Invitation to Psychology

394 Chapter 11 Psychological Disorders

will solve the world’s energy problems. People in

a state of mania often get into terrible trouble by

going on extravagant spending sprees or making

rash decisions.

When people experience at least one episode

of mania, typically alternating with episodes of

depression, they are said to have bipolar disorder

(formerly called manic-depressive disorder). The

great humorist Mark Twain had bipolar disor-

der, which he described as “periodical and sud-

den changes of mood... from deep melancholy

to half-insane tempests and cyclones.” Other

writers, artists, musicians, and scientists have

also suffered from this disorder (Jamison, 1992).

During the highs, many of these creative people

produce their best work, but the price of the

lows is disastrous relationships, bankruptcy, and

sometimes suicide.

The DSM-5 puts bipolar disorders into their

own category, between depressive disorders and

schizophrenia. The reason, the manual explains,

is that symptoms and causes of bipolar disorder

can overlap with those of depression and schizo-

phrenia. Indeed, a study of some 60,000 indi-

viduals, compared with matched controls, found

several gene variants shared by all three of these

disorders, along with ADHD and autism (Cross-

Disorder Group of the Psychiatric Genomics

Consortium, 2013). Though the variants raise the

risk of these disorders only slightly, they suggest

that common molecular alterations may underlie

different disorders once thought to be unrelated.

bipolar disorder A dis-
order in which episodes

Hostility and Depression

mania (excessive eupho-
ria) occur.

on negative thoughts and unhappy past events

(Joorman, Levens, & Gotlib, 2011; Kuster, Orth,

& Meier, 2012). In contrast, nondepressed people

who undergo sad and stressful events are usually

able to distract themselves, look outward, and seek

solutions. Beginning in adolescence, women are

much more likely than men to develop a ruminat-

ing, introspective style, which contributes both to

longer-lasting depressions in women and to the

sex difference in reported rates.

The factors we have described—genetics, vio-

lence, loss of important relationships, and cogni-

tive habits and biases—combine in different ways

to produce any given case of depression. That is

why the same sad event, such as flunking a course,

being dumped by a lover, or losing a job, can affect

two people entirely differently: One rolls with the

punch and another is knocked flat.

Bipolar Disorder LO 11.10

At the opposite pole from depression is mania,

an abnormally high state of exhilaration. Mania

is not the normal joy of being in love or winning

the Pulitzer Prize. Instead of feeling fatigued and

listless, the manic person is excessively wired and

often irritable when thwarted. Instead of feeling

hopeless and powerless, the person feels powerful

and is full of grandiose plans; but these plans are

usually based on delusional ideas, such as think-

ing that he or she has invented something that

Recite & Review

Recite: Stop ruminating about your study habits and state what you remember about major

depression, the vulnerability-stress model of depression, mania, and bipolar disorder.

Review: Next, reread this section.

Now take this Quick Quiz:

1. Biological researchers find that depressed people have unusually high levels of the stress
   hormone __.


2. What are four main contributing factors in depression?


3. Depressed people tend to believe that the reasons for their unhappiness are (a) controllable,
   (b) temporary, (c) out of their hands, (d) caused by the situation.


4. A news headline announces that a gene has been identified as the cause of depression. Does
   this mean that everyone with the gene will become depressed? How should critical thinkers
   interpret this research?
   Answers:

Study and Review at MyPsychLab

genetic factors; exposure to violence and childhood experiences of parental neglect and physical abuse; a 2. cortisol1.

c3. history of insecure attachments and losses of close relationships; cognitive habits of negative thinking and rumination

The research doesn’t mean that one gene causes depression; it means that people with the gene may be more likely than 4.

others to become depressed when they undergo severely stressful experiences. Critical thinkers would want to make sure

the research is replicated, and they would realize that not all cases of depression are necessarily influenced by genetics.

Genetic

predisposition

History ofinsecure

attachment

Negative waysof thinking

Hopelessness

Brooding

rumination

Loss of loved one

Loss of job

Failure

Trauma

Violence

triggering eventsStressful, vulnerabilityIndividual

DEPRESSIONSEVERE

VULNERABILITY-STRESS

MODEL OF DEPRESSION