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Course: MCAT > Unit 12
Lesson 6: Psychological disorders- Psychological Disorders Questions
- What is obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)?
- What is post traumatic stress disorder?
- Introduction to mental disorders
- Categories of mental disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Biological basis of schizophrenia
- Biological basis of depression
- Anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder
- Somatic symptom disorder and other disorders
- Personality disorders
- Sleep disorders
- Sleep wake disorders breathing related sleep disorders
- Reward pathway in the brain
- Drug dependence and homeostasis
- Tolerance and withdrawal
- Substance use disorders
- Biological basis of parkinson's disease
- Depression and major depressive disorder
- Depression and bipolar disorder
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Depression and major depressive disorder
Depression, or major depressive disorder, is a serious condition marked by feelings of worthlessness, low self-esteem, and a lack of energy. It can be accompanied by physical symptoms like weight fluctuations and sleep issues. Depression is influenced by biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors, making it a complex and widespread disorder.
Created by Brooke Miller.
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- Normally, people who have an external locus of control are considered more likely to have depression, but here internal attribution is stated to be characteristic of depression. How is the distinction drawn between attribution and locus of control, or alternatively, how strong is the correlation of either with depression?
The example I think of particularly is with bad grades - if someone does poorly on a test, a person with an external locus might say, "This professor grades me really unfairly so it doesn't really matter how much I study for the next test," which I can see how that can also lead to depression, but wouldn't it be more characteristic of someone with an internal locus to say "I got a bad grade because I'm not smart enough to understand the material," which is kind of what they're talking about in the video? Am I just misunderstanding the concepts of locus of control and/or attribution?(15 votes)- Rohan, you are on the right track and your question is a good one. I think the confusion is stemming from your interpretation of the locus of control. This is simply someone's perceived control over situations; either external or internal. Attribution is referring to ones self and not to the situation. My point is that having internal attribution does not mean one has to have an internal locus of control.
The person in your example with the internal locus of control would not stop at "I got a bad grade because I'm not smart enough to understand the material," he/she would be able to go on and say "but i have control over how much i study and can change it in the future." The person with an external locus of control does not have this ability and is prone to learned helplessness; a sign of depression.
Sorry for so much writing but in short i would connect depression and locus of control by thinking of learned helplessness, which will lead you to external locus of control.
Feel free to ask more questions if this is confusing and i can try and do more research to explain it better.(28 votes)
- So, depression is known as the "common cold" of psychological illnesses because it is both common and contagious?(4 votes)
- Yes, but this was offered to introduce the topic of depression, not a fact that you should know of(6 votes)
- Do individuals diagnosed with depression show all the symptoms or most or some of them? How is depression diagnosed? What criteria do psychiatrists use to diagnose it? How might it vary from person to person?(3 votes)
- So there's a huge taboo in society about suicide. I know that much, but I still think it doesn't explain my experience so far...
I have come to the conclusion that I dislike life more than I like it. For this reason, I would rather not be alive. This has been my opinion for several years now, and although I don't plan to kill myself anytime soon, I still don't want to live anymore. This is an opinion I have even when I am not depressed; it's my logically-reached conclusion. Also, it doesn't make me depressed when I ruminate upon it.
So here is my question: why have I never seen anyone with the same opinion in books and TV? Sure, villains often want to kill people, but almost never themselves——what about people like me, who don't want to hurt anyone, just don't like life?(2 votes)
Video transcript
- [Instructor] Major depressive disorder, which is sometimes just
referred to as depression, is characterized by prolonged helplessness and discouragement about the future. Individuals with this
disorder have low self-esteem and very powerful
feelings of worthlessness. They also lack the energy to do the things that they used to enjoy, much less the things that they have to do or the things that they don't enjoy. They tend to feel socially isolated and have trouble focusing
on important tasks and have trouble making decisions. And this low mood tends to pervade all aspects of their life. There are a number of physical symptoms that also go along with depression. Lethargy, so feeling fatigued. Individuals with depression
also tend to show fluctuations in weight, so either a lot of weight
gain or a lot of weight loss. And they might also have trouble sleeping or they might sleep too much. And I think that these physical
symptoms are often ignored because in Western
cultures like in the US, we tend to think about depression in terms of moods or in
terms of emotional states. But for individuals in
some Eastern cultures, especially cultures where it
might be seen as inappropriate to delve into or talk about
feelings and emotions, people in these cultures tend
to think about depression and experience depression in
terms of these bodily symptoms. And so, it's really important
that these aren't discounted. Depression or depressive symptoms
are the number one reason people seek out mental health services. And because of this, some
people have taken to calling it the common cold of
psychological disorders. And I like that term for some reasons and I dislike it for others. What I like about it is that it captures how pervasive this disorder is. It is estimated that 13% of
men and 22% of women worldwide could meet the criteria for depression at least once in their lives. And one study has shown
that as high as 31% of college students might
experience this disorder, and these are really high numbers. And so, in that way, I think
that this term is appropriate. However, I think that the term common cold doesn't really capture the
seriousness of this disorder, because depression isn't just
feeling down once in a while and it's not feeling sadness
or grief at appropriate times, which is just a normal part of life. And I think that this term kind of minimizes that
part of the disorder. Depression can be
triggered by a life event, like a loss or a breakup,
but it doesn't have to be. It also doesn't usually appear alone. It is actually really common
for individuals with depression to have other disorders,
such as anxiety disorders. And I've been writing in this blue color to kind of signify depression, but I'm kind of getting bored with it now, so let me switch it up. So, there are a number of factors that may be involved in depression, and I'm going to split them
up into three categories: biological factors, psychological factors, and sociocultural or
environmental factors, and let me take a minute
to get all of that down. All right. First of all, we know from
family and twin studies that there's a genetic
component to depression. And we also know from studies
that use functional imaging that individuals with depression
show a decreased activation in the pre-frontal cortex. And this could be associated with the problems with decision-making that people with depression tend to have, as well as their difficulties
in generating actions. Researchers have also found
lower levels of activity in the reward circuitry in the brain, and this could help to explain why individuals with depression
might not find enjoyment in the actions that they
once found pleasurable. Depression has also been associated with certain neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter regulation, and I'll abbreviate that here by writing NT for neurotransmitter. Research has suggested that
individuals with depression might have fewer receptors for
serotonin and norepinephrine. And I think that all of
this research is amazing. I think that it's really important. And it's also really compelling in a way that research findings that include neuroscience typically are. But with that said, I
really want to caution you against oversimplifying
these biological factors. To give an example about
why I'm saying this, I wanna talk about the relationship between a certain serotonin
transporter gene and depression, and this gene is known as 5-HTTLPR, and I'll write that down, and a lotta findings have shown that this gene is involved in depression. But in actuality, it is only
associated with depression if the individual with the gene is in a stressful environment. But the story doesn't actually end there, it's actually even more complicated because it turns out that if an individual with this genetic feature is placed in a warm and positive environment, they actually show a
decreased risk for depression. And this is something that we
don't totally understand yet. We're still trying to figure
out why this might be the case. But importantly, I think
that this really shows us how complicated biological factors can be. Let's move on to some
psychological factors that might influence depression. One theory is based on the
concept of learned helplessness, and this theory supposes that
if an individual is exposed to aversive situations
over and over again, without any power to
change or control them, they might begin to feel powerless in a way that might lead to depression. So, if someone is exposed
to prolonged stress due to family life or bullying or some other cause that
they don't have control over, their helplessness could
spiral out of control. And they might stop trying
to change their situation because they perceive it
to be completely helpless. And that's a behavioral theory or way of thinking about depression, but there are cognitive
theories about it as well. And these theories tend to focus on thoughts or beliefs that, with repetition, could trigger depression. And while it's true that
everyone has negative or self-destructive thoughts
every once in a while, generally we are able
to step back from them and we're able to realize
that what we're thinking isn't completely logical. But sometimes people can get trapped in these thought patterns and they might put too much emphasis on negative thoughts and
actions and experiences. And when they ruminate on these things, when they turn them over
and over in their minds, it's possible that these
cognitive distortions might lead to depression. Another cognitive theory about depression focuses on the concept of
attribution or explanatory style. Now, as we go about our daily lives, we naturally try to understand and explain the events that go on around us. And when we do this,
we can either attribute the things we see to
internal or external causes. So, is it something that I did or is it something that happened because of something that is
completely out of my control? Did I get a bad grade on a
test because I didn't study? That would be an internal cause. Or did I get a bad grade
because the teacher made a really unfair test, which
would be an external cause. Individual with depression
tend to attribute negative experiences to internal causes. So, maybe they'll think
that a friend didn't call or text back because they
are unlikable or unlovable, and not because they were at the movies with their family and
maybe their phone was off. In addition to this, they tend to see negative
experiences as being stable, so they think that they'll
continue to happen in the future. And I also tend to think
that they're global, so they might assume that one
friend not calling them back somehow signifies that none
of their friends like them. And together, these things,
these internal attributions, these stable attributions
and global attributions, these things form a pessimistic
attributional style, and it might make certain individuals particularly vulnerable to depression. And there are many other psychological theories about depression, things that have to do with
coping style or self-esteem. But it can actually be hard to know whether these things cause depression or if they are the result of it. So, does a pessimistic attributional style lead to depression or do
people with depression tend to have a pessimistic
attributional style? It isn't always clear. Environmental and sociocultural factors can also have a strong
influence on depression. Having a friend or partner
or roommate with depression can actually increase the likelihood that individuals around them
will also develop depression. And although we don't
know exactly why that is, some researchers suggest that it might have to
do with co-rumination, where friends talk about
problems and negative events. But instead of discussing
how to solve them, they focus on the negative emotions and dwell on future
problems and occurrences. And on some level, this is kind of normal. It is perfectly normal for close friends to take on some of the
negative feelings of the other, like being sad when they lose
someone who was close to them or being angry if they were
dumped by there partner. This is just natural empathy. But the same empathy that
allows us to comfort our friends when they're in distress
might also be the reason that depression seems to spread. We also know that individuals with a low socioeconomic status, especially those living in poverty, are more likely to develop depression, as are those who are
struggling to keep a job or have just lost a job. And there are other
environmental factors as well. Social isolation, child
abuse, even prejudice have all been implicated
in causing depression. And let's think about this
in terms of prejudice. If someone grows up in a household that has negative feelings
about homosexuality, and if they grow up and begin
to have same-sex attractions, they probably internalize the prejudice after years of hearing it, and this could lead to depression. All right, so stepping back for a second, we said that we had biological factors, psychological factors, and sociocultural and
environmental factors. And when we put all of
these things together, we get what is referred to as a biopsychoscial model of depression. And this theory acknowledges that all of these factors play a role. So, some people are
genetically predisposed to the condition, but it only comes about if the situation is right or if we develop certain
patterns of thinking.