depression

• The use of International Classification of Diseases in diagnosing unipolar depression
• International Classification of Diseases


  Medical tool used by psychiatrists for diagnosis
• Diagnosing unipolar depression


  Symptoms are matched with those in the International Classification of Diseases
• Symptoms


  What a patient experiences
• Published by WHO
• Number of symptoms


  • Less than 4 not depressed
  • 4 mild
  • 5-6 moderate, 7+ severe
• Number of symptoms

  • Mild
  • Moderate
  • Severe
• Depression


  A sustained period of low mood
• Unipolar depression

  A clinical diagnosis of a sustained period of low mood, along with other symptoms such as reduced energy, low self-confidence, and disturbance in sleep
• Bipolar depression

  In addition to sharing periods of low moods, people with bipolar depression also have periods of mania
• Depression is the most common mental health problem
• Biological theories of clinical depression focus on causes
• Physical factors, including the brain, are considered in biological explanations of depression
• Serotonin


  A neurotransmitter in the brain that regulates mood
• Low levels of serotonin in the brain are thought to cause depression
• Neurotransmitters and hormones


  Structures in the brain that act as messengers and can influence mood
• An imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain can disrupt normal brain functioning
• Persistent low moods are a symptom of depression
• Negative schemas can cause a harmful cognitive bias
• The interplay of nature and nurture influences depression
• Symptoms in the IDC book:


  • Low mood: behavioural and emotional
  • Reduced energy levels: low motivation can result in poor hygiene
  • Appetite levels: over or under eating
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)


  Psychological talking sessions with trained therapists, aiming to change faulty cognition and behaviour
• CBT improves mental health by changing irrational thinking to rational thinking with a process of disputation
• CBT is more holistic than antidepressants
• CBT is also seen as reductionist as it only deals with present experience
• Antidepressants

  • Strengths: cheaper than CBT and prescribed quickly
  • Weaknesses: side effects, weight gain, nausea, anxiety
• Clinical depression


  A treatable condition
• Clinicians can prescribe treatments for clinical depression
• Treatments


  • Use of antidepressants medications
  • Combining drugs with CBT
• Antidepressants


  Taken in tablet form, often take 1-2 weeks before being effective, course of treatment often lasts 6 months
• How antidepressants improve mental health

  1. SSRIs and SNRIs cause serotonin to be reabsorbed into the presynaptic neuron

  2. Making serotonin more effective in its function at improving mood
• Antidepressants don't treat original psychological causes such as trauma and faulty cognition
• Reductionist perspective in treatment


  Treating clinical depression with medication alone
• Holistic perspective in treatment

  Combining drugs with CBT
• Effects of CBT continue for some time after treatment has ended