Treatments for Mood Disorders Disorders of mood – as painful and disabling as they tend to be – respond more successfully to more kinds of treatments

Treatments for Mood Disorders

Disorders of mood – as painful and disabling as they tend to be – respond more successfully to more kinds of treatments than do most other forms of psychological dysfunction This range of treatment options has been a source of

reassurance and hope for the millions of people who desire to regain some measure of control over their moods

Treatments for Unipolar Depression

Around half of persons with unipolar depression (major depressive or dysthymic disorder) receive treatment from a mental health professional each year In addition, many other people in therapy experience

depressed feelings as part of another disorder – thus, much of the therapy being done today is for unipolar depression

Treatments for Unipolar Depression

A variety of treatment approaches are currently in widespread use These can be divided into psychological, sociocultural,

and biological approaches

Treatments for Unipolar Depression: Psychological Approaches

Psychological treatments used most often to combat unipolar depression come from three main schools of thought: Psychodynamic – Widely used despite no strong

research evidence of its effectiveness Behavioral – Primarily used for mild or moderate

depression but practiced less than in past decades Cognitive – Has performed so well in research that it

has a large and growing clinical following








Treatments for Unipolar Depression: Sociocultural Approaches

Theorists trace the causes of unipolar depression to the broader social structure in which people live and to the roles they are required to play

Two groups of sociocultural treatments are now widely applied – multicultural approaches and family-social approaches


Multicultural treatments Culture-sensitive approaches increasingly are being

combined with traditional forms of psychotherapy to help maximize the likelihood of minority clients overcoming their disorders

It also appears that the medication needs of many depressed minority clients are inadequately addressed


Family-Social Treatments Interpersonal therapy (IPT)

This model holds that four interpersonal problems may lead to depression and must be addressed:

Interpersonal loss Interpersonal role dispute Interpersonal role transition Interpersonal deficits

Studies suggest that IPT is as effective as cognitive therapy for treating depression


Family-Social Treatments Couple therapy

The main type of couple therapy is behavioral marital therapy (BMT)

Focus is on developing specific communication and problem-solving skills

If marriage is filled with conflict, BMT is as effective as other therapies for reducing depression

Treatments for Unipolar Depression: Biological Approaches

Biological treatments can bring great relief to people with unipolar depression

Usually biological treatment means antidepressant drugs, but for severely depressed individuals who do not respond to other forms of treatment, it sometimes includes electroconvulsive therapy or brain stimulation


Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) One of the most controversial forms of treatment

It is used frequently because it is an effective and fast-acting intervention

The procedure consists of targeted electrical stimulation to cause a brain seizure The usual course of treatment is 6 to 12 sessions spaced over 2

to 4 weeks Treatment may be bilateral or unilateral


Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) The discovery of the effectiveness of ECT was

accidental and based on a fallacious link between psychosis and epilepsy

The procedure has been modified in recent years to reduce some of the negative effects For example, patients are given muscle relaxants and

anesthetics before and during the procedure Patients generally report some memory loss


Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) ECT is clearly effective in treating unipolar depression

Studies find improvement in 60%–80% of patients The procedure seems particularly effective in cases of

severe depression with delusions, but it has been difficult to determine why ECT works so well

Although effective, the use of ECT has declined since the 1950s because of the memory loss caused by the procedure, the frightening nature of the procedure, and the emergence of effective antidepressant drugs


Antidepressant drugs In the 1950s, two kinds of drugs were found to reduce

the symptoms of depression: Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO inhibitors) Tricyclics

These drugs have been joined in recent years by a third group, the second-generation antidepressants


Antidepressant drugs: MAO inhibitors Originally used to treat TB, doctors noticed that the

medication seemed to make patients happier The drug works biochemically by slowing down the

body's production of MAO MAO breaks down norepinephrine MAO inhibitors stop this breakdown from occurring This leads to a rise in norepinephrine activity and a reduction in

depressive symptoms Approximately half of patients who take these drugs are helped by

them


Antidepressant drugs: MAO inhibitors MAO inhibitors pose a potential danger

People who take MAOIs experience a dangerous rise in blood pressure if they eat foods containing tyramine (cheese, bananas, wine)

In recent years, a new MAO inhibitor in the form of a skin patch has become available Dangerous food interactions do not appear to be as common a

problem with this kind of MAO inhibitor


Antidepressant drugs: Tricyclics In searching for medications for schizophrenia,

researchers discovered that imipramine relieved depressive symptoms Imipramine and related drugs are known as tricyclics because

they share a three-ring molecular structure


Antidepressant drugs: Tricyclics Hundreds of studies have found that depressed patients

taking tricyclics have improved much more than similar patients taking placebos Drugs must be taken for at least 10 days before such

improvement is seen About 60%–65% of patients find symptom improvement


Antidepressant drugs: Tricyclics Most patients who immediately stop taking tricyclics

upon relief of symptoms relapse within one year Patients who take tricyclics for five additional months

(“continuation therapy”) have a significantly decreased risk of relapse

Patients who take antidepressant drugs for three or more years after initial improvement (“maintenance therapy”) may reduce the risk of relapse even more


Antidepressant drugs: Tricyclics Tricyclics are believed to reduce depression by

affecting neurotransmitter (NT) reuptake mechanisms To prevent an NT from remaining in the synapse too long, a

pumplike mechanism recaptures the NT and draws it back into the presynaptic neuron

The reuptake process appears to be too efficient in some people, drawing in too much of the NT from the synapse

This reduction in NT activity in the synapse is thought to result in clinical depression

Tricyclics block the reuptake process, thus increasing NT activity in the synapse

Reuptake and Antidepressants


Antidepressant drugs: Tricyclics There is growing evidence that when tricyclics are

ingested, they initially slow down the activity of the neurons that use norepinephrine and serotonin

After a week or two, the neurons adapt to the drugs and go back to releasing normal amounts of the NTs, and the reuptake mechanism begins to have the desired effect

Today, tricyclics are prescribed more often than MAO inhibitors They do not require dietary restrictions Some patients show higher rates of improvement


Second-generation antidepressants A third group of effective antidepressant drugs is

structurally different from the MAO inhibitors and tricyclics Most of the drugs in this group are labeled selective serotonin

reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) These drugs increase serotonin activity specifically (no

other NTs are affected) This class includes fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and

escitalopram (Lexapro) Selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and

serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are also now available


Second-generation antidepressant drugs In effectiveness and speed of action of these drugs are

on a par with the tricyclics, yet their sales have skyrocketed Clinicians often prefer these drugs because it is harder to

overdose on them than on other kinds of antidepressants There are no dietary restrictions like there are with MAO

inhibitors They have fewer side effects than the tricyclics

These drugs may cause some undesired effects of their own, including a reduction in sex drive


As effective as antidepressant drugs are, it is important to recognize that they do not work for everyone Even the most successful of them fails to help at least

35 percent of clients with depression


Brain stimulation In recent years, three additional biological approaches

have been developed: Vagus nerve stimulation Transcranial magnetic stimulation Deep brain stimulation


Vagus nerve stimulation Depression researchers surmised they might be able to

stimulate the brain by electrically stimulating the vagus nerve through the use of a pulse generator implanted under the skin of the chest

Research has found that the procedure brings significant relief to as many as 40% of those with treatment-resistant depression

As with ECT, researchers do not yet know precisely why this technique reduces depression

Vagus Nerve Stimulation


Transcranial magnetic stimulation Another technique designed to stimulate the brain

without the undesired effects of ECT, TMS has been found to reduce depression when administered daily for 2 to 4 weeks

Deep brain stimulation Theorizing a “depression switch” located deep within

the brain, researchers have successfully experimented with electrode implantation in the brain's Brodman Area 25


Brain stimulation While such positive initial findings have produced

considerable enthusiasm in the clinical field, it is important to recognize and remember that, in the past, certain promising interventions (e.g., lobotomies) later proved problematic and even dangerous upon closer inspection

How Do the Treatments for Unipolar Depression Compare?

For most kinds of psychological disorders, no more than one or two treatments, if any, emerge as highly successful Unipolar depression seems to be an exception,

responding to any of several approaches


Findings from a number of treatment outcome studies suggest that: Cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and

biological therapies are all highly effective treatments for mild to severe unipolar depression

Although cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, and interpersonal therapies may lower the likelihood of relapse, they are hardly relapse-proof


Findings from a number of treatment outcome studies suggest that: When people with unipolar depression experience

significant marital discord, couple therapy tends to be very helpful

Depressed people who receive strictly behavioral therapy have shown less improvement than those who receive cognitive, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, or biological therapy


Findings from a number of treatment outcome studies suggest that: Traditional psychodynamic therapies are less effective

than other therapies in treating all levels of unipolar depression

A combination of psychotherapy and drug therapy is modestly more helpful to depressed people than either treatment alone


Findings from a number of treatment outcome studies suggest that: These various trends do not always carry over to the

treatment of depressed children and adolescents Among biological treatments, ECT appears to be

somewhat more effective than antidepressant drugs and ECT seems to act more quickly

In addition, the newly developed brain stimulation treatments seem helpful for some severely depressed individuals who have been repeatedly unresponsive to drug therapy, ECT, or psychotherapy

Treatments for Bipolar Disorder

Until the latter part of the 20th century, people with bipolar disorders were destined to spend their lives on an emotional roller coaster Psychotherapists reported almost no success Antidepressant drugs were of limited help

These drugs sometimes triggered manic episodes ECT only occasionally relieved either the depressive or

the manic episodes of bipolar disorder

Treatments for Bipolar Disorder: Lithium and Other Mood Stabilizers

The use of lithium (a metallic element naturally occurring as mineral salt) and other mood-stabilizers has dramatically changed this picture Lithium is extraordinarily effective in treating bipolar

disorders and mania Determining the correct dosage for a given patient is a

delicate process Too low = no effect Too high = lithium intoxication (poisoning)

Given the effectiveness, around one-third of all persons with bipolar disorder seek treatment in a given year; another 15% are monitored by family physicians


All manner of research has attested to the effectiveness of lithium and other mood stabilizers in treating manic episodes More than 60% of patients with mania improve on these

medications Most individuals experience fewer new episodes while

on the drug Findings suggest that the mood stabilizers are also

prophylactic drugs, ones that actually help prevent symptoms from developing

Mood stabilizers also help those with bipolar disorder overcome their depressive episodes to a lesser degree


Researchers do not fully understand how mood stabilizing drugs operate They suspect that the drugs change synaptic activity in

neurons, but in a different way from that of antidepressant drugs Although antidepressant drugs affect a neuron's initial reception on

NTs, mood stabilizers seem to affect a neuron's second messengers

These drugs also increase the production of neuroprotective proteins, which may decrease bipolar symptoms

Another theory is that mood stabilizers correct bipolar functioning by directly changing sodium and potassium ion activity in neurons

Treatments for Bipolar Disorder: Adjunctive Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy alone is rarely helpful for persons with bipolar disorder

Mood stabilizing drugs alone are also not always sufficient 30% or more of patients don't respond, may not receive

the correct dose, and/or may relapse while taking it As a result, clinicians often use psychotherapy as

an adjunct to lithium (or other medication-based) therapy

Treatments for Bipolar Disorder: Adjunctive Psychotherapy

Therapy focuses on medication management, social skills, and relationship issues

Few controlled studies have tested the effectiveness of such adjunctive therapy Growing research suggests that it helps reduce

hospitalization, improves social functioning, and increases clients' ability to obtain and hold a job

Documents

Treatments for Mood Disorders Disorders of mood – as painful and disabling as they tend to be – respond more successfully to more kinds of treatments