Biological approach- OCD

Question 1

Starting sentence of an essay- explanation?

Answer 1

OCD is a physical illness with a physical cause- it has a biological basis

Question 2

Sentence AO1- Genetics?

Answer 2

Psychologists looks at people who have a relative with OCD to see if it significantly increases the chances of developing OCD

Question 3

Lewis findings

Answer 3

Out of the OCD patients he studied 36% had a parent with OCD and 21% a sibling with OCD- genetic importance

Question 4

What are candidate genes?

Answer 4

Create a vulnerability to developing OCD- linked to lack of serotonin- linked to OCD and depression

Question 5

What does polygenic mean?

Answer 5

OCD is not caused by a single gene

Question 6

Taylor research?

Answer 6

230 genes involved in the condition OCD

Question 7

Limitation of Taylor research?

Answer 7

It is difficult to pinpoint all and what genes are involved

Question 8

Define Aetiologically heterogeneous?

Answer 8

Different types of OCD, different genes cause OCD in different people

Question 9

What do PET scans show regarding OCD?

Answer 9

OCD patients have lower serotonin levels

Question 10

Supporting evidence for role of serotonin?

Answer 10

SSRI’s are used to treat OCD and can reduce OCD symptoms by 50%-60%

Question 11

Evidence contradicting the role of serotonin?

Answer 11

SSRI’s don’t work for all patients and could instead provide a correlational link- decreased level of serotonin could be a symptom

Question 12

Neurological basis on OCD?

Answer 12

Damage in the basal ganglia- for example in patients with head injuries, causes increased activity during OCD obsessions and compulsions

Question 13

Why is the biological approach ethically sound?

Answer 13

Patients are not blamed for their condition

Question 14

Why is the biological approach unethical/

Answer 14

Drug treatments always have the possibility of leading to addiction- do drugs only suppress rather than cure condition

Question 15

Billet research?

Answer 15

Twin study- found that 68% of identical twins had OCD if one twin had the condition- 31% for other

Question 16

Paul research?

Answer 16

10% of those with an immediate relative also suffered from OCD

Question 17

Limitations of genetic explanation?

Answer 17

No study has 100% concordance rates- genes cannot be sole explanation - nature, nurture - role of environment
Influence of imitations- do people just imitate behaviour they see relatives exhibit
Genes not cause of OCD- cause of anxiety that results in OCD- issues of co-morbidity?

Question 18

Cromer research?

Answer 18

1/2 of patients with OCD have had a trauma- genes not the sole explanation

Question 19

4 types of OCD?

Answer 19

Checking
Hoarding
Symmetry
Contamination

Question 20

Obsession=?

Answer 20

Cognitive element- excessive and repetitive thoughts that cause unwanted stress

Question 21

Compulsions=?

Answer 21

Repetitive actions- external- behavioural aspect- only reduces anxiety caused by compulsions for a small amount of time

Question 22

Why are drug treatments favoured over CBT?

Answer 22

They are cost effective- for both patient and NHS

They do not require the motivation of a patient- take dosage until symptom is alleviated

Question 23

What is the job of SSRI?

Answer 23

Anti-depressant drug that looks to increase the availability of serotonin within the brain- they prevent the reuptake of serotonin in the synaptic cleft so there is more serotonin for next neuron

Question 24

Research into SSRI’s?

Answer 24

Thoren found that SSRI’s are better than placebos at treating OCD
Other antidepressant drugs that don’t affect serotonin levels are ineffective at reducing OCD symptoms

Question 25

How many patients experience no improvement when using SSRI’s?

Answer 25

50%

Question 26

How many relapse after using SSRI’S?

Answer 26

90%

Question 27

How many weeks to SSRI’S take to work?

Answer 27

several

Question 28

What is the impact of side effects?

Answer 28

Nausea, headaches and anxiety, blurred vision and loss of sex drive
People stop taking their medications

Question 29

When are SSRI’s more effective?

Answer 29

When combined with a psychological treatment as it is argued that SSRI’s treat 70% if symptoms and when combined with other treatments the other 30% are addressed

Question 30

What is an SNRI?

Answer 30

An alternative drug to SSRI for people who do not respond well- increases serotonin and noradrenaline

Question 31

Influence of dopamine?

Answer 31

Drugs that reduce levels of dopamine positively
correlates to reduction of OCD symptoms
Animal studies which inject dopamine = OCD symptom