Bipolar disorder
- A brain disorder that affects a person’s mood, energy and ability to function.
Symptoms:
- Social withdrawal
- Insomnia
- Pessimistic thoughts
- Indecisive
- Changes in appetite
- Disrupted self-care
Measures of depression
- Beck’s depression inventory
- 21 mcqs addressing issues such as sadness, sleep, disappointment and other
characteristics of depression
- Each question had a score of 0-3
- The total score would determine the severity of depression.
- 10 – mild
- 11-29 – moderate
- 30+ - extreme
Evaluation
- No researcher bias as the data collected was quantitative.
- The accuracy of the results may be questioned as it’s a self-report measure.
Biological explanation
- Mood disorders often run in families and the chances of people inheriting it from
their immediate family are higher.
, Biochemical explanation
- Oruc et al: they conducted DNA testing to test the polymorphism in the serotonin
receptors and the serotonin transporter genes.
Sample: 42 participants; 17 females and 25 males. All had bipolar disorder.
At least 16 of the participants had immediate relatives who had bipolar disorder.
Results: serotonin is said to be sexually dysmorphic. The differences are caused by inheriting the
male or female patterns of genetic material.
Evaluation
- DNA samples were collected which made the data collection and results more valid.
- Low generalizability as it was a small sample.
- The biological approach of depression and BD is reductionist as it doesn’t take all the
causes of those in consideration.
Cognitive explanation
- The cognitive model states that depression is the result of continuous negative
thoughts.
- Negative views on self, future and the world can lead to impairments in perception,
memory and problem solving; caused due to the overwhelming thoughts.
Behavioral explanation
- Suggests that depression is a result of a person’s interaction w the environment and
their negative learning through classical or operant conditioning.
Dimensions for causal attributions
1) Internal/external
2) Stable/unstable
3) Global/specific
Seligman, 1988
Aimed to see how well the attributional styles can predict symptoms of depression.
Sample: 61 participants; 39 w unipolar disorder; 12 w bipolar disorder; a control group of 10 w
no mood disorders.
They all had to complete an attributional style questionnaire w 12 positive and negative events
and had to rate their attributions on a 7-point scale, on the basis of internality, stability and
globality.
Results: participants w unipolar and bipolar disorders had more pessimistic attributional styles
in comparison to the no mood disorder group.
Evaluation: standardized questions were used to make the experiment more reliable
, Reliability of results can still be questioned as the test was subjective and respondents may have
underestimated or over-exaggerated their responses.
Treatments of depression
1) Electro-convulsive therapy – direck et al 2012
1000 participants w either bipolar or unipolar disorder.
- Done by triggering a seizure into the patient’s brain through a current.
- Helpful for severe cases of depression.
- To be used when the patient doesn’t respond to other forms of treatment.
Results:
- 50% of the patients had a positive outcome, 50% didn’t.
Evaluation:
- Could cause short term memory loss.
- Necessary to prevent suicide.
- Has a high relapse rate.
- Can damage a person’s physical and mental health.
2) Cognitive restructuring
- A treatment by beck involved investigating a patient’s negative and upsetting
thoughts and reframing them and changing their attitudes and beliefs.
- Wiles et al conducted a study to investigate the effectiveness of CR.
Sample: 469 participants were divided into either usual care or care w cognitive restructuring.
Results: participants who underwent treatment through cognitive restructuring were 3x more
likely to respond to the treatment and show reduced symptoms.
Evaluation:
- It takes into account a wide range of beliefs of the disorder, hence not being
reductionist.
- It’s a cheap form of treatment
- May not be successful for patients w low intelligence.
- A brain disorder that affects a person’s mood, energy and ability to function.
Symptoms:
- Social withdrawal
- Insomnia
- Pessimistic thoughts
- Indecisive
- Changes in appetite
- Disrupted self-care
Measures of depression
- Beck’s depression inventory
- 21 mcqs addressing issues such as sadness, sleep, disappointment and other
characteristics of depression
- Each question had a score of 0-3
- The total score would determine the severity of depression.
- 10 – mild
- 11-29 – moderate
- 30+ - extreme
Evaluation
- No researcher bias as the data collected was quantitative.
- The accuracy of the results may be questioned as it’s a self-report measure.
Biological explanation
- Mood disorders often run in families and the chances of people inheriting it from
their immediate family are higher.
, Biochemical explanation
- Oruc et al: they conducted DNA testing to test the polymorphism in the serotonin
receptors and the serotonin transporter genes.
Sample: 42 participants; 17 females and 25 males. All had bipolar disorder.
At least 16 of the participants had immediate relatives who had bipolar disorder.
Results: serotonin is said to be sexually dysmorphic. The differences are caused by inheriting the
male or female patterns of genetic material.
Evaluation
- DNA samples were collected which made the data collection and results more valid.
- Low generalizability as it was a small sample.
- The biological approach of depression and BD is reductionist as it doesn’t take all the
causes of those in consideration.
Cognitive explanation
- The cognitive model states that depression is the result of continuous negative
thoughts.
- Negative views on self, future and the world can lead to impairments in perception,
memory and problem solving; caused due to the overwhelming thoughts.
Behavioral explanation
- Suggests that depression is a result of a person’s interaction w the environment and
their negative learning through classical or operant conditioning.
Dimensions for causal attributions
1) Internal/external
2) Stable/unstable
3) Global/specific
Seligman, 1988
Aimed to see how well the attributional styles can predict symptoms of depression.
Sample: 61 participants; 39 w unipolar disorder; 12 w bipolar disorder; a control group of 10 w
no mood disorders.
They all had to complete an attributional style questionnaire w 12 positive and negative events
and had to rate their attributions on a 7-point scale, on the basis of internality, stability and
globality.
Results: participants w unipolar and bipolar disorders had more pessimistic attributional styles
in comparison to the no mood disorder group.
Evaluation: standardized questions were used to make the experiment more reliable
, Reliability of results can still be questioned as the test was subjective and respondents may have
underestimated or over-exaggerated their responses.
Treatments of depression
1) Electro-convulsive therapy – direck et al 2012
1000 participants w either bipolar or unipolar disorder.
- Done by triggering a seizure into the patient’s brain through a current.
- Helpful for severe cases of depression.
- To be used when the patient doesn’t respond to other forms of treatment.
Results:
- 50% of the patients had a positive outcome, 50% didn’t.
Evaluation:
- Could cause short term memory loss.
- Necessary to prevent suicide.
- Has a high relapse rate.
- Can damage a person’s physical and mental health.
2) Cognitive restructuring
- A treatment by beck involved investigating a patient’s negative and upsetting
thoughts and reframing them and changing their attitudes and beliefs.
- Wiles et al conducted a study to investigate the effectiveness of CR.
Sample: 469 participants were divided into either usual care or care w cognitive restructuring.
Results: participants who underwent treatment through cognitive restructuring were 3x more
likely to respond to the treatment and show reduced symptoms.
Evaluation:
- It takes into account a wide range of beliefs of the disorder, hence not being
reductionist.
- It’s a cheap form of treatment
- May not be successful for patients w low intelligence.
