Abnormal Psychology

210 CHAPTER 6

eat foods (such as wine and cheese) containing a substance called tyramine, which

can cause fatal blood pressure changes. An MAOI is now available as a skin patch;

the skin patch method of administering the medication avoids absorption via the

gastrointestinal tract and thus reduces the risk associated with eating tyramine-

rich foods (Patkar, Pae, & Masand, 2006).

Among the antidepressants, SSRIs have been the most popular, in part because

they have the fewest side effects. By 2004, however, mental health professionals and

6.2 • Feedback Loops in Action: Depressive Disorders

Figure 6.2g

stress

diathesis

diathesisstress

stress

diathesis

NeuroPsychoSocial NeuroPsychoSocial

NeuroPsychoSocial

Mental Processes and

Mental Contents

Attentional biases

Attributions

Rumination

Cognitive distortions

Stressful Life Events

Relationship

problems or loss

Social Factors

Abuse

Gender/Culture

Discrimination

Socieconomic hardship

Symptom expression

Family

Insecure

attachment

Behavior

Learned

helplessness

Affect

Depressed

Brain Systems

Frontal lobes

Temporal lobes

Thalamus

Basal ganglia

Hippocampus

Amygdala

HPA axis

Neural Communication

Serotonin

Norepinephrine

Dopamine

Cortisol

Genetics

Inherited

vulnerability

for depressive

disorders