Mood Disorders: Depressive Disorders and Bipolar Disorders

Ngoc (Lily) Le
Abnormal Psychology
Case Study #3 – Mood Disorders
29 May 2014

1. The different mood disorders that we explored together as a class are as following: depressive disorders and bipolar disorders. (I didn’t factor suicide into this.)
Going into further detail, depressive disorders are the clarified grouping of individuals who have been identified to have unipolar depression. Having unipolar depression is when that same individual is in a mental state of depression without having shown a previous history of such mania. According to my notes, there are multiple factors that can contribute to the cause of depressive disorders. It is explained in the text Abnormal Psychology by Ronald J. Comer that unipolar depression is triggered firstly by events that are classified as stressful or straining. Feelings of depression appear to be results of an individual’s response to internal factors that usually transfer out become external physical factors.
The biological view of unipolar depression explores the idea that genetic factors, biochemical factors, brain anatomy, circuitry in the brain, and the immune system all play a role in producing mood changes. Research suggests via genetic factors that some individuals inherit the depressive genetic chromosome from other relatives within their family pedigree. Biochemical research has found that the lack of activity within the two neurotransmitter chemicals norepinephrine and serotonin can cause depression. The brain’s anatomy and circuitry also play a role in causing depression. When specific areas of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and Brodmann Area 25 aren’t able to send messages or react properly due to dysfunctions in the circuitry, depression can occur from lack of proper brain functioning. Studies on the immune system support the possible idea that individuals who are stressed out have weakened bodily functioning.
The psychodynamic view of unipolar depression revolves around the idea that depression is an unconscious process that takes place during times of stress and sadness. An individual will cope with these feelings by directing all their feelings towards themselves. Many other possibly causes of depression can stem from an individual who feels negatively (unsafe and insecure) about their relationship with another person or an individual who has experienced major losses. Lastly, research also suggests that improper parenting and childhood needs that weren’t properly met can also cause depression later in life.
The behavioral view of unipolar depression is believed to be a direct result of changes within the reward-punishment system. This is due to the fact that depressed individuals tend to have very few positive rewards, but when they began receiving more rewards their mood significantly improved.
Cognitive views suggest that those with unipolar depression frequent in viewing events in their lives with a pessimistic perspective. Negative thinking towards an individual’s experiences, their own self-image, and their future as well as reinforced self-victimizing behaviors help to support this belief. Lastly, sociocultural view proposes that social contexts greatly influence depression in others. Outside stressors such as family, gender, race, and economic status all have the possibility to cause depression in individuals who possess weak social skills.
Bipolar disorders apply to individuals whose emotions are constantly shifting between feelings of depression and feelings of mania. Those who experience mania usually have feelings of intense and powerful emotions of euphoric happiness. Bipolar disorders range from mild cases to extreme cases.
The text material goes into detail explaining the likely causes of bipolar disorders. Psychodynamic views hypothesize that this disorder is a result of an individual losing a love object. It is believed that the acceptance of an individual’s loss causes them to become depressed, whereas the denial of their loss causes them to become manic. Biological insights have produced research material supporting the idea that abnormal functioning within neurotransmitters, lack of ionic activity, abnormal brain structures, and inherited genetic factors all can be the cause of bipolar disorders.
Although behavioral and cognitive perspectives on the cause of bipolar disorders were not discussed in the text material, one can only assume that it will be similar to that of depressive disorders.
2. I believe that treatment methods vary depending on the individual. It can easily be concluded that one specific treatment method can prove to be successful on one client, but not affective in treating another. It’s my personal opinion that when dealing with individuals who are suffering from both depressive and bipolar disorders, I would highly recommend that antidepressant pills, mood stabilizers or any type of edible medication should be avoided. I retain a certain biased idea that we as a society are too reliant on drugs in order to function properly. When we rely too much on something so unnatural, we begin to neglect taking care of ourselves without the assisted help of such pills. We shouldn’t rely on a pill in order to treat mental disorders. Pills come and go, but the problem within ourselves typically will not.
I believe that an effective and long-lasting treatment method for both depressive and bipolar disorders is a combination of psychodynamic and behavioral therapy. I believe the reason that drugs like SSRI’s and antidepressants are common treatments are because they provide a near-instant gratifying treatment. We as a society are too focused on taking short cuts. Popping pills seem appealing because they muddle and force the brain to cover up symptoms of irregular moods by forcing out chemicals in the brain to accomplish these tasks. When the video “Out of the Shadows” in class was being shown, I retained pity for the individual in the documentary because he had to resort to taking multiple pills every day in order to cope with his emotions and function properly in society. When the pills are gone, the problem will typically persist. In addition, drugs have been shown to do more damage than they can help. When an individual has a mood disorder, I feel like making them take drugs makes their disorder appear to be an illness. Wouldn’t this give the individual another reinforcing idea to be depressed--because they were ill and taking pills? Drugs and pills that are man-made and unnatural should be limited to treating bodily pains and problems.
I believe the human mind is too sensitive and cannot be properly treated unless it is directly targeting the specific problem areas. The reason why I feel that therapy is an affective treatment method is because although it isn’t instantly gratifying, the affects will be long lasting. The human mind is extremely sensitive and with our hectic life style forced upon us by society, it can be easy to neglect what’s most important, our mental and physical health. Therapy will help an individual suffering from depressive and bipolar disorders to take a step back and relearn this. It is important to have a strong mental health without relying on pills to do so.
I believe the affective way to treat mood disorders is with proper counseling. Stressors and previous negative occurrences that cause the individual to develop mood disorders should be addressed, discussed, and embraced in order for the individual to overcome that obstacle and be fully treated. Individuals need to be guided in order to relearn how to enjoy their life. Reintroducing enjoyable things that are healthy and beneficial to the body mentally and physically such as exercising and having a healthy diet will produce long-lasting effects without the side effects of drugs. The ability to recover is within us, and I feel like being dependent on drugs will not solve the problem.
In order to provide closure, I want to address the fact that mood disorders are just that—disorders. With any disorder, it can be fixed by working to put it back into order.
3. There are many risk factors that can contribute to an individual eventually wanting to commit suicide. The text introduces many that I will go into further detail about below:
-Stressful events and situations can make it difficult to enjoy living.
-Being socially isolated takes away the ability for an individual to connect and relate with another human being. Without the personal connections, individuals lack social supports.
-Serious illnesses and poor physical health can cause an individual to want to commit suicide in order to escape their pain or disability.
-Living in an abusive environment nurtures negative thoughts and beliefs.
-Negative and pessimistic feelings of hopelessness towards life.
-Alcohol and drug usage, both of which have negative affects on the mind as well as the brain.
-Individuals who already possess mental disorders and are already mentally weak willed are more prone to accepting the idea of ending their lives in order to escape their feelings and problems.
-Modeling (imitating/influencing suicide) Influential people, family members, celebrities that attempt/commit suicide can desensitize an individual to be more open minded about ending their life. I believe that prevention methods against suicide definitely exist. Restating what I said earlier, I believe that psychodynamic and behavioral therapy are effective treatment methods. The desire to commit suicide stems from an individual who has lost the will to live because they are unsatisfied with how their life is. I feel that therapy can prevent suicide from occurring by targeting the source of these negative thoughts both mentally and physically. Therapy can guide an individual back onto the road of recovery in a healthy and natural way. It may not be the quickest but it is the healthiest and long lasting. They can relearn how to enjoy their life. When an individual is satisfied with their life, the desire to end it simply doesn’t exist.
4. I believe that the human mind is a very sensitive and complex system. From time to time, anything that is in order can become disordered. What I mean by that is we as humans can often times neglect the most important things in life, such as our own mental well being. Everyday distractions such as work, schooling, and relationships provide our mind with strenuous things to deal with. Our mind is constantly being used. Like anything that is being frequently put into use, it needs to be taken care of or it will break down.
I feel that disorders are a result of human minds that are overworked. Nurturing my mental health has always been a personal priority. I never really put much thought into disorders because I was always happy with my own mental health that I didn’t think others would be suffering from theirs. Learning about disorders reopened my eyes and reminded me that not everyone has the same idea of taking care of their own mental health as I do. In addition, I didn’t even consider that it would be a big problem in our society where someone is so mentally weak and disordered that they would consider ending their life over it.
I recall when we first started studying mood disorders, it was announced to the class that everyone has negative feelings and contemplations of suicide one point or another in their life. I couldn’t specifically relate to that because it was always heavily emphasized in my family and in my upbringing that staying mentally strong is important. Even during times of heavy stress loads and moments of mental break down, I always quickly bounced back by nurturing my mental health by doing activities that would reinforce happiness. With that being said, not every individual can be raised with the same mindset that I was raised with.
I just strongly believe that mood disorders are much like an obstacle in life that needs to be overcome. Mood disorders exist only within an individual’s mind and therefore can only be eliminated by that same individual. With that being said, I now believe that more has to be done in order to prevent mood disorders from happening.