...Major Depressive Disorder and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Argosy University Abnormal Psychology Brandy Rhodes 12/08/11 Abstract: Major depression disorder is a wide and complex disorder than many Americans suffer from. This paper will review the research and material of major depression disorder and the effective treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy. Although there are several types of therapy available to treat depression and other mood disorders, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) has been one of the most widely used and thought to be very effective in treating the disorder. First the paper will review what the disorder is and the criteria needed to diagnosis one with major depressive disorder and then we will take a look at how CBT helps the client overcome the signs and symptoms of the disorder. Lastly the paper will follow up with why CBT is thought to effective with treating major depressive disorder. Major Depressive Disorder and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Many clients’ that are seen in today’s clinics suffer from major depressive disorder (MDD) which is one of the most common disorders. “Major depressive disorder has a life time prevalence of 15.8 % (Mor and Haran, 2009). Many times MDD is characterized by early onset with development occurring throughout the life span. MDD is a disorder characterized by extreme depressed mood that lasts at least 2 weeks and includes cognitive symptoms such as feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and indecisiveness;...
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...Major depression (MD) is a heterogeneous group of neuropsychiatric disease associated with significant morbidity, mortality and disability [1,2].. Recently, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), characterized MD by these symptoms depressed mood, diminished interest or pleasure, significant increase or decrease in weight or appetite, insomnia or hypersomnia, pscychomotor agitation or retardation, fatigue, feeling of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt, inability to concentrate or indecisiveness, and suicidal thoughts. These symptoms reflect alternation in cognitive, psychomotor, biological, motivational, behavioral and emotional processes [1,2]. It is also affects the quality of daily life of community...
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...5. Idiographic Information Jeanne’s current depressive episode is associated with multiple stressful life events that occur in an interpersonal context. For example, she has reported she cannot effectively communicate with her boyfriends and she does not want to talk with her supervisors to solve their problems. These precipitants work as the trigger of Jeanne’s current episode and made her more difficult to manage the negative events. The three of components of major depression can be identified in the case of Jeanne as well. First, Jeanne suffers from the symptoms of MDD. She shows lasting negative affects; she is going through occupational and life troubles and she also has thoughts of death. Second, her social functioning has been diminished,...
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...biological explanations of major depression. Psychological explanations refer to the cognitive and behavioral theories of major depression such as negative cognitions, learned helplessness, and hopelessness. While biological explanations refer to genetic and neurochemical factors to explain the development and maintenance of major depression (Davey, 2011). Major depression, also commonly referred to as clinical depression, major depressive illness, major affective disorder, or unipolar mood disorder, is a clinical mood disorder including one or more episode of serious depression lasting two or more weeks with no manic episodes. Symptoms include fatigue, impaired...
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...People tend to think depression always leads to suicide, but that isn’t always the case. Most people experience this disorder at least once in their life. Major depression occurs with adults ages eighteen to twenty-five (“Major Depression” 1). Depression lasts a long time-at least two weeks. It affects emotions and everyday life (“Major Depression” 1). When someone is experiencing depression, they will notice strange symptoms such as crying more than usual, anti-socialism. There are multiple different health issues that depression can lead to. For example, it can cause a mental health disorder, suicide, and bipolar disorder. If someone cannot control their depression, they need to visit a Psychiatrist before it gets out of control. Major depression is extremely tough to escape. “An estimated 3.1 million adolescents aged twelve to seventeen in the...
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...paper discusses a published article titled, Major Depression in the Transition to Adulthood: Risks and Impairments that reports on the effects and risks of major depression in the transition to adulthood. It also explores the factors that cause depression in adolescents, such as poor quality of family life that includes neglect and emotional, physical, and sexual abuse within the family, which can have a profound impact on a child’s mental health and well-being. Health factors and illnesses can also contribute to depression. There are studies included that discuss the links between the effects and these harmful activities. These effects include psychosocial impairments in early adulthood, including poor overall functioning, interpersonal...
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...Major Depression Tara is a young female who has been enduring continuous episodes of major depression since a young age. Predisposing Tara encountered the difficulty of several life events as a child, from a Biopsychosocial perspective a combination of genetic, physical, psychological and environmental factors are involved in the likelihood for depression to develop. Although there is very little information about the genetic and biological factors that could have influenced Tara’s vulnerability in developing Major depression. A follow-up interview exploring her family’s mental health background is ideal in order to establish whether genetics or family history influenced her susceptibility. Similarly, in the follow-up interview whether there were any birthing complications, physical developments and more details on her temperament as child that could have affected her position. Tara’s gender as a female is also a plausible factor as females at a younger age are more prone to exhibiting symptoms of depression for longer periods (Jack & Ali, 2010). From an psychological perspective Tara shared how as a child she would spend a lot of time alone in her room in what she described as her own fantasy land. Tara’s personality structure identifies itself with neurotic traits that present themselves in various patterns of behaviour whilst also influencing her patterns of cognition. Tara’s emotional development from the early age of nine displayed symptoms of depression as...
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...Adolescence is a time teenagers go through stressful situations, emotional turmoil, frequent mood changes, and sensitivity. Teenagers are more likely than children or adults to experience depression. Although depression often goes unnoticed in many adolescents, it is a legitimate problem in today’s society. “At least 5% of adolescents, roughly 1 in 20 teenagers, will experience an episode of Major Depression, making it one of the most common medical illnesses young people face.” Depression is described as a lasting period of sadness. Three levels of depression are depressed moods, depressive syndrome and major depressive disorder. Depressed mood is a continuous period of sadness that doesn’t have any symptoms. Depressive syndrome is the same however, some symptoms like crying, guilt and feeling or worthlessness occur. Major depressive disorder is the most severe, it is characterized with the same symptoms of depressive syndrome but further more like depressed moods everyday, weight loss or gain, fatigue, suicidal thoughts, and insomnia. Depressed mood is the level of...
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...Specifically, children and teenagers may bear the brunt of this problem when they are punished for attitudes or lack of motivation that, in reality, stems from depression. This could occur when parents choose not to recognize it as a real and possible problem. These adolescents are viewed as lazy, rebellious, rude, or moody, instead of realizing that there may be a health issue going on. That is, a health issue that requires care, compassion, and understanding, not discipline and punishment. Further, more serious problems such as manic-depression or schizophrenia need to be recognized as a potential factor for family members if close relatives have dealt with it. Even family members with major depression should be taken into consideration when it comes to personal health issues or situations. Individuals may not feel depressed initially, but “once the depressive episode is triggered, it tends to have a life of its own until treated,” and has the capacity to quickly turn into a crushing weight. (Lurie, page 13) As more studies have been completed, “most doctors considered major depression and bipolar depression to be inherited conditions; other forms of...
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...difficult for me to choose, because I wanted to be able to use the model of helping that would be the best one for the client. While I was taking this course, I noticed that I already use Behavior Therapy on a daily basis. I prefer to use the Behavior Therapy. Behavior Therapy is changing the client’s undesired behavior with a more desirable behavior. According to Herkov (n.d.), “Behavior therapy is focused on helping an individual understand how changing their behavior can lead to changes in how they are feeling.” (para. 1). Indeed, I prefer to use the Behavior Therapy Model, because I have been already using some of major methods and techniques within the Behavior Therapy model. These major techniques, that I have been using prior to taking this course, include: positive reinforcement, token economies, and modeling. These are a few of the major techniques of Behavior Therapy that I have been using prior to taking this class. My personal view of helping is that there are different techniques for different types of people, and different types of issues. I believe that there is no one fits all type of theory. This is because there is not just one solution for the many types of issues that people...
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...a study completed in 1973, depression was “identified as the most common psychological disorder in this country” (Bosse, et al. 746). This dated statistic illustrates just how long depression has been affecting the United States. Unfortunately, depression on college campuses is not uncommon, even during present times. This can mainly be attributed to a university being more focused on a saving a life, and not helping those who are struggling with mental illness. Several decades ago, depression was an epidemic that affected immeasurable amount of college students. Although, depression on college campuses has reduced, it still affects over half the student population. Even though the percentage of depressed college students has stabilized, it still marks a time to start understanding the factors that cause...
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...the topic of depression, it is important to know how the brain works and changes when someone is depressed, what living with depression is like, and what treatment is available. When someone is depressed, he or she does not only go through emotional changes, but he or she also goes through physical changes. When a person is depressed, his or her brain changes....
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...Depression in Children This paper describes the primary issues that encompass childhood depression as it investigates the illness itself, the methods of treating it, and the current scientific thoughts that frame its modern debate. The result shows three main targets that are associated with childhood depression: 1. Childhood depression is difficult to diagnose; 2. There is not a consensus from among experts as to the efficacy of child self-reporting; and, 3. Treatments of this mental illness vary in intensity and in mode. Depression is a terrible mental state that robs people of relationships and experiences that contribute to contented lives. Every person feels down or sad for short intervals. This is a part of life; however, clinical depression can linger for days, weeks, or months at a time, causing the sufferer to lose interest in family, work, and recreation. We are accustomed to adults who have bouts with depression, but when this illness comes down on the life of a child, it causes us to step back and react with disbelief. We question whether a child can be persistently sad or apathetic, or disengaged. After all, we reason, childhood is a happy time. Maybe it is because of some chemical imbalance in the brain. Maybe it is inherited. Maybe it is the result of a chaotic domestic life. For whatever reason, childhood depression is real and is recognized as a powerful detriment to a child’s wellbeing. The literature reflects are growing...
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...lucky enough to actually stay away from the "filth" that may cost you dearly. You may lose things that are valuable to you, like your happiness, your own life and the lives of the ones you love. The ones that failed doing so always have reasons for making those horrible decisions, which would definitely change their lives in to something worse. Just think about it, do we want that to happen to us as well? In this essay, we will uncover some major causes, effects, strategies to prevent us from making immoral life decisions. The people that sink in the endless river of disastrous life decisions usually steps in to the river because of a few major causes. Major causes includes depression, and unfortunate choices of friends. Depression plays an enormous role in unfortunate life decisions. In most cases, people are depressed because of emotional depressions that they suffer in life, such as death of a loved one and the desire of respect. When people are depressed, they would start making dreadful decisions in order to use it as a depression reliever so that they would be able to keep their minds off events that they would like to forget. Slowly, they would realize that they cannot abandon once they began. Some people fell in the dark river because of the unfortunate choices of friends. Friends always play an important role in our everyday life, and they are one of the biggest influences that we get. Our friends are able to influence us in many ways. Small things like what to read...
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...Depression in adolescence has been recognized as a clinical problem for twenty-two years. Many believed that signs of depression were simple behavioral problems that the child would grow out of. Psychiatrists believed that children were both emotionally and cgnitively immature to endure depression. Childhood was considered to be worry free, no true concerns, happy time. Therefore, their problems were not serious enough to be labeled depression. There was never a clear understanding as to how abuse, divorce, and incest could have a long term effect on children. Childhood depression differs in many aspects from adult depression. Decrease in academic performance, withdrawal and rejection of friends and favorite activities are some of the main unrecognized signs. Some may also exhibit hyperactivity, while others complain of exhaustion and illness. Many times these symptoms are thought to be just a phase in their children, and observed as signs of depression. Children of all ages from infancy through adolescence can suffer from a disorder mood. The symptoms tend to change based on the child's level of development. Depression in infants is often determined based on the child’s failure to grow physically, act unresponsively, and inability to thrive. Although it is rarely seen in babies, it is often due to lack of nurturing relationship between the infant and the caregiver. Postpartum depression has the ability to affect the mood of the infant. It affects approximately...
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