrenaline which is the opposite of the theory
• an alternative explanation is the cognitive explanation which states UD occurs as a result of faulty thought processes
• a study found that neither serotonin nor noradrenaline depletion induced clinical depression in healthy ppts or worsened depression in unmedicated patients with major depression

Question 5

what is the non biological explanation of unipolar depression

Answer 5

cognitive

Question 6

AO1 of the cognitive explanation of unipolar depression

Answer 6

• Beck thought that UD is caused by faulty or maladaptive cognitive processes that are 3 main aspects of his approach:
  o The negative cognitive triad – this is where people with depression have negative thoughts about themselves e.g. feeling unworthy, they have negative thoughts about the world e.g. everything they do will result in failure, and negative thoughts about the future e.g. the future is hopeless
  o Cognitive errors- which refers to faulty thinking with negative unrealistic ideas. Cognitive errors can include all or nothing thinking which are known
  as cognitive distortions. Cognitive errors can lead to selective attention to negative aspects of a situation leading to negative conclusions.
  o Schemata- schemas are ways of seeing and understanding the world which comes from our experiences which come from our core beliefs. Our early experiences shape or schemas so if we have traumatic experiences our assumptions about the world will be more negative. The likely schemata of a depressed person include cognitive schemata which leads to seeing actual or threatened loss. Effective schemata that leads to sadness and behavioural schemata which leads to withdrawal and inactivity.

Question 7

3 strengths of cognitive unipolar depression

Answer 7

+ treatments based on this theory including CBT have been proven effective for many patients giving the theory validity.
+ Koster et al had 15 depressed and 15 non depressed students doing a selective attention task and the depressed ppts took longer to disengage from negative words such as loser
+ the model takes into account a variety of factors such as genes, early experiences and learning showing its holistic