Mood disorders: explanations of depressive disorder

Psychology A2 · Clinical Psychology. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Biological explanations look at chemistry and genes. The monoamine hypothesis links depression to low activity of serotonin and noradrenaline. Genetic explanations say a vulnerability is inherited. Oruc et al. (1997) compared two serotonin genes in 42 patients with bipolar I disorder and 40 controls. They found no significant link overall, but a trend in female patients suggested these genes may matter more in women.

Psychological explanations look at thinking. Beck said depressed people hold a negative triad of views about the self, the world and the future. Seligman linked depression to learned helplessness and a pessimistic attributional style: bad events are explained as my fault, lasting and affecting everything.

Rules to remember

Monoamine hypothesis: low serotonin and noradrenaline activity at synapses is linked to depression.
Oruc et al. (1997): an association study of the 5-HT2C receptor gene and the 5-HTT (serotonin transporter) gene.
An association shows a link between a gene variant and a disorder, not a cause.
Beck: negative triad, negative schemas and cognitive biases such as overgeneralisation and selective abstraction.
Depressive attributional style for bad events: internal (my fault), stable (it will last), global (it affects everything).
Seligman et al. (1988): a more pessimistic attributional style went with more severe depression, and the style became less pessimistic as patients improved with cognitive therapy.
Biological explanations are more reductionist and deterministic; cognitive explanations allow more free will.

Common mistake

Students mix up Beck's triad (self, world, future) with the three attribution dimensions (internal, stable, global). They come from different theories.

Worked example

Maha is not chosen for the school team. She thinks, 'The coach only had two places this year. I will try again next term.' Does this fit a depressive attributional style?

Cause: few places were available, which is outside her, so the attribution is external, not internal.
Duration: she expects a different result next term, so it is unstable, not stable.
Scope: she talks only about the team, so it is specific, not global.

Answer: No. Her explanation is external, unstable and specific, which is the opposite of the style linked to depression.

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