MOOD DISORDERS

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MOOD DISORDERS

• Etiology
• Treatment

Barlow, D.H. Durand, V.M. (2001) Abnormal
Psychology (2ndEd.). Belmont Wadsworth. Chapter
7 pp. 200-218.
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Overview of Etiological factors

• Psychological
• Stressful life events
• Behavioural factors
• Cognitive factors
• Psychodynamic

• Biological
• Neurotransmitters
• Endocrine system
• Family and genetics
• Sleep
• dysfunction
• Woman mood disorders

Mood Disorder

• Social
• Support system
• Woman mood disorders

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Biological Neurotransmitters

• Low levels of serotonin associated with
  depression.
• Dopamine levels
• High gt Mania
• Low gt Depression
• Norepinphrine

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Biological Endocrine system

• Depression has been associated with dysfunction
  of the endocrine system, specifically
• Elevated levels of the stress hormone Cortisol
• Malfunctioning of the thyroid gland
• Dysregulation of the release of growth hormones

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Biological Genetics
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Bio Sleep Circadian rhythms

• The following findings suggest a link between
  sleep and mood disorders
• Increased duration intensity of REM during
  sleep in people suffering from depression
• Sleep deprivation leads to temporary improvement
  in mood
• Seasonal Affective Disorder suggests the
  involvement of circadian rhythms
• Extended bouts of insomnia have been linked to
  manic episodes in Bipolar I disorder

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Psychological Stressful events

• Stressful events strongly linked to onset of mood
  disorders.
• Context and meaning of the event more important
  than the exact nature of event
• In Bipolar disorders stressful events linked with
  initial episodes but not later episodes
• But 50-80 of individuals do NOT develop mood
  disorders after stressful events?

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Psychological Behavioural

• Learned Helplessness
• Seligmans experiments with rats and dogs
• Learned helplessness in humans linked with
  attributions of a lack of control after
  experiences of being in an impotent position
• Environment which lacks positive reinforcement gt
  reduction in activities and withdrawal
• Positive reinforcement for the depressed role.

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Psychological Cognitive

• Links between cognition and emotion
• Depression linked to a tendency to interpret
  everyday events negatively.
• Becks cognitive triad negative cognitions about
  self, world future.
• Errors in processing information e.g.
• Arbitrary inference
• Overgeneralisation etc.
• Early childhood experiences gt negative schema gt
  automatic ways of thinking gt depression

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Psychological Psychodynamic

• Depression rooted in an early defect in the
  attachment relationship with the caregiver. Often
  the loss or threatened loss of a parent.
• Adult relationships unconsciously constructed in
  a way that reflects this loss e.g. Loss of early
  attachment gt dependence or avoidance in current
  relationships.
• Any present event involving loss reactivates the
  primal loss and the person regresses to the
  childhood trauma gt depression

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Social factors Social support

• High levels of social support are linked to a
  decreased occurrence of mood disorders and also
  an increase in the speed of recovery
• Brown Harris 1978
• Two groups of woman who had experienced a serious
  life stress
• Those who had a close friend gt 10 became
  depressed
• Those who did not have a supportive relationship
  gt 37 became depressed

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Social factors Woman

• Twice as many woman suffer from unipolar mood
  disorders. Why?
• Socialisation Help seeking behaviour? Expression
  of distress?
• Patriarchy less control gt learned helplessness
• Biological factors
• Hormonal
• Post partum (post childbirth) risk

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Overview of Etiological factors

• Psychological
• Stressful life events
• Behavioural factors
• Cognitive factors
• Psychodynamic

• Biological
• Neurotransmitters
• Endocrine system
• Family and genetics
• Sleep
• dysfunction

Mood Disorder

• Social
• Support system
• Woman mood disorders

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Integrative model of Etiology
Stressor
Biological Factors

Psycho- logical Factors
Protective factors
Mood Disorder
Vulnerability
Social Factors
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Threshold model
Threshold for mood disorder
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Treatment Medication

• Used to treat and also prevent relapse.
• Antidepressants
• Effective in alleviating depression in 50-65 of
  cases
• 3 categories
• Tricyclics Effective but can overdose
• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOs)
• Selective Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  cannot overdose eg. Prozac
• Mood stabalisers
• Lithium
• Anticonvulsants

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How do antidepressants work?

• Increase the amount of specific neurotransmitters
  in the nerve synapses.

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Treatment Cognitive therapy

• Short-term therapy
• Aim to change the habitual errors in thinking
  which will lead to mood change
• Method
• Clients are taught to examine there thought
  processes and link these to emotions.
• Together the therapist and client uncover and
  change faulty thinking patterns and underlying
  schemas.

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Treatment Psychodynamic therapy

• Assumption Clients early defective relationship
  experiences will be re-enacted in therapeutic
  relationship.
• Aim To make the client aware of the common
  patterns between their current and early
  relationships, so that they can change these
  patterns and increase their capacity to make full
  contact with others.
• Method Interpretations, reflecting on the
  current therapeutic relationship.

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Treatment Which is best?

• Less severe symptoms gt psychological treatment.
  Try to avoid side effects of medication.
• Vegetative symptoms and severe symptoms gt
  medication important
• Medication quicker symptom alleviation than
  psychotherapy
• Psychotherapy more effective then medication for
  prevention of relapse.
• Combined treatment most effective for relapse
  prevention.