biological approach to ocd

Question 1

what is ocd?

Answer 1

obsession compulsive disorder
- categorised by 3 symptoms

Question 2

what are symptoms of ocd ?
categorise them into behavioural , cognitive and emotional.

Answer 2

The first symptom= obsessions which are disturbing, and recurrent thoughts ( cognitive)

second symptom= feelings of guilt or anxiety or distress ( emotional)

The third symptom = compulsions , which are repetitive actions that people feel an urge to do.
( behavioural)

Question 3

what are 2 explanation of how ocd is caused?

Answer 3

Divided into neural and genetic explanation.

neural = states ocd is caused by disrupted communication between basal ganglia and orbital frontal cortex. inhibitory signals from basal ganglia are weakened causing hyperactivity of the orbital cortex which leads to obsessive thoughts and worries.

genetic explanation = ocd is genetic condition which is inherited. a number of gene alleles have been associated with the risk of developing ocd. for instance studies found that carrying long allele of sert gene is risk factor for ocd. the sert gene controls the reuptake of serotonin at synapse. long allele leads to increase of serotonin reuptake and decrease in serotonin. serotonin is inhibitory neurotransmitter the decrease in serotonin may contribute to hyperactivity in orbitofrontal cortex.

Question 4

what is evaluation for explanation of ocd?

Answer 4

support for genetic explanation = twin studies comparing concordance rates in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. billet et al reported concordance rate of 68% for ocd in monozygotic and 31 in dizygotic. since concordance rates were bigger for monozygotic then dizygotic this suggest that genetics do contribute to ocd.

limitation for genetic explanation= twin studies make assumption that mono and dio have same amount of shared environment. this might not be true because identical twins are more likely to be treated the same to their friends and family than a dio twins. this means high concordance rates for ocd in mono might be due to environmental then genetic factors.

support for neural = brain imaging studies. saxena and rauch conducted a review of multiple fmri brain imaging studies found that people with ocd had more activity in their orbitofrontal cortex than healthy control group. this supports the idea that ocd is caused by hyperactivity in the orbital frontal cortex.

Question 5

1. what do we do to treat ocd?
2. how can we do this?
3. how does it treat ocd?

Answer 5

1. increase level of ssris in the orbitofrontal cortex.
2. we could do this using drugs called selective serotonin re uptake inhibitors (ssris)
3. this block the reuptake of serotonin at the synapse and if we block it this means that it will cause an increase in serotonin in synapse and this will cause increased inhabitation in orbitofrontal cortex + reduce hyperactivity and thus reduces the obsessive thoughts and worries.

Question 6

what is evaluation for treating ocd

Answer 6

1. Soomro et al reviewed 17 studies investigating effectiveness of ssris. in these studies researchers recruit participants with ocd and divide them into two groups : one group was given ssris and the other was given placebo. found that 70% of those who took ssris improved than those who took placebo. this suggest that are ssris are effective in treating ocd.

2.cost effective = drugs are relatively cheap way to treat patients. much cheaper to produce and quicker to prescribe than other treatments such as therapy.

3.cause side effects . this is because they affect other areas of the brain and this can cause unwanted side effects such as nauseous and headaches.