Describe and evaluate two treatments of unipolar depression Essay Example for Free

Describe and evaluate two treatments of unipolar depression EssayDescribe and evaluate two treatments for unipolar depression (25 marks).It has been believed that psychological dis secernates, like physical illnesses, have organic ca mappings. Therefore, mental disorders are toughened just like physical ones. Earlier treatments have include things like trepanning which was carried out in the stone again. Nowadays we have much safer and effective treatments such(prenominal) as therapies and drug treatment.Low levels of both noradrenaline (nora) and serotonin (sero) have been launch as world important in unipolar depression (UD) and so it seems logical to treat depression with drugs which increase the availability of these neurotransmitters. Tricyclic, a type of anti-depressant, appears to nominate by blocking the reuptake of nora and sero. They block the transport route that would norm every(prenominal)y allow these neurotransmitters to be taken adventure into the pre-synapt ic neurones. This means that nora and sero watch in the synapse longer which leads to an increase in the synaptic activity in the neurones. This helps the transmission of impulses to neurones which use up nora and sero.An other type of drug treatment is the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). SSRIs work in a similar way to tricyclics scarce affect only the levels of serotonin in the synapses. In order to make efficient use of the bodys resources there is a system whereby serotonin isnt wasted in the synapse but taken back by the pre-synaptic neuron. If this mechanism is impaired by using inhibitor drugs then the sero which isnt received by the post-synaptic neuron remains in the synapse. This extends the duration of the message being transmitted and/or increases the message intensity. Both SSRIs and tricyclics reduce the symptoms of depression and improves mood.However, these drug treatments dont always work. The success rate for them is around 60% but it varie s from person to person, as do the side effects. There is, however, many different types of drug and each whitethorn have adifferent success rate. It must(prenominal) be remembered that the success of drug treatments for one person may be seen as something completely different to another.Kirsch et al collected data for the licensing of four new-generation anti-depressants. These were all SSRIs. A meta-analysis was carried out comparing the improvements seen in patients taking SSRIs with the improvements in control patients who had received placebos. They lay down that there was no difference at moderate levels of initial depression between the improvements of those receiving SSRIs and those receiving placebos. This shows that the placebo appeared to benefit moderately depressed individuals. This could be repayable to the sufferers being presented with hope of reducing their symptoms. This contrasts with the results found of severely depressed groups who experienced fall symptoms , which discredits the placebo effect. It could be argued that the drug itself may have a placebo effect where a person feels that they are getting better because they are taking a pill, no matter what the pill is. It could be that the person is helping themselves and the drug is simply supplying the idea that theyre getting better when it does nothing to them.Geller et al found that double blind studies showed anti-depressants to be more effective than placebos for children and adolescents. This could be because there are differences in development between childrens and adults brains concerning their neurochemistry. Therefore, children and teenagers may not need to use chemistry altering drugs and could just take a placebo instead as they seen to work better than anti-depressants.Furthermore, Ferguson et al found that those treated with SSRIs were twice more likely to attempted felo-de-se than those treated with a placebo. However, a later review found that a higher risk of suicid e was amongst adolescents and decreased amongst adults. This supports Gellers theory that SSRIs are more effective on adults than adolescents, reinforcing Gellers view.Drugs have been found to be appropriate and effective at preventing recede and giving the sufferer a good quality of life meaning they nominate integrateback into society and return to everyday tasks. Alternatively, research such as Kirsch, Geller and Ferguson is based on correlational studies. This makes it difficult to say whether UD is caused by low levels of neurotransmitters or if its visa-versa.Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a therapy which treats depression by combining both cognitive and behavioural techniques. The aim of this is to help stack who have mental disorders to cope better with their lives and coincidentally feel better.Ellis suggests that depression is due to irrational beliefs but is also maintained by reinforcement. Rational Emotive Behavioural therapy (REBT) aims to replace self-defea ting beliefs with adaptive beliefs and uses the ABC model. An example of this is a student getting a good grade for their essay. This is the activating of an event. How the person interprets an event or situation is where the belief system comes in.The emotional response is then find which is the consequence of the action is. The aim of REBT is to develop a D aspect adding a dispute system to replace B, adding an adaptive belief, so the person realises they do not have to be perfect. The therapist will test patients beliefs with actions which challenge their faulty thinking. Often they can be blunt with clients and not show sympathy in order to avoid reinforcing the problem.Cognitive therapy (CT) by Beck involves the use of thought catching and behavioural energizing. Thought catching involves the comment of clients thinking and see how their thoughts influence their feelings. This brings around the realisation that even though their thoughts can seem factual, they are often not. Behavioural activation is where the client is encourage to find activities they might enjoy and put themselves in a position where they may have to deal with cognitive obstacles so they can see that they are getting better whilst being active.Butler et al looked at a meta-analyse of the effectiveness of CBT in the treatment of a variety of conditions and found it was somewhat superior to anti-depressants in the treatment of adult depression. This shows that CBTis highly effective for treating UD as supporting evidence was found across an entire electron orbit of data, making the results more reliable due to the large amount of information covered.However, Holmes reported that in the single largest study of treatments for depression, CBT appeared to be less effective than other psychotherapies and drug treatments. It was also pointed out that evidence for the effectiveness of CBT comes from studies of patients who have depression but no other symptoms. This suggests that CBT may be less effective for people who have multiple diagnoses or are considered to have comorbidity. It may be that CBTs nature is to only focus on one mental illness due to how quick it is compared to other treatments for mental health disorders and therefore isnt able to relieve all.In conclusion, the diathesis-stress model would suggest that someone is born with a predisposition for UD but something from their environment must trigger it in order for them to suffer from it. Therefore it makes sense that a physiological treatment such as drug therapy should be used alongside a psychological therapy such as REBT in order to ensure that the treatment does in fact work as Holmes, Gellers and Fergusons research has shown it may not.