Mood Disorders and Suicide Chapter Seven: Mood Disorders and Suicide 7.1 What are mood

Mood Disorders and Suicide  Chapter Seven: Mood Disorders and Suicide   7.1 What are mood disorders?  oMood disorders are those in which extreme variations in mood—either low or high—are the predominant feature. Although some variations in mood are normal, for some people the extremity of moods in either direction becomes seriously maladaptive, even to the extent of suicide.  7.2 What symptoms are characteristic of depressive disorders?  oMost people with mood disorders have some form of depressive disorder—dysthymia or major depression. Such individuals experience a range of affective, cognitive, motivational, and biological symptoms including persistent sadness, negative thoughts about the self and the future, lack of energy or initiative, too much or too little sleep, and gaining or losing weight.  7.3 What are the causal factors in unipolar mood disorders?  oAmong biological causal factors for depressive disorder, there is evidence of a moderate genetic contribution to the vulnerability for major depression and probably dysthymia as well. Moreover, major depressions are clearly associated with multiple interacting disturbances in neurochemical, neuroendocrine, and neurophysiological systems. Disruptions in circadian and seasonal rhythms are also prominent features of depression.  oAmong psychosocial theories of the causes of depressive disorder are Becks cognitive theory and the reformulated helplessness and hopelessness theories, which are formulated as diathesis-stress models, and a tende