W8 Mood and depression Disorders Flashcards
(38 cards)
What is depression
Low mood, sleeping less/more, eating less/more, loss of interest, hopelessness.
How to measure depression
Self-report scales
Causes of depression
Life events, genetics, chemical imbalance in the brain.
What are the symptoms of depression
Cognitive symptoms: difficulty with concentration or making decisions.
Behavioral symptoms: social withdrawal and agitation.
Somatic (physical) symptoms: insomnia or hypersomnia, eating too much too little.
Affective (mood) symptoms: depressed mood and feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
Reactive depression
triggered by a negative experience
Endogenous depression
no apparent negative life event
Unipolar affective disorder
depression
Bipolar affectve disorder
depression with periods of mania (energetic, impulsive, positive, very confident). Very cyclic, you might spend months in the mania period and then go through depressive period.
Iproniazid
originally developed to treat tuberculosis (didn’t work!) but patients felt less depressed about having tuberculosis.
Mono amine oxidase (MAO)
is an enzyme that breaks down monoamine neurotransmitters. MAO inhibitors stop it working. Leaves more neurotransmitter in the neuron so more can be released
What chemical structure is part of tricyclic antidepressants?
Imipramine: chemical structure includes a three-ring chain.
Tricuclic antidepressants
block reuptake and therefore leaves more transmitter at the synapse.
Prozac
blocks reuptake and therefore leave more transmitter at the synapse.
What is used to treat bipolar
Lithium: interferes with second messenger system
Monoamine theory of depression
Anti-depressants act on monoamines. Hypothesis: Depression is actually caused by a deficit of monoamine neurotransmission
Some evidence of elevated receptors in depressed patients (to compensate for low levels of transmission)
Seligman’s attributional model
Attribution of negative events: 3 dimensions are
Internal vs External
Global vs Specific
Stable vs Unstable
ADM (anti-depressant medication)
side-effects, no cognitive resilience, addictive
Major/Unipolar depression
A psychological problem/disorder characterized by relatively extended periods of clinical depression which cause significant distress to the individual and impairment in social or occupational functioning.
Bipolar disorder
A psychological disorder characterized by periods of mania that alternate with periods of depression.
Dysthymic disorder
form of depression in which the sufferer has experienced at least 2 years of depressed mood for more days than not.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
condition in which some women experience severe depression symptoms between 5 and 11 days prior to the start of the menstrual cycle. Symptoms then improve significantly within a few days after the onset of menses.
Seasonal affective disorder
A condition of regularly occurring depressions in winter with a remission the following spring/summer
Chronic Fatigue syndrome
A disorder characterized by depression and mood fluctuations together with physical symptoms such as extreme fatigue, muscle pain, chest pain, headaches and noise/light sensitivity.