Affective and Somatoform Disorders
Week 1 – Osamu
Models of Affective Disorders
Different models of affective disorders:
Biomedical
Psychological
Social
Interaction, biopsychosocial
Demonic Possession Model – Davey (2015):
Demonology survived as an explanation of psychopathology until the 18th
century.
Those exhibiting symptoms of psychopathology were possessed by bad
spirits.
The only way to remove bad spirits was with ritualized ceremonies
Many who have been suffering debilitating and distressing psychological
problems have been persecuted and physically abused.
In 21st century, what do we do to remove the spirits?
o Little buddhas and toy windmills??
Why do we still rely on spiritual healings?
o Bad things randomly happen but you want to know why it happens
to you.
o Widely available more so than psychotherapies
o Often cheaper than psychotherapies
, o Often develop social networking
o Spiritual healings have many similarities to psychotherapies
Meeting an experienced therapist provides relief from the
distress.
Drawing on relevant models, the therapist identifies the cause
of the problem (individualised case formulation)
Provide ways to deal with uncertainty (e.g. chanting)
One “spiritual organisation” conducted a RCT using a spiritual
therapy for depression. Demonstrated that their therapy is
effective and changes brain activity.
Bekelman et al. (2007): Examined spiritual well-being and
depression in patients with heart failure. Self-report measures
of spiritual well-being and depression. Found that among
outpatients with heart failure, greater spiritual well-being,
particularly meaning and peace, was strongly associated with
less depression. Enhancement of patients’ sense of spiritual
well-being might reduce or prevent depression and thus
improve quality of life and other outcomes in this population.
Other 3 models of affective disorders:
,Endogenous model of depression:
Endogenous depression is when depression occurs due to the presence of
an internal (cognitive, biological) stressor instead of an external
(environmental) stressor.
Includes patients with treatment-resistant, non-psychotic, MDD,
characterised by abnormal behaviour of the endogenous opioid system but
not the monoaminergic system.
Since symptoms are due to a biological phenomenon, prevalence rates tend
to be higher in older adults (Watts, 1956) and so biological-focused
treatment plans are often used in therapy to ensure the best prognosis.
Stress-diathesis model:
In contrast to the biopsychosocial model, which describes the
interdependence of depression causes, the diathesis-stress model talks
about the relationship between potential causes of depression, and the
degree to which people may be vulnerable to react to those causes.
, The model suggests that people have, to different degrees, vulnerabilities
or predispositions for developing depression.
These vulnerabilities are referred to as diatheses and include both
biological and psychological factors.
Some people may have more of these diatheses for developing depression
than other people. However, this model suggests that having a propensity
towards developing depression alone is not enough to trigger the illness.
Instead, an individual's diathesis must interact with stressful life events (of
a social, psychological or biological nature) in order to prompt the onset of
the illness.
According to both the Biopsychosocial Model and the Diathesis-Stress
Theory, Unipolar Depression is caused by numerous psychological, social,
and biological factors that interact with one another, and with a given
individual's unique vulnerabilities.
Depression is thus a very complex sort of condition that really demands to
be thought about in a holistic manner. Since no one factor causes
depression, it is probably unreasonable to expect that only one type of
treatment can fix the problem.
Development of depression by external/social factors
Stressful life events and depression:
How much are disorders like depression and anxiety the result of nature or
nurture?
Can we find higher levels of significant stressors prior to onset of
depression in depressed samples compared to healthy controls?
Week 1 – Osamu
Models of Affective Disorders
Different models of affective disorders:
Biomedical
Psychological
Social
Interaction, biopsychosocial
Demonic Possession Model – Davey (2015):
Demonology survived as an explanation of psychopathology until the 18th
century.
Those exhibiting symptoms of psychopathology were possessed by bad
spirits.
The only way to remove bad spirits was with ritualized ceremonies
Many who have been suffering debilitating and distressing psychological
problems have been persecuted and physically abused.
In 21st century, what do we do to remove the spirits?
o Little buddhas and toy windmills??
Why do we still rely on spiritual healings?
o Bad things randomly happen but you want to know why it happens
to you.
o Widely available more so than psychotherapies
o Often cheaper than psychotherapies
, o Often develop social networking
o Spiritual healings have many similarities to psychotherapies
Meeting an experienced therapist provides relief from the
distress.
Drawing on relevant models, the therapist identifies the cause
of the problem (individualised case formulation)
Provide ways to deal with uncertainty (e.g. chanting)
One “spiritual organisation” conducted a RCT using a spiritual
therapy for depression. Demonstrated that their therapy is
effective and changes brain activity.
Bekelman et al. (2007): Examined spiritual well-being and
depression in patients with heart failure. Self-report measures
of spiritual well-being and depression. Found that among
outpatients with heart failure, greater spiritual well-being,
particularly meaning and peace, was strongly associated with
less depression. Enhancement of patients’ sense of spiritual
well-being might reduce or prevent depression and thus
improve quality of life and other outcomes in this population.
Other 3 models of affective disorders:
,Endogenous model of depression:
Endogenous depression is when depression occurs due to the presence of
an internal (cognitive, biological) stressor instead of an external
(environmental) stressor.
Includes patients with treatment-resistant, non-psychotic, MDD,
characterised by abnormal behaviour of the endogenous opioid system but
not the monoaminergic system.
Since symptoms are due to a biological phenomenon, prevalence rates tend
to be higher in older adults (Watts, 1956) and so biological-focused
treatment plans are often used in therapy to ensure the best prognosis.
Stress-diathesis model:
In contrast to the biopsychosocial model, which describes the
interdependence of depression causes, the diathesis-stress model talks
about the relationship between potential causes of depression, and the
degree to which people may be vulnerable to react to those causes.
, The model suggests that people have, to different degrees, vulnerabilities
or predispositions for developing depression.
These vulnerabilities are referred to as diatheses and include both
biological and psychological factors.
Some people may have more of these diatheses for developing depression
than other people. However, this model suggests that having a propensity
towards developing depression alone is not enough to trigger the illness.
Instead, an individual's diathesis must interact with stressful life events (of
a social, psychological or biological nature) in order to prompt the onset of
the illness.
According to both the Biopsychosocial Model and the Diathesis-Stress
Theory, Unipolar Depression is caused by numerous psychological, social,
and biological factors that interact with one another, and with a given
individual's unique vulnerabilities.
Depression is thus a very complex sort of condition that really demands to
be thought about in a holistic manner. Since no one factor causes
depression, it is probably unreasonable to expect that only one type of
treatment can fix the problem.
Development of depression by external/social factors
Stressful life events and depression:
How much are disorders like depression and anxiety the result of nature or
nurture?
Can we find higher levels of significant stressors prior to onset of
depression in depressed samples compared to healthy controls?
