Mood Disorders
QUESTION
6 Discussion Topic
You are working with a family that has a history of mood disorders. Mood disorders can be hereditary. The mother has bipolar disorder, the father is clinically depressed, and their 13-year-old was just diagnosed with an eating disorder and depression. The child is struggling in school and has been referred for support services.
Please respond to the following:
• What aspects of heredity are at play in this situation?
• How does parental inheritance impact this case?
• What are the benefits and limitations of using heredity or DNA to make predictions about the proper advocacy interventions?
• As an advocate, how do you meet the needs of the entire family?
ANSWER
Mood Disorders
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Mood Disorders
Also referred to as affective mood disorders, the mood disorder is a combination of conditions in which an individual’s mood is the main outstanding feature. It comprises feelings such as mania/hypomania and depressed mood (usually referred to as clinical depression major or unipolar depression). The shift between mania and depression is known as bipolar disorder/manic depression.
Aspects of Hereditary at Play
In this case, I am dealing with a family with a history of mood disorders that can be inherently hereditary. This classic case presents a mother who has bipolar disorder, the father undergoing clinical depression and the thirteen-year-old suffering from depression and an eating disorder. The teenager has been struggling with her school work and has been advised to seek support services (James,2016).
How Parental Inheritance Impacts this Case
Research work has been carried out to show that many genetic factors contribute significantly to particular subtypes of affective disorders. The example with the largest implication remains a bipolar affective disorder demonstrated to be a susceptible gene on the x chromosome in a minority of families. In this case, the mother is more likely to transmit her condition to her child (James 2016). As seen in this example, the teenage child suffers from clinical depression as a result of inheritance.
Benefits and Limitations of DNA Prediction and Meeting The Needs
Parents who are victims of mood disorders greatly affect their children’s psychopathology, specifically during the manic and hypomanic episodes, as in the case of the bipolar disorder that the mother is suffering from (Stratford, 2018). Parental inheritance affects the trait of the thirteen-year-old as it is both genetic and environmental. In this case, both parents are suffering from a depressive condition and are twice more likely to transmit their traits of mood disorders to their thirteen-year-old. This is the benefit as the daughter is highly likely to inherit a mood disorder from her mother, as demonstrated clearly in this case. Since psychological disorders can be dependent on the environment, genetic relation does not necessarily lead to illness identification. As an advocate, I would suggest that the entire family attends counseling for cognitive-behavioral therapy regularly.
References
Longhorn, James (2016) Do you Inherit your Parents Mental Illness? BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36228055
Stanford Children Health (2018) Overview of Mood Disorders in Children and Adolescents. Retrieved from http://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=overview-of-mood-disorders-in-children-and-adolescents-90-P01634