Depression

Affective: guilt and sadness, lack of enjoyment

or pleasure in familiar activities or company. Behavioural: passivity Cognitive: negative thoughts, faulty

attribution of blame, low self esteem, irrational hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, indecisiveness

Somatic: lack of energy, insomnia or hypersomnia, weight loss/gain, diminished libido.

Symptoms of a Major Depressive Disorder

When someone experiences two weeks of

depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure.

Diagnosis requires at least 4 additional symptoms (such as insomnia, suicidal thoughts, passivity, or difficulty concentrating).

Diagnosis of Depression

Depression affects 15% of people at some time

in their life (Charney and Weismann 1988). Depression tends to be a recurrent disorder

with about 80% experiencing a subsequent episode.

Depression is 2-3 times more common in women than in men.

It occurs frequently among members of lower socio-economic groups.

Levav (1997) found the prevalence rate to be above average in Jewish males suggesting that some groups are more prone to depression.

Facts about Depression

Prozac: blocks the reuptake of serotonin

thereby leaving more serotonin in the synaptic gap/cleft.

Serotonin is known to affect mood, emotions, aggression, sleep and anxiety.

Serotonin & Depression

Another neurotransmitter called noradrenaline

is found to be correlated with depression. Janowsky et al. (1972) Participants were given a drug called

physostigmine (which lowers noradrenaline but increases acetylcholine).

They experienced feelings of self-hate and suicidal wishes within minutes.

Noradrenaline & Depression

Rampello et al. (2000) found depressed

patients to have an imbalance of noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine (pleasure), acetylcholine (memory).

Skeptics say that pinning depression to just neurotransmitters is too simple and reductionist (reducing complex behavior to a single factor).

Cocktail of Neurotransmitters?

Cortisol: a hormone that helps us cope with

stress. Cortisol hypothesis: Too much or too little

cortisol levels may predispose an individual to depression.

Cushing’s syndrome: a disease which results in excessive production of cortisol.

There is a high prevalence of depression among people with Cushing’s syndrome.

Stress & Depression

Overproduction of cortisol may decrease the

density of serotonin receptors and damage noradrenaline receptors.

However, people develop depression without being stressed and people who have experienced terrible stress do not always develop depression.

Fernald and Gunnar (2008) Surveyed 639 Mexican mothers and their

children. Children of depressed mothers living in extreme poverty produced less cortisol.

This indicates a “worn out” stress system that leaves children susceptible to depression.

Does poverty cause depression?

Ellis (1962) Proposed that irrational thinking causes

depression, not the other way around.

Cognition and Depression

Beck (1976) Observed that depressed patients’s thoughts

are characterized by: Overgeneralization based on negative events Non-logical inference about oneself Dichotomous thinking (black and white

thinking)

Identifies negative, self-critical thoughts Notes the connection between negative

thought and depression. Examines each negative thought and decides

whether it can be supported. Replaces distorted negative thought with

realistic interpretations of each situation.

Beck’s theory of Cognitive

Restructuring

1364 mothers across the US were studied and

one child in the family were studied. Interviews and observations were made during

the child’s 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade years.

Buehler & O’Brien (2011)

Full-time and part-time mothers reported

fewer symptoms of depression than stay-at-moms.

Part-time moms were just as involved in their child’s schooling as stay-at-home moms and were actually more sensitive with their pre-school children than stay-at-home moms.

Findings

Depression is a result of genetic predisposition

and severe life events such as: Unemployment Having more than 3 children under 14 at

home Absence of social support Loss of mother at a young age Having suffered child abuse

Diathesis-stress Model

Studied 458 women in London aged between

18 and 65 years. Researchers used surveys and interviews on

the women’s life and depressive episodes.

Brown and Harris 1978

In the previous year, 8% of the women had

been depressed. 90% those who became depressed had

recently experienced a severe life event. Only 20% of women who had experienced

severe difficulties became seriously depressed.

23% of working class women had been depressed within the past year compared to 3% of middle class women.

Findings