2.5 Mental Health Disorders Flashcards
What is clinical depression?
An extended experience of negative thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and functions.
What are anxiety disorders?
A level of worry, anxiety, or fear that is sensed by the individual beyond their ability to control.
What are the causes of anxiety and depression?
The biopsychosocial model is responsible for many cases of anxiety and depression.
Biological - Chemical imbalances, genetic predisposition passed on from parents.
Psychological - Anxious personality (neuroticism).
Social - Unsupportive home environment, financial pressure.
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been widely demonstrated to be an effective tool in the treatment of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, addiction, and eating disorders.
What are the two components of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
Cognitive theory, and behavioural therapy.
What is cognitive theory?
Indetifies faulty/irregular conditions and patterns of thinking which are leading to anxious/depressed behaviours and replace them with more healthy and rational thought processes.
What is behavioural theory?
Identify behaviours that support anxious/depressed thinking and replace them with more positive behaviours.
What is the diathesis stress model?
The diathesis-stress model, also known as the vulnerability–stress model, is a psychological theory that attempts to explain a disorder, or its trajectory, as the result of an interaction between a predispositional vulnerability, the diathesis, and stress caused by life experiences.
What are the advantages of CBT?
Treats the cause of the issue not just the symptoms. Patients learn skills for dealing with their issues which can be utilised over time and have long-term benefits. It is also quite quick and effective.
What are the disadvantages of CBT?
It is not suitable for cases of complex mental illness. Requires effort and motivation from patient to maintain. This may be lacking in a patient with severe depression. Requires emotional and cognitive competence which some patients may lack.
What medications can be prescribed if CBT is not good enough?
Selective-Seretonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) to treat anxiety, or benzodiazepines (antidepressants) to treat depression.
How do CBT and the biopsychosocial model relate within treatment?
The successful treatment of anxiety/depression requires a balance of medication (biological intervention) in combination with CBT (psychological intervention).
What is a phobia?
A phobia is an anxiety disorder towards a specific thing.
What is systematic desensitisation?
A behaviour-based, therapeutic tool used in the treatment of phobias. It is used to modify the learned behaviours patients have associated with their phobias. It aims to reduce a patient’s anxiety around a particular phobia.
What is the process of systematic desensitisation?
Step 1 - Patient is taught a relaxation technique such as deep breathing.
Step 2 - With the help of a therapist, patient creates a hierarchy of fears, rating imaginable experiences from least feared to most feared.
Step 3 - The individual will experience the least anxiety producing fear on the fear hierarchy and use the breathing techniques to deal with this fear.
Step 4 - The individual will not move onto the next step of the fear hierarchy until they are completely relaxed and no longer show a fear reaction to that step of the fear hierarchy.
Step 5 - The individual will continue to move up the fear hierarchy until they have reached the top of the hierarchy.
