PSYC 350 1st Edition Lecture 8 Outline of Last Lecture I Dissociative Disorders Outline of Current Lecture I Symptoms II Cases Current Lecture Clinical depression is a widespread and serious problem Occurs in around 20 of women and 10 of men Four major symptoms listed in the DSM Mood thoughts of worthlessness hopelessness and loss of interest Memory trouble concentrating and slowed down thought process Physical weight either drastically goes up or down irregular sleep patterns fatigue Thoughts suicidal thoughts I m better off dead Nobody wants me here I should just go away All of these functions are controlled by the hypothalamus Masked depression a person has all the depression symptoms but misdiagnoses it as a physical illness Mike Wallace case Hallucinations and delusions are common Depression often occurs in children onset is in early adolescents or early adulthood It happens in cycles Major Depressive Disorder has at least two depressive episodes that last long enough with enough symptoms to disrupt the ability to function Dysthymic disorder is a lower level of MDD only two symptoms are necessary people use the phrase not happy instead of depressed and blame it on situational factors Postpartum depression has the same symptoms as MDD but occurs within one month after childbirth Victims have trouble bonding with the child and may be suicidal Andrea Yates drowned all 5 of her children and was imprisoned Depression is more common in women because women are more prone to stress and estrogen has a different response to stress on them Hormonal changes in early adulthood make depression more likely Higher depression rates are in lower social classes because they face more stress financially socially and healthfully Differences in cultures are usually doe to differences in stress and diet These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Stress decreases the serotonin level