Psychological Disorders and Therapy

1. Psychological Disorders and Therapy I. Depression

2. Gender difference • Prevalence. • 20% - 26% of women compared to 8% - 12 % of men.

3. Possible Artefacts. • Women just more willing to report. • Women have less income. • Depression takes the form of alcoholism in men.

4. Causes • Biological explanations. • Hormones. • Mechanism of action. • Estrogen and progesterone may act as serotonin reuptake inhibiters. • Daily diary studies. • In a study by Golub, women scored higher on a depression measure when premenstrual (mean = 9.30) than mid-cycle (6.84). • The average score for a psychiatric population was 16.03.

5. Causes cont… • Problems with the PMS concept. • The role of expectancies. • A study by Ruble experimentally manipulating expectations. • Genetics. • It is speculated that depression might reflect mutations on the X chromosome. • Support for this hypothesis through twin studies and looking at patterns of mother-child versus father-child pairings of depression is mixed.

6. Causes cont… • Environmental explanations. • Learned helplessness. • Chronic exposure to uncontrollable negative events leads to feelings of helplessness, and ultimately, depression. • This model assumes that women are more likely to be exposed to these types of events in comparison to men.

7. Causes cont… • Gender differences in coping styles (Hilt & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2009). • Asserted that women are more likely to have a ruminative coping style and men are more likely to have a distractive style. • Rumination is thought to strengthen feelings of depression, possibly by repeatedly “rehearsing” negative cognitions.

8. Psychological Disorders and Therapy II. Eating disorders

9. Anorexia Nervosa • Prevalence. • 90-95% of anorexic are females. • 1 out of every 250 adolescence. • DSM-V Criteria • Maintaining a weight that is significantly lower than what is minimally expected. • Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat even though underweight. • Disturbance in the way in which body weight or shape is experienced. • http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/most-models-meet-criteria-for-anorexia-size-6-is-plus-size-magazine/

10. Anorexia Nervosa cont… • Other Symptoms / Characteristics • Amenorrhea. • Thinning hair. • Dry, flaking skin. • Constipation. • Lanugo. • Lowered body temperature--often 95-97 F. • Obsessive and ritualistic about food. • Perfectionistic overachievers. • Highly resistant to therapy. • Differences between Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa

11. Theories and Therapies • Biological • Are many biological changes that may represent effects rather than causes. • Twin studies suggest a heritability index of 50%. • Behavioral • Purging behavior is reinforced by anxiety reduction. • Treatment is exposure w/ response prevention. • Cognitive-behavioral • Assumes that cognitive distortions are a risk factor for eating disorders. • http://www.upworthy.com/2-people-described-the-same-person-to-a-forensic-artist-and-this-is-what-happene?c=ufb2

12. Theories and Therapies cont… • Family and Systems. • Rigid & Enmeshed boundaries. • An over-emphasis on achievement and weight as a sign of achievement. • Feminist. • The thin ideal • A study of the Fuiji Islands (Becker, 2004). • A review of the experimental research. • Moderators. • Family factors. • Internalization of the thin ideal. • Race and internalization of the thin ideal. • Opression and the thin ideal • http://www.returnofkings.com/21313/5-reasons-to-date-a-girl-with-an-eating-disorder