Clinical Characteristics of Depression, Phobias & OCD Flashcards
What is Depression?
-A mood disorder
What are behavioural characteristics of Depression?
-Reduced levels of energy
-Withdrawn from work, education, social life
-Cant get out of bed
-Some cases, depression causes the opposite effect known as psychomotor agitation where individuals struggle to relax
-Changing sleep behaviour and patterns (insomnia/hypersomnia)
-Appetite and eating may change
-Irritability, verbal and physical aggression
-Physical aggression directed towards themselves (self-harm), (suicidal ideation)
What are the emotional characteristics of Depression?
-Lowered mood
-Worthlessness, emptiness
-Anger, sadness
-Aggression, self harm
-Low self-esteem
-like themselves even less (hate)
What are cognitive characteristics of Depression?
-Poor concentration
-Struggle to make decisions
-Attending/dwelling on negatives
-Purposely ignore positives
-Glass half empty
-Absolutist thinking
-Black and white thinking
-See everything as absolute disaster
What are Phobias?
-Objects, places or situations that cause excessive fear and anxiety
-The fear is usually out of proportion to any real danger presented by the stimulus
What are behavioural characteristics of Phobias?
-Panic, cry, scream, run away freeze, cling, tantrum
-Avoidance, limit time spent outside, take longer trips, avoid work, school, social events
-Endurance, remaining in the presence of the phobic stimulus, unavoidable circumstances
What are emotional characteristics of Phobias?
-Anxiety, unrelaxed, on edge, persistent pain, anticipation
What are cognitive characteristics of Phobias?
-Selective attention to the phobic stimulus, can’t stop thinking about it, always looking at it, struggle to focus/concentrate
-This is to be able to react to the threat incase anything happens but isn’t helpful when its a phobia
-Irrational beliefs, resist rational arguments, always assume the worst
-eg. telling a fearful flyer that flying Is the safest form of transportation will just piss them off
-Cognitive distortion, assumes their phobia is much worse than seems
-eg. a trypophobic will see small holes close together as disgusting and terrifying when its really just some small holes
What is OCCD?
-When anxiety arises from obsessions (persistent thoughts) and compulsions (repeated behaviours)
-Compulsions are a response to obsessions to reduce anxiety
-eg. obsessions of getting ill (persistent thought) and washing hands 50x a day (repeated behaviours)
What are behavioural characteristics of OCD?
-Compulsions are repetitive, sufferers feel compelled to repeat a behaviour
-Compulsions reduce anxiety, repeated behaviour reduce anxiety and make sufferer feel more relaxed and at ease
-Avoidance, avoiding situations that will trigger their OCD, avoid coming into contact with germs
-This can cause issues with avoiding ordinary situations like taking own rubbish out thus interfering with normal life
What are emotional characteristics of OCD
-Anxiety and stress, unpleasant, frightening, overwhelming, urges
-Depression, lack of enjoyment in enjoyable activities, any relief is only ever temporary
-Guilt, disgust, irritation over minor issues or mistakes, disgust themselves or environments they are in
What are cognitive characteristics of OCD?
-Obsessive thoughts, always unpleasant, worries
-Cognitive strategies for dealing with obsessions, adopting cognitive strategies (pray, count, meditating)
-Can distract them for everyday tasks and reduce anxiety
