Psy 275 - Mood and Addictive Disorders

Mood and Addictive Disorders

Psy275

There are many different mental disorders that have been studied and documented; particularly this paper will discuss depressive, bipolar, and substance disorders. For each there are many different treatment plans and options, as well as different documented causes of these disorders. Some are also more reliant on gender and cultural influences than others.

        Depressive disorders have been studied for decades, and have had many different results and advances in education of them. One main depressive disorder is unipolar depression, which means the person is only suffering from depression rather than the mania side which would make them bipolar. Studies have presented different results for the potential causes, ranging from genetic to biochemical and many areas in between. The genetic factors suggest that of those that suffer from unipolar depression, 20 percent of those have relatives that are depressed which is compared to fewer than 10 percent of the general population. These results give a higher chance that unipolar depression could be genetic. Another internal cause of depressive disorders is biochemical; either by low activity of the neurotransmitter chemicals norepinephrine or serotonin, or by other hormones within the body. People with depression have also been found to have high levels of cortisol, which is a hormone released from the adrenaline glands during high times of stress; or even melatonin that is released more than normal. The melatonin imbalance is tied to seasonal depression possibly as a result of the melatonin being released more in the body due to the extended nights in the winter months.

        Treatment for depression comes in many forms and some are preferred more than others. Cognitive restructuring is one treatment option, which is to evaluate negative thoughts and learning ways to think more positively in times when they would think negatively. There is of course medication, which has many benefits but an equal if not higher amount of negative side effects. There are many forms of anti-depressents that are there to help level out the chemical imbalances, and level the persons’ mood to allow them to feel less depressed. Another form of therapy is to address and schedule their activities. Therapists will select activities that the client is happy doing, and encourage them to set up time to engage in them. Along with that, the therapist will start to reward positive behaviors, while starting to ignore their negative reactions or depressive comments.

There are studies that have concluded that there are gender and cultural influences on depression. Women are at least twice as likely to experience severe unipolar depression than men. This has been said to be a result of women being more emotional and hormonal, as well as one bigger factor in today’s time, that women are so focused on having the perfect figure that they develop a form of depression which is termed body dissatisfaction explanation. Cultural backgrounds across different countries do not seem to have much differentiation in causality or rate of instances. It is known that in the United States, we are more prone to have repeat cycles of depression in our lives than countries as studies comparing the US population to those in countries such as Canada and Japan.