Classified as a mental disorder in the DSM-5, depression affects various people in different ways. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The issue of depression covers a broad area of sub-types such as major depressive disorder, psychotic depression, bipolar disorder and melancholia. These different categories of depression differ in symptoms, severity and treatment approach. This essay aims to describe the aetiology of psychotic depression, the causal and maintaining factors of the disorder and the best treatment approach to prevent more cases of this illness.
Psychotic depression is a sub-type of major depression that occurs when psychotic episodes are included within a person’s severe depression illness. Evidence of psychosis includes …show more content…
Furthermore, Basso and Bornstein (1999) found supporting evidence that those with psychotic depression tend to suffer from a higher rate of recurrence, repeated hospitalisation, and greater incompetence when compared to nonpsychotic depression patients. Due to the greater symptom severity of psychotic depression, patients are difficult to treat and as a result no single treatment has emerged as the best first-line therapy yet. Patients with psychotic depression show a poorer response to antidepressant medications alone ((Brown et al., 1982) and so a common and effective treatment is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This involves the application of an electrical current through the brain so as to induce a convulsion and relieve the symptoms of depression for a short period. While there have been findings that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for psychotic disorder (Eranti et al., 2007), it also possesses several disadvantages that have limited its usage in clinical practice. Vega, Mortimer and Tyson (2000) for example, look into the lack of accessibility for minority groups, the high relapse rates and the adverse cognitive effects that is associated with …show more content…
As opposed to ECT attempting to solely eliminate the symptoms of depression, ADAPT aims to promote behaviour change without pursuing adjustments in symptom frequency or content. In combination with pharmacotherapy, ADAPT focuses on mindfulness-based strategies and improving psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is improved by counteracting the maintenance factors of psychotic depression, which include experiential avoidance, rumination and excessive cognitive distortions. By accepting the presence of distressing emotions and confronting the problematic thoughts that were previously avoided, ADAPT also helps treat psychotic episodes associated with severe major depression, such as hallucinations and delusions (Gaudiano et al., 2010). This is supported by the results which showed greater reductions in terms of symptom severity, impaired mental functioning, distress, recurring psychotic episodes and rehospitalisation rates at 4 and 12 month follow-ups (Bach, Hayes, & Gallop, 2012; Gaudiano & Herbert,
Psychotic depression is a sub-type of major depression that occurs when psychotic episodes are included within a person’s severe depression illness. Evidence of psychosis includes …show more content…
Furthermore, Basso and Bornstein (1999) found supporting evidence that those with psychotic depression tend to suffer from a higher rate of recurrence, repeated hospitalisation, and greater incompetence when compared to nonpsychotic depression patients. Due to the greater symptom severity of psychotic depression, patients are difficult to treat and as a result no single treatment has emerged as the best first-line therapy yet. Patients with psychotic depression show a poorer response to antidepressant medications alone ((Brown et al., 1982) and so a common and effective treatment is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This involves the application of an electrical current through the brain so as to induce a convulsion and relieve the symptoms of depression for a short period. While there have been findings that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for psychotic disorder (Eranti et al., 2007), it also possesses several disadvantages that have limited its usage in clinical practice. Vega, Mortimer and Tyson (2000) for example, look into the lack of accessibility for minority groups, the high relapse rates and the adverse cognitive effects that is associated with …show more content…
As opposed to ECT attempting to solely eliminate the symptoms of depression, ADAPT aims to promote behaviour change without pursuing adjustments in symptom frequency or content. In combination with pharmacotherapy, ADAPT focuses on mindfulness-based strategies and improving psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is improved by counteracting the maintenance factors of psychotic depression, which include experiential avoidance, rumination and excessive cognitive distortions. By accepting the presence of distressing emotions and confronting the problematic thoughts that were previously avoided, ADAPT also helps treat psychotic episodes associated with severe major depression, such as hallucinations and delusions (Gaudiano et al., 2010). This is supported by the results which showed greater reductions in terms of symptom severity, impaired mental functioning, distress, recurring psychotic episodes and rehospitalisation rates at 4 and 12 month follow-ups (Bach, Hayes, & Gallop, 2012; Gaudiano & Herbert,