Mood Disorders

Mood disorders: extreme/inappropriate emotions

1) Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

  • Changes to appetite
  • Lost of interest in activities and people that are usually enjoyable
  • Fatigue/sleepy
  • Social isolation
  • Thoughts of dying/suicide
  • Sadness

Causes

  • Genetic component

    • Twin studies

  • Often preceded by stressful event

  • Neurotransmitters → low serotonin and norepinephrine

  • Rumination: compulsive thinking about problem

  • Learned helplessness

  • Explanatory style

    • Stable: always
    • Global: applies for all situations
    • Internal: for negative situations (external for positive situations)

2) Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

  • Calendar-linked pattern of depression

3) Bipolar Disorder

  • Alternating periods of mania and depression

Mania

  • Euphoric, elevated mood
  • Grandiose ideas
  • Racing thoughts
  • Lack of sleep
  • Impulsivity

Causes

  • Hereditary
  • Environmental
    • Diathesis-Stress Model: predisposition to a disorder
    • Less environmental stress to develop disorder

4) Schizophrenia

  • Hallucinations (auditory and visual)
    • Sensation not really there
  • Delusions: irrational belief maintained even with evidence to contrary
  • Inappropriate emotions