Stress is known to be one of the major causal factors of depression (Kendler, Karkowski, & Prescott, 1999). Large stressors in life, such as divorce or death in the family, are all known to be related to the development of depression in people (Kendler et al., 1999). Such traumatic, sudden events can place acute stress on a person that can lead to problems such as depression. However, equally as stressful to people is chronic stress - not as stressful as major stressors, but still pervasive enough day-to-day to contribute to an overall drop in positive affect. Although depression is often referred to as the “common cold” of psychology, it can still be a dangerous condition, particularly due to the increase of suicidal ideation that can occur in some people with depression. For this reason, research is constantly seeking to understand the condition better. Since much truly experimental research on humans with depression would constitute a breach of ethics, most research in this area focuses on animals. The study conducted by Henningson et al. that is the subject of this paper utilized rats to study the effects of depression due to chronic stress on cognitive performance.
As it is impossible for rats to indicate in the same way as humans that they are depressed, a model to mimic the development and progression was developed by researchers in the 1980s. Called the chronic mild stress model (CMS model), rats or mice are exposed to mild stressors for a number of weeks (anywhere from one to seven) and their intake of a particular sucrose solution is monitored. Decrease in sucrose consumption or preference is thought to reflect a decrease in sensitivity for rewards (Willner, 2005), a classic example of anhedonia, which is a common symp...
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...ion: Relation to anhedonic-like responses. Behavioural Brain Research, 198 (1), 136-141.
Kendler, K.S., Karkowski, L.M., & Prescott, C.A. (1999). Causal relationship between stressful life events and the onset of major depression. Journal of American Psychiatry, 156 (6), 837-841.
Nestler, E.J., Gould, E., Manj, H., Buncan, M., Dunman, R.S., Greshenfeld, H.K., et al. (2003) Preclinical models: Status of basic research in depression. Biological Psychiatry, 52 (6), 503-528.
Papp, M., Willner, P., & Muscat, R. (1991). An animal model of anhedonia: Attenuation of sucrose consumption and place preference conditioning by chronic unpredictable mild stress. Psychopharmacology, 104 (3), 255-259.
Willner, P. (2005). Chronic mild stress (CMS) revisited: Consistency and behavioural neuro-biological concordance in the effects of CMS. Neuropsychobiology, 52 (1), 90-110.
Williamson, J. S. (2008). Depression. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 88(1), 18-18, 24. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/235187495?accountid=27965
Cognitive behavioral therapy commonly known as CBT is a systematic process by which we learn to change our negative thoughts into more positive ones. CBT is a combination of two types of therapy, Cognitive Therapy and Behavioral Therapy. Cognition is our thoughts, so cognitive behavioral therapy combines working with our thought process and changing our behavior at the same time. Cognitive behavioral therapists believe that our behavior and our feelings are influenced by the way we think; also our mood is affected by our behavior and thought process. So CBT tries to tackle our thoughts, feelings and behavior. Scientific research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is affective for a wide range of mental health problems. The purpose is to bring positive change by alleviating emotional distress such as depression. CBT starts by breaking down your problems into smaller components, often trying to identify particular problematic thoughts or behavior. Once these problems are broken down it is then suggested a straightforward plan in which the patient and therapist can intervene to promote recovery.
Rupke, S., Blecke, D., & Renfrow, M. (2006, January 1). Cognitive therapy for depression. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16417069?dopt=Abstract
Major Depressive Disorder, according to Coon, is a mood disorder in which the person has suffered one or more intense episodes of depression. Major Depressive Disorder falls under mood disorders subtopic depressive disorders (Coon 2013). “Psychologist have come to realize that mood disorders (major disturbances in emotion) are among the most serious of all psychological conditions. In any given year, roughly 9.5 percent of the U.S. population suffers from a mood disorder (National Institute of Mental Health, 2011a)” (Coon 2013). I was one of the 9.5 percent. I have decided to write on this topic because I want to understand what causes it. I have been depressed before without medication or counseling and I wanted to know why do you get depressed and how does it impact you. This essay will talk about disorder information, disorder triggers, research on depression, treatment for depression, and theorist’s experiments for Major Depression Disorder.
Katon, W., and Sullivan, M. D., (1990) Depression and Chronic Mental Illness. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, v.51. pgs. 8-19
Recently, studies of stress have shifted from demonstrating relationships between psychological factors and somatic outcomes, to investigations of the mediational pathways involved in these associations. For example, (Cohen and Williamson, 1991) have built on the work of Lazarus’ model by suggesting that once an environmental event is encountered, it is appraised, and an affective response is made. After this response is made, a cascade of behavioral and physiological processes is activated. Behavioral factors such as increased alcohol use, reduced exercise, changes in sleep quantity/quality, and changes in diet, have shown to be related to stress. In turn, stress-related changes are associated with many hormonal fluctuations known to influence susceptibility to disease (Schedlowski and Tewes, 1999).
In unit seven, this learner took part in a debate involving the causes of depression. Depression is a debilitating mental disorder that can be detrimental to a person’s way of living. For centuries, psychologists and researchers have been searching for a single cause of depression, identifying two perspectives to date. The cognitive-behavioral perspective includes influences of faulty thinking that develops from low self-esteem and or a learned helplessness. In addition, cognitive-behavioral perspective indicates environmental influences such as poor living conditions and socioeconomic issues as causes of depression. However, this learner presented evidence along with personal experiences to support the biological perspective of the debate.
Burton, Neel. "The Anatomy of Melancholy: Can Depression Be Good for You?" Lecture. TEDx. Narodni Dom, Maribor. 12 Nov. 2013. Youtube. 2 Mar. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
There are many common symptoms in which everybody looks for which is unhappiness and disappointment. Symptoms that are different, pervasive, or interfere with normal function are considered to be pathological. Some symptoms include loss of pleasure in almost all activities, loss of reactivity to usually pleasurable stim...
Joranby, L., Pineda, K., & Gold, M. S. (2005). Addiction to Food and Brain Reward
Kumar, Anil, Puneet Rinwa, Gurleen Kaur, and Lalit Machawal. "Stress: Neurobiology, consequences, and management." Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences, 2013: 1-7.
Wise, Roy A. “Role of dopamine in food reward and reinforcement”. National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 June 2006. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. .
Mental health professionals classify depression as a disorder that affects a person’s thoughts and feelings. “At some point during their lifetime, depression plagues 17 percent of U.S. adults.” (Myers, 2006 p. 621) In the year 2000, 76% of college students felt “overwhelmed” and 22% were unable to function as a result of their depression (American College Health Association, 2001). Major depressive disorder is characterized by extreme...
Academic stress is very common in student’s lives. Many students assume that making the academic experience their first priority now, will increase the chance of success in the future. School is an important aspect in most teenagers lives and by being so important a teenager can become depressed very effortlessly at school or because of school. Academic stress can take complete control over a student’s life, sometimes leading to depression. At school this may lead to poor attendance, a significant drop in grades or even annoyance with schoolwork, in a good student. There are many studies that have been performed to prove the correlation between responsibility in school and academic performance being the cause to academic stress. Just like there are numerous causes to academic there are also numerous cures, such as changing mind set and behavior. Academic stress is something majority of students in school can relate to and the cause of it can be something small as a bad grade on an evaluation, It will enforce the student to try harder in the future but it will for sure cause some sort of stress, even if it is for a moment. Stress from school can be one of the most essential causes of teen depression.
Many people feel apprehensive and miserable every now and then, but when does it take over their whole lives? Losing a loved one, doing poorly in school or work, being bullied and other hardships might lead a person to feel sad, lonely, scared, nervous and/or anxious. Some people experience this on an everyday basis, sometimes even or no reason at all. Those people might have an anxiety disorder, depression, or both. It is highly likely for someone with an anxiety disorder to also be suffering from depression, or the other way around. 50% of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.