Compare and contrast two explanations of depression.

Authors Avatar
Compare and contrast two explanations of depression.

There are two types of depression, Bipolar and Unipolar both of which effect mood of the patient. Unipolar depression is where the person feels 'low' the majority of the time and have the following clinical characteristics: The emotional symptoms of unipolar depression are that the person feels intense feelings of guilt and a lack of enjoyment in activities that the individual previously enjoyed. Motivational symptoms can include difficulty in conducting actions as well as a lack of decision making. There are also cognitive and somatic symptoms which include negative thoughts and feelings of hopelessness (cognitive) as well as loss of energy, disturbance in weight and sleep (somatic).

The clinical characteristics of Bipolar depression are also divided into four categories: Emotional, Cognitive. Somatic and motivational. Emotional characteristics are that if being euphorically happy then drastically changing into feeling of extreme sadness. The individual is also very irritable.Cognitive symptoms include an inflated self-esteem, racing thoughts and ideas as well as lack of attention however this may drastically change into feelings of hopelessness and dysfunctional thought. Somatic symptoms include decreased need of sleep as well as being fidgety and more talkative with rushed speech. Finally Motivational symptoms include an increase in pleasure orientated activities that may have painful consequences.

One explanations of depression is the biological explanation of Genetics. The genetic explanation suggests that depression us due to inheritance of genes from parents or family members which has resulted in the development of depression also within that individual. Evidence illustrating this explanation comes from that of family studies for example; Gershon (1990) did studies on families looking at first degree relatives of patients with Unipolar and Bipolar depression. He found that there was a 2/3 times greater chance that the parents had opposed to the general public, this therefore supports the genetic explanation of depression implying that the patients had inherited genes from their parents which resulted in them also having depression.
Join now!


Egeland (1987) also looked at genetics affecting depression and studies Amish village people and found low rates of depression except in that of a bipolar family who had high rates of bipolar depression In the family and he discovered that marker genes on their chromosome 11 was different therefore may have caused this inherited depression as the gene with the chromosomes will have also being inherited, illustrating the genetic explanation of depression.

Also the genetic explanation has being illustrated by Twin studies which are used using twins as their genetic information is presumed similar due their similar ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

Avatar

I like that the student included a clear introduction that summarized both types of depression (even though the question did not specifically state that unipolar and bipolar should both be examined). This shows a good depth of knowledge. However, the structure of the essay could be greatly improved by linking the descriptive and evaluative points rather than following such a strict A01 – A02 – A01 – A02 structure. For example, after describing Egeland’s work on Amish people, the evaluation that his work lacks replication could be linked in. This makes the argument easier to follow and more mature. Finally, there are a few typos which I would like to see corrected by proof-reading, but apart from that the grammar and spelling are good.

Lots of evidence is cited complete with names of experimenters and details of the studies. This strengthens the argument and shows it is based on studies, rather than opinions. However, as mentioned above, marks for evaluation for this particular form of question should not be gained through criticizing or praising the theory, but by comparing and contrasting. If the question had been “Describe and evaluate two explanations of depression”, this response would have been much more suitable.

This response does not focus enough on the compare and contrast aspects of the question. A02 evaluative marks should be gained through saying how the two explanations are similar or different, not through saying what is good or bad about them. So, for example rather than simply giving evidence for a theory, the student could say that a comparison between the two explanations is that they both have empirical evidence to support (this really emphasizes the comparison being made to the examiner). That being said, the content is good: lots of information is given, especially in the introduction where both types of depression are explained in detail. Also, each study is explained well, as opposed to simply saying “evidence for this was found by X..” The student explains the content of the study and why this supports the idea.