PSYCH-2245 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Major Depressive Episode, Bipolar Ii Disorder, Bipolar I Disorder
Chapter 7 Learning Objectives: Mood Disorders and Suicide
• Symptom Specifiers for depressive disorders
o Psychotic features
▪ Hallucinations
▪ Delusions
o Anxious Distress
▪ Comorbid disorders or anxiety symptoms
o Mixed features
▪ At least 3 symptoms of mania
o Melancholic
▪ Severe somatic symptoms (headaches, stomachaches)
o Atypical features
▪ Oversleeping and overeating
o Catatonic features
▪ Catalepsy (napping during the day)
1. Differentiate a depressive episode from a manic and hypomanic episode.
• Major Depressive Episode
o Depressed mood that lasts for at least 2 weeks but up to 4-9 months
o Cognitive symptoms: feelings of low self-worth and inability to make decisions
o Physical functions: low energy, changes in weight/appetite, unusual sleep patterns
o General loss of interest
o Low positive feelings towards themselves
o Anhedonia: loss of interest in any pleasurable activity
• Manic Episode
o Exaggerated episodes of happiness
o Marked by reckless behavior
o Overactive in everything, sleep less, feelings of grandiosity
o Flight of ideas: cannot talk fast enough to express their excitement for all the
things they want to share
o Require only a week of this behavior to be classified, but can last 3-4 months
o Irritability occurs toward the end
• Hypomanic Episode
o Less severe manic episode
o Doesn’t cause substantial impairment
o Needs to only occur for 4 days to be diagnosable
2. Describe the clinical symptoms of major depression and bipolar disorder.
• Major Depression:
o At least 1 depressive episode
o Can occur in a single episode, which is rare
o Recurrent Major Depression
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▪ 4-7 episodes over the course of someone’s life
▪ Can last up to 4-5 months
▪ Often associated with stressful life events such as death, etc.
o Onset on average is 30 years old
o Early onset is hard to cure for individuals with dysthymic disorders (20-30
years)
• Bipolar Disorder:
o Alternations between manic and depressive episodes
o Bipolar II disorder:
▪ Major depressive episodes alternate with hypomanic episodes
o Bipolar I disorder:
▪ Major depressive episodes alternate with manic episodes
3. Differentiate major depression from dysthymic disorder and distinguish bipolar disorder from
cyclothymic disorder.
• Major Depression:
o At least 1 depressive episode
o Can occur in a single episode, which is rare
o Recurrent Major Depression
▪ 4-7 episodes over the course of someone’s life
▪ Can last up to 4-5 months
▪ Often associated with stressful life events such as death, etc.
• Dysthymia (persistent depressive disorder)
o Lasts for 2 or more years
o No occurrence of mania or hypomania
o Cause distress and impairment
o Persistent, mild symptoms
o Often associated with other personality disorders
o Chronic
o Low energy, insomnia/hypersomnia, poor appetite/overeating
• Bipolar Disorder:
o Alternations between manic and depressive episodes
o Bipolar II disorder:
▪ Major depressive episodes alternate with hypomanic episodes
o Bipolar I disorder:
▪ Major depressive episodes alternate with manic episodes
• Cyclothymic Disorder
o Less severe alternation of depressive and hypomanic episodes than bipolar
disorder
o Symptoms persist for at least 2 years and the individual is not without symptoms
for at least 2 months
o Chronic symptoms for adults last 2 or more years and 1 or more in kids
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