PSYC18H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Genetic Predisposition, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Agoraphobia
Document Summary
Psychiatric epidemiology: the study of how frequently disorders occur: prevalence: the percentage of people suffering from a disorder. Depression: intense sadness that can be painfully persecuting and can drain all meaning from life: according to the dsm-iv, an episode of major depression is diagnosed when: For at least two weeks, the sufferer is unbearably sad or depressed, or has lost pleasure in nearly all activities. Along with at least four other symptoms that include: Lack of energy to do ordinary things. Inability to concentrate: major depression is the most prevalent single diagnosis among the emotional disorders, bipolar disorder: alternating periods of depression and at least one period of mania. Mania: a disorder of happiness, exhilaration, and pride. Self-esteem is inflated; patients sometimes become grandiose. No gender difference: three brain areas seem to be important to depression: Amygdala: kindling: the mechanism by which people become progressively more vulnerable to depression with each episode.
