Beh 225 - Diagnosis and Treatment

Diagnosis and Treatment

Axia College of the University of Phoenix

BEH/225 Introduction to Behavior Science

August 25, 2009

Individual mood disorders are distinguished by disruptions in a brain or extended emotional state. Many people have the ability to have happiness or to feel sadness depending on the situation, but one can also be joyous, depressed, and remorseful. People can also find themselves on the other side of the emotional scope with either consistently being excited and euphoric or constantly sad, depending on the particular circumstances of one's personal lives. With many individuals with mood disorders, it can develop to be more extreme measures of disorders, like euphoria and sorry. There are many types of mood disorder a person can become susceptible to, some types of would include depression, mania and bipolar disease. Depression is distinguished by overwhelming feelings of sadness, lack of interest in activities and/or hobbies, and perhaps excessive guilt or feelings of worthlessness. Mania is characterized by ecstatic states, extreme physical activity, excessive talkativeness, distractedness, and something elaborateness. Bipolar is a mood disorder in which periods of mania and depression alternate with each lasting a day or so and sometimes with periods of normal moods intervening and intertwining.

The current trends in diagnosis consist of biological, psychological, and social factors. With biological factors there is consistent evidence that genetic factors play an important role in the development of depression (Mineka, Watson, & Clark, 1998), particularly, in bipolar disorder (Badner, 2003: Katz & McGuffin, 1993). Some research has shown that mood disorders are linked to chemical imbalances within the brain (Kato, 2001). However, the chemical imbalances in the brain could simply be caused by a traumatic life event. Psychological factors are thought to play a key role in causing depression. When someone develops a self-concept of themselves they sometimes feel incompetent or worthless and it becomes a repeated cycle. For example, if a child was repeatedly told by his or her parents that they were incompetent, will never learn anything, and are incapable of making good decisions, then the child may start to think that this is indeed true and will stop trying to learn, which would eventually cause them to fall behind in class. On the contrary, if this same child overcame their parent's negative thoughts, moved on with their life, and became successful in their adulthood, then goes to