Psychology for Dummies (60 page)
Read Psychology for Dummies Online
Authors: Adam Cash
Tags: #Psychology, #General, #Body; Mind & Spirit, #Spirituality
Depression drug?Antidepressant medication is one of the most widely prescribed medications in the United States. What’s going on? Are we all depressed? Well, there’s a lot of public awareness about depression, and advertising these drugs on television probably doesn’t hurt either. However, keep in mind that research has shown that certain forms of psychotherapy can be just as effective as medication in the short-run and perhaps more beneficial in the long-run than medication. The best “drug” for depression might not be a drug at all.
Several effective treatment approaches for depression exist. Antidepressant medication has been found to be effective. This course includes such famous medications as Prozac and Paxil. Psychotherapy, specifically cognitive- behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy, has been found to be effective as well. Research also indicates “activity” — staying very physically active and generally busy — can be an effective antidote to depression. Some studies indicate regular physical exercise proved as effective as medication in alleviating symptoms according to the self-reports of subjects. The common standard of practice is to utilize both medication and psychotherapy.
Bipolar disorder
is most commonly known as
manic-depression.
It can be characterized as a disorder of severe mood swings involving both depression and
mania.
Mania is a state of excessively elevated or irritable mood lasting for approximately one week and co-occurring with the following symptoms:
Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity (coming up with a solution to end starvation and create peace on earth, all in time for dinner)
Decreased need for sleep (feeling rested with three to four hours of sleep a night)
Extreme need and pressure to talk
Racing and rapid thoughts
Extremely short attention span
Drastically increased activity level (engaging in a lot of projects or mowing the lawn at 2:00 a.m.)
Excessive engagement in pleasurable activities that have potentially damaging consequences (gambling your house payment, spending sprees, sexual excursions)
Someone showing signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder must have had at least one episode of mania in his or her life and currently be experiencing a manic, depressed, or mixed episode (both depression and mania). So basically, in order to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a person has to experience both depression and mania — hence the concept of severe mood swings. People suffering from dipolar disorder commonly have several recurring episodes. It can be a devastating illness, often because of the trouble that a manic individual can get into. When someone is manic, it’s not uncommon for her to amass extremely large debts, incur broken relationships, or even engage in illegal or criminal acts.
This disorder is like being on a roller coaster of extreme emotion (sometimes sad, sometimes happy) beyond all proportion. These mood swings do not occur within a day or even within a week. Bipolar disorder refers to mood swings that occur over a long period of time, like four mood episodes (either depression, manic, or mixed) within a ten-year period. These episodes can last anywhere from one week to years. Some people, however, have what is called
rapid cycling
— they may experience four or more episodes within a one-year period. These individuals have a poorer prognosis because of how disruptive the episodes can be. There’s no time to get their life back together again between episodes.
The most popular theories on the causes of bipolar disorder, and more specifically mania, have been biological. Research has implicated neurochemical abnormalities in the specific parts of the brain that involve both the neuro- transmitters dopamine and serotonin. There is little other conclusive evidence.
Long before biological studies, however, the psychoanalysts offered their explanation. Their proposition in its simplest form is that mania is a defensive reaction to depression. Rather than feeling overwhelmed with depression, a person’s mind makes a switch of sorts, turning that extreme sadness into extreme happiness. The symbolic equivalent to this idea is laughing when someone you love dies. It’s a severe form of denial. When a manic patient is seen in psychoanalytic-oriented psychotherapy, this defensive hypothesis is the main focus.
Stress too is thought to play a role in intensifying the mood episodes within bipolar disorder. Stress doesn’t necessarily cause mania or depression, but it can make matters worse or speed up the arrival of an oncoming mood episode.
Currently, the first line in treating bipolar disorder is medication. A class of drugs known as
mood stabilizers
is used to stabilize a person’s mood and reduce the likelihood of future episodes. Common mood stabilizers are Lithium and Depakote. Supportive psychotherapy can be used to help people deal with the negative consequences of some of their manic behavior and come to terms with the seriousness of their illness. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been used increasingly within recent years toward the goals of increased behavioral self-management and identification of early warning signs of an upcoming mood episode.