Mental Disorders

Major Depressive Disorder

MDD

MDD Symptoms

• Depressed mood

• reccurring suicidal thoughts/ attempts

• loss of enjoyment

• agitation

• significant weight changes

• (Hyper)insomnia

• feeling worthless

• fatigue

• loss of concentration

• anxiety

• slowed functioning

• memory problems

• physical problems (inexplicable headaches)

• being negative when talking about yourself/ not talking about yourself

Criteria for MDD Diagnosis

• must affect daily activities

• can’t be explained by other disorder

• symptoms must persist for at least 2 weeks

• can’t be explained by medication

• no mania

Anhedonia

Loss of interest in things that normal make you happy (cause of MDD)

BDNF

Brain-derived neurotropic factor (causes MDD)

histocompatibilty

compatibility between donor and recipant tissues

Singular nucleotide polmorpisms

SNPs - variations of DNA sequences in a population that can make an individual more suceptible to disease or disorder and make them react in differnt ways to certain drugs

histocompatibility/ polymorphisms

causes of MDD

inflammation

caused by disordered microbiome in the gut, can lead to MDD

Brain tumors

linked to depression

Stress

can lead to MDD

genetics

MDD has a heredity rate of 30-50%

Therapies for MDD

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

• Interpersonal Therapy

• Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

MBCT - increases positive affect, decreases chance of relapse

Positive Affect

Decrease or absence of anhedonia

Virtual reality

Improved cognition in MDD patients

Group-Based Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction

TranS-C - improves sleep schedule, quality of life, and anxiety

Bipolar Disorder

A group of disorders that cause extremely high and low moods and energy levels in a person

manic episode

Period of high energy and mood

depressive episode

period of low energy and mood

bipolar 1

Manic episode that lasts at least 7 days and depressive or hypomanic periods

Bipolar 2

At least one hypomanic or depressive episode

Cyclothymic Disorder

many hypomanic and depressive episodes in the past 2 years but doesn’t meet all the criteria for a BD 1 or 2 diagnosis

Mania symptoms

• feeling excited

• feeling irritable

• feeling restless

• racing thoughts

• unable to concentrate

• talking a lot and fast

• being impulsive

• acting unusually

• hallucinations

• delusions

• feeling paranoid