What is the definition of a Mood Disorder? What is an example of a Mood Disorder? Do you think that it is possible to prevent Mood Disorders? If so, how? If not, why not? (300 words not including...

1. What is the definition of a Mood Disorder? What is an example of a Mood Disorder? Do you think that it is possible to prevent Mood Disorders? If so, how? If not, why not? (300 words not including incite text and references. Please use attached PDF files for assignment)

2. What are the risk factors of suicide? What are some common interventions everyone should be familiar with? What are some factors that diminish risk? (300 words not including incite text and references. Please use attached PDF files for assignment)




1. What is the definition of a Mood Disorder? What is an example of a Mood Disorder? Do you think that it is possible to prevent Mood Disorders? If so, how? If not, why not? (300 words not including incite text and references. Please use attached PDF files for assignment) 2. What are the risk factors of suicide? What are some common interventions everyone should be familiar with? What are some factors that diminish risk? (300 words not including incite text and references. Please use attached PDF files for assignment) Abnormal Psychology TREATMENTS AND OUTCOMES Pharmacotherapy Alternative Biological Treatments Psychotherapy SUICIDE THE CLINICAL PICTURE AND THE CAUSAL PATTERN Who Attempts and Who Commits Suicide? Suicide in Children Suicide in Adolescents and Young Adults Other Psychosocial Factors Associated with Suicide Biological Causal Factors Sociocultural Factors SUICIDAL AMBIVALENCE Communication of Suicidal Intent Suicide Notes SUICIDE PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION Treatment of Mental Disorders Crisis Intervention Focus on High-Risk Groups and Other Measures UNRESOLVED ISSUES: Is There a Right to Die? MOOD DISORDERS WHAT ARE MOOD DISORDERS? The Prevalence of Mood Disorders UNIPOLAR MOOD DISORDERS Depressions That Are Not Mood Disorders Dysthymic Disorder Major Depressive Disorder CAUSAL FACTORS IN UNIPOLAR MOOD DISORDERS Biological Causal Factors Psychosocial Causal Factors BIPOLAR DISORDERS Cyclothymic Disorder Bipolar Disorders (I and II) CAUSAL FACTORS IN BIPOLAR DISORDER Biological Causal Factors Psychologial Causal Factors SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS AFFECTING UNIPOLAR AND BIPOLAR DISORDERS Cross-Cultural Differences in Depressive Symptoms Cross-Cultural Differences in Prevalence Demographic Differences in the United States Mood Disorders and Suicide 7 C h a p t e r IS B N 0- 55 8- 46 76 8- 7 Abnormal Psychology, Fourteenth Edition, by James N. Butcher, Susan Mineka, and Jill M. Hooley. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. 220 C H A P T E R 7 Mood Disorders and Suicide ost of us feel depressed from time to time. Failing an exam, not being accepted into one’s first choice of college or graduate school, and breaking up with a romantic partner are all examples of events that can precipitate a depressed mood in many people. However, mood disorders involve much more severe alterations in mood for much longer periods of time. In such cases the disturbances of mood are intense and persistent enough to be clearly maladaptive, and often lead to serious problems in relationships and work performance. In fact, it has been estimated that in 2000, depression ranked among the top-five health conditions in terms of years lost to disability in all parts of the world except Africa, and it was the number-one such health condition in the United States, ranking above heart disease and stroke (Üstün et al., 2004). Overall the “disease-burden” of depression to society—that is, the total direct costs (such as for treatment) and indirect costs (such as days missed from work, disability, and premature deaths)— totaled $83.1 billion in the United States alone, with over 60 percent of the reported costs resulting from problems in the workplace (Greenberg, Kessler, et al., 2003). Consider the following case. M Case Study A Successful “Total Failure” Margaret, a prominent businesswoman in her late-forties noted for her energy and productivity, was unexpectedly deserted by her husband for a younger woman. Following her initial shock and rage, she began to have uncontrollable weeping spells and doubts about her business acumen. Decision making became an ordeal. Her spirits rapidly sank, and she began to spend more and more time in bed, refusing to deal with anyone. Her alcohol consumption increased to the point where she was seldom entirely sober. Within a period of weeks, she had suf- fered serious financial losses owing to her inability, or refusal, to keep her affairs in order. She felt she was a “total failure,” even when re- minded of her considerable personal and professional achievements; indeed, her self-criticism gradually spread to all aspects of her life and her personal history. Finally, alarmed members of her family essentially forced her to accept an appointment with a clinical psychologist. Was something “wrong” with Margaret, or was she merely experiencing normal human emotions because of her husband’s having deserted her? The psychologist concluded that she was suffering from a serious mood disorder and initiated treatment. The diagnosis, based on the severity of the symptoms and the de- gree of impairment, was major depressive disorder. Secondarily, she had also developed a serious drinking problem—a condition that frequently co-occurs with major depressive disorder. Mood disorders are diverse in nature, as is illustrated by the many types of depression recognized in the DSM-IV-TR that we will discuss. Nevertheless, in all mood disorders (for- merly called affective disorders), extremes of emotion or affect—soaring elation or deep depression—dominate the clinical picture. Other symptoms are also present, but the abnormal mood is the defining feature. WHAT ARE MOOD DISORDERS? The two key moods involved in mood disorders are mania, often characterized by intense and unrealistic feelings of ex- citement and euphoria, and depression, which usually in- volves feelings of extraordinary sadness and dejection. Some people with mood disorders experience only time periods or episodes characterized by depressed moods. However, other people experience manic episodes at certain time points and depressive episodes at other time points. Normal mood states can occur between both types of episodes. Manic and depres- sive mood states are often conceived to be at opposite ends of a mood continuum, with normal mood in the middle. Although this concept is accurate to a degree, sometimes an individual may have symptoms of mania and depression during the same time period. In these mixed-episode cases, the person experi- ences rapidly alternating moods such as sadness, euphoria, and irritability, all within the same episode of illness. We will first discuss the unipolar depressive disorders, in which the person experiences only depressive episodes, and then we will discuss the bipolar disorders, in which the person experi- ences both manic and depressive episodes. This distinction is prominent in DSM-IV-TR, and although the unipolar and bipolar forms of mood disorder may not be wholly separate and distinct, there are notable differences in symptoms, causal factors, and optimal treatments, which is why we discuss them separately. As we will see, it is also customary to differentiate among the mood disorders in terms of (1) severity—the number of dys- functions experienced and the relative degree of impairment evi- denced in those areas; and (2) duration—whether the disorder is MOOD DISORDERS IS B N 0-558-46768-7 Abnormal Psychology, Fourteenth Edition, by James N. Butcher, Susan Mineka, and Jill M. Hooley. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. activity, often involving loosening of personal and cultural inhi- bitions as in multiple sexual, political, or religious activities), to mental symptoms where self-esteem becomes grossly inflated and mental activity may speed up (such as a “flight of ideas” or “racing thoughts”), to physical symptoms (such as a decreased need for sleep or psychomotor agitation). (See the DSM-IV-TR table, Criteria for a Manic Episode.) In milder forms, similar kinds of symptoms can lead to a diagnosis of hypomanic episode, in which a person experi- ences abnormally elevated, expansive, or irritable mood for at least 4 days. In addition, the person must have at least three other symptoms similar to those involved in mania but to a lesser degree (e.g., inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, flights of ideas, pressured speech, etc.). Although the symptoms listed are the same for manic and hypomanic episodes, there is much less impairment in social and occupational functioning in hypomania, and hospitalization is not required. Research suggests that mild mood disturbances are on the same continuum as the more severe disorders. That is, the dif- ferences seem to be chiefly of degree, not of kind, a conclusion supported in several large studies examining the issue (e.g., Kendler & Gardner, 1998; Kessing, 2007; Ruscio & Ruscio, What Are Mood Disorders? 221 acute, chronic, or intermittent (with periods of relatively normal functioning between the episodes of disorder). As just noted, diagnosing unipolar or bipolar disorders first requires determining what kind of mood episode the person presently shows. The most common form of mood episode that people present with is a major depressive episode. As detailed in the DSM-IV-TR table, Criteria for Major Depressive Episode, to receive this diagnosis, the person must be markedly depressed (and/or show a marked loss of interest in pleasurable activities) for most of every day and for most days for at least 2 weeks. In addition to these obvious emotional symptoms, he or she must show at least three or four other symptoms (for a total of five) that range from cognitive symptoms (such as feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and thoughts of suicide), to behavioral symptoms (such as fatigue or physical agitation), to physical symptoms (such as changes in appetite and sleep patterns). The other primary kind of mood episode is a manic episode, in which the person shows markedly elevated, euphoric, or expansive mood, often interrupted by occasional outbursts of intense irritability or even violence—particularly when others refuse to go along with the manic person’s wishes and schemes. These extreme moods must persist for at least a week for this diagnosis to be made. In addition, three or more additional symptoms must occur in the same time period, ranging from be- havioral symptoms (such as a notable increase in goal-directed DSM-IV-TR Criteria for Major Depressive Episode A. Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood, or (2) loss of interest or pleasure. (1) Depressed most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective reports or observation made by others. (2) Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day. (3) Significant weight loss (when not dieting) or weight gain. (4) Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day. (5) Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day. (6) Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day. (7) Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day. (8) Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day. (9) Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide, or recurrent suicidal ideation without a plan, or a suicide attempt or plan. B. The symptoms do not meet criteria for a Mixed Episode. C. The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment. DSM-IV-TR Criteria for a Manic Episode D. A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting at least 1 week. E. During the period of mood disturbance, three or more of the following symptoms have persisted and have been present to a significant degree