Depression, Phobias(+treatment) and OCD

Question 1

Symptoms of Depression

Answer 1

Behavioural: Insomnia, sig weight loss or gain
Emotional: Depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness
Cognitive: Recurrent thoughts of death, poor memory

Question 2

What is depression?

Answer 2

An affective mood disorder characterised by feelings of melancholy and hopelessness

Question 3

What is a phobia?

Answer 3

A type of anxiety disorder characterised by uncontrollable, extreme irrational fears and anxiety levels that are usually unproportional to the actual risk.

Question 4

What is OCD?

Answer 4

OCD is an anxiety disorder characterised by persistent,intrusive, unpleasant thoughts and repetitive, ritualistic behaviours.

The obsessions comprise of inapropriate ideas and visual images that lead to extreme anxiety. The compulsions comprises of intense, uncontrollable urges to repeitively perform tasks or behaviours as an attempt to reduce distress.

Question 5

Symptoms of OCD

Answer 5

Behavioural: Hinder to everyday functioning due to extreme anxiety levels
Emotional: extreme anxiety by persistently inappropriate ideas and visuals in individuals mind
Cognitive: Uncontrollable urges to perform acts they feel will reduce anxiety caused by obsessive thoughts

Question 6

The behavioural approach to explaining phobias: key terms (cc, oc, slt)

Answer 6

Classical conditioning: stimulus becomes associated with a response
social learning theory: oberservation and imitation of another
(explaining how phobias are acquired)

Operant conditioning: learning behaviour from consequence of that behaviour e.g punishment and rewards
(explaining how phobias are maintained)

Question 7

The behavioural approach to explaining phobias: the two process model

Answer 7

Classical conditioning:
Unconditioned stimulus -> unconditioned response
(traumatic experience with fear as response)
Conditioned stimulus+unconditioned stimulus-> unconditioned response
(object of phobia becomes conditioned to give fear response)

conditioned stimulus-> conditioned response

Question 8

Stimulus generalisation?

Answer 8

A tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similair responses after the response has been conditioned

Question 9

Evaluation of behavioural approach to explaining phobias: Strength 1

Answer 9

explains how phobias are maintained and this can lead to important implications for therapy as it explains that patients need to be exposed to the feared stimulus.When the patient is prevented from carrying out avoidance behaviour the behaviour is not maintained so therefore declines.

Question 10

Evaluation of behavioural approach to explaining phobias: Strength 2

Answer 10

there is research support for this approach, e.g Little Albert experiment by Watson and Rayner in 1920 where a 9 month old Albert was conditioned to have a fear of a white rat, after showing him this stimulus whilst applying a loud bang to a metal bar behind him. By the seventh session, Little Albert showed a fear response when only being shown the white rat with no loud bang.

Question 11

Evaluation of behavioural approach to explaining phobias:

Answer 11

However, does not consider any cognitive factors that may contribute to development of phobias as only behavioural approach.

Question 12

Evaluation of behavioural approach to explaining phobias:

Answer 12

Some phobias are not acquired through trauma so can’t be a result of conditioning e.g some people may have a fear of snakes even though they haven’t seen a snake before.

Question 13

Treating phobias: Systematic desensisation: process

Answer 13

Involves the establishment of a fear hierarchy for patient, with a progressive exposure from the least to most feared.

Either in vivo (contact) or in vitro(using imagination)

Involves teaching of relaxation technqiues to promote a positive association with phobia.

Question 14

Treating phobias: Systematic desensitisation: Strength 1

Answer 14

There is research support to show this eradicates peoples phobias.

Question 15

Treating phobias: Systematic desensitisation: Strength 2

Answer 15

No ethical concerns as wellbeing of patient is prioritised, they are more in control.

Question 16

Treating phobias: Systematic desensitisation: Limitation 1

Answer 16

Less cost effective than flooding so less available for ordinary people.

Question 17

Treating phobias: Systematic desensitisation: Limitation 2

Answer 17

In vitro only works if patient has a good imaginiation, so the therapy may not be succesful against real stimuli.

Question 18

Treating phobias: Flooding: process

Answer 18

Involves exposure to top of patients fear hierarchy, with patient reaching peak anxiety which will reduce since fear is time limited

positive association is taught through relaxation techniques like deep breathing.

Question 19

Treating phobias: Flooding: Strength 2

Answer 19

more cost effective + faster than systematic desensitisation

Question 20

Treating phobias: Flooding: Strength 1

Answer 20

ideal for straight forward physical phobias e.g fear of dogs

Question 21

Treating phobias: Flooding: Limitation 1

Answer 21

Can be dangerous/more traumatic so therefore impossible for people with heart conditions so can raise ethical concerns

Question 22

Treating phobias: Flooding: Limitation 2

Answer 22

cannot be used for life threatening stimuli e.g phobia of lions

Question 23

Cognitive approach to explaining depression: explanation

Answer 23

The cognitive approach generally explains depression in terms of faulty and irrational thought processes and perceptions, focusing on the maladaptive cognitive processes that lead to maladaptive behaviours.

One explanation is through Ellis’ ABC model describes depression occuring from an Activating event triggering a negative Belief that will have the Consequence of depression.

Another is Beck’s negative triad that suggests that having negative thinking about oneself, the world, and the future will result in an individual having depression.

Another is the source of irrrational beliefs known as musturbatory thinking, with the beliefs that someone must be approved of my important people, must do well or else be deemed worthless and that the world must give someone happiness. These beliefs may cause depression according to the cognitive approach.

Question 24

Cognitive approach to explaining depression evaluation: Strength 1

Answer 24

Cognitive approach has useful applications for treating dperession such as CBT which is a widely used and succesful treatment

Question 25

Cognitive approach to explaining depression evaluation: Strength 2

Answer 25

Big strength of theory is that is acknowledges other aspects, such as genes, development and early experiences which can lead to thinking patterns which then lead to depression

Question 26

Cognitive approach to explaining depression evaluation: Limitation 1

Answer 26

Cognitive approach has had less success in explaining and treating the manic component of bipolar depression, lessening support for the model.

Question 27

Cognitive approach to explaining depression evaluation: Limitation 2

Answer 27

unable to identify cause of the original thoughts and whether depression leads to negative thinking or if its the other way around.

Question 28

Biological approach to explain OCD: explanation (genetic+neural)

Answer 28

This approach sees abnormal conditions as being similair to physical ilnesses caused by abnormal biological processes.

One biological explanation is through hereditary influences through genetic transmission. Recent studies suggest particular genes may make some individuals more vulnerable to developing OCD than others. One is the COMT gene, thats mutated variation causes a decrease in COMT activity and therfore a higher level of dopamine. Another is the SERT gene that affects the transport of serotonin , creating lower levels of this neurotransmitter. Low levels of serotonin have been implicated with OCD. OCD is likely to be a polygenic condition, and possesing these genes makes an individual vulnerable to developing this disorder.

Another biological explanation is through damage to neural mechanisms. Some forms of OCD have been linked to breakdowns in immune system functioning such as Lyme’s disease, indicating a biological explanation through damage to the neural mechanism. PET scans also show low levels of serotonin activity in the brains of OCD patients. Perhaps the neurotransmitter is involved with the disorder as drugs that increase serotonin activity have been found to reduce the symptoms of OCD.In addition, OCD sufferers can have high activity levels in the orbital frontal cortex, with the brain area being thought to help initiate activity upon recieving impulses to act and then to stop the activity when the impulse lessens. Those with OCD may have difficulty in switching off or ignoring impulses, so they turn into obession, resulting in compulsive behaviour.

Question 29

Biological approach to explain OCD: Genetic evaluation: Strength 1

Answer 29

Supported by research of Davis et al study in 2013, that compared the genetic datasets of 1,500 participants with OCD against 5500 non OCD-controls. OCD was foudn to have a genetic basis, with distinct genetic architectures.

Question 30

Biological approach to explain OCD: Genetic evaluation: Strength 2

Answer 30

Nestadt et al. (2010) conducted a review of previous twin studies examining OCD. They found that 68% of identical twins and 31% of non-identical twins experience OCD, which suggests a very strong genetic component.

Question 31

Biological approach to explain OCD: Genetic evaluation: Limitation 1

Answer 31

However, development of the disorder may depend on environmental triggers additionally as there must be some environment influences or the concordancy rate between identical twins of having OCD would be 100 percent as they have identical genes.

Question 32

Biological approach to explain OCD: Genetic evaluation: Limitation 2

Answer 32

Family members often display dissimilair OCD symptoms but if the disorder was inheritied then surely exhibited behaviours would be the same if caused by the same genes?

Question 33

Biological approach to explain OCD: Neural evaluation: Strength 1

Answer 33

Due to the objective nature of the neural explanations there is much research to support its implication in developing OCD, for example Pichichero (2009) reported that case studies from the US national Institue of Health showed children with throat infections often displayed sudden indication of OCD symptoms. This supports the idea that such infections may be having an effect on neural mechanisms underpinning OCD.

Question 34

Biological approach to explain OCD: Neural evaluation:Strength 2

Answer 34

Anti-depressants typically work by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. These drugs are effective in reducing the symptoms of OCD and provide support for a neural explanation of OCD.

Question 35

Biological approach to explain OCD: Neural evaluation:

Answer 35

Not all OCD sufferers respond positively to SSRIs (antidepressants) which enhance serotonin, which therefore reduces the external validity of the theory. If SSRIs cannot treat all individuals with OCD, then the cause may not be solely neural, and abnormal levels of serotonin may not be the sole cause of the disorder.

Question 36

Biological approach to explain OCD: Neural evaluation:

Answer 36

Throat infections may not cause OCD but could instead trigger symptoms in those more genetically vulnerable to the disorder, so therefore it could be suggested that neural mechanisms might therefore be regulated by genetic factors and thus both the biological explanations should be combined.