Lecture 23 — OCD, ADD, Addiction Flashcards
What is Obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Characterized by
- Repeatedly having certain thoughts (obsessions)
- A need to repeatedly check things, perform certain routines
Causes distress and impairs general functioning taken to the extreme.
4 groups of symptoms:
- symmetry
- cleaning
- hoarding
- forbidden thoughts
What are the 4 groups of symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Symmetry
- Think have to have a certain number or you have to check things a certain amount of times. Things have to be perfectly symmetrical and placed
Cleaning
- Everything has to be clean, there are germs everywhere and it’s obsessively wanting things to be clean, mostly associated with thoughts of getting sick
Hoarding
- Not being able to throw things away and feeling a need to keep absolutely everything
Forbidden thoughts
- intrusive thoughts that can disgust or scare a person, but they seem to be insistent and repetitive and refuse to leave
What are forbidden thoughts in obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Intrusive and distressing thoughts of a violent, religious, or sexual nature.
Even if they know it won’t happen. The what if? Consumes them. They feel this incredible need to control these thoughts
What are the kind of things that people do to control their intrusive thoughts in OCD?
Obsessive hand washing, cleaning, counting, checking on things, difficulty throwing things out.
What drives the need of obsessive behaviours in OCD?
They are often performed to seek relief from obsession-related anxiety, driven by a fear that something bad will happen if the ritualistic behaviour is not done properly or a belief that life cannot proceed as normal while the imbalance remains.
What is the prevalence for OCD?
Less than 2%.
- Females diagnosed typically later (after 18) than males (before 18)
When do symptoms usually start for OCD?
Before age 25
What are the causes of OCD?
Combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Heritability is about 50%
Damage to the frontal lobe is associated with OCD
Environmental risk factors
- History of child abuse
- Other adverse events
- Sometimes infections
What are the environmental risk factors of OCD?
History of child abuse
Other adverse events
Infections
Where in the brain does damage increases the risks of OCD?
Frontal lobe
What are the treatments for OCD?
1) Counseling —> a version of cognitive behavioural therapy
- Exposure and response prevention which involves increasing exposure to what causes the problems while not allowing the repetitive behaviour to occur
2) Medication
- Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
Damage to which areas of the brain can cause symptoms of OCD?
Brain damage to the basal ganglia, cingulate gyrus or the prefrontal cortex
- Increased activity in the frontal lobes and striatum
What is cingulotomy?
It’s a treatment for severe cases of OCD that includes a brain lesion, which is cutting a fibre bundle between the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate.
What is ADHD characterized by?
Mental disorder characterized by problems paying attention, hyperactivity or difficulty controlling behaviour in an age-appropriate manner.
When do symptoms of ADHD usually appear?
Before a person is 12 years old. Symptoms have to be present for more than 6 months and cause problems in school, home or elsewhere.
What are the symptoms of ADHD?
Recklessness and impetuous behaviour
- Acting without reflecting
- Let interfering activities intrude into ongoing tasks
- Have difficulty withholding a response
- Easily distracted
Why is ADHD diagnoses difficult ?
The symptoms are not well defined.
Many children with ADHD can have good attention for tasks they find interesting
+ some hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity are within the range of normative behaviours for children.
What is the prevalence of ADHD and the difference between sexes?
Prevalence varies a lot on places depending going from 1% to 10%
Boys are diagnosed 3x more than girls.
What is ADHD comorbid with?
- Aggression
- Conduct disorder
- Learning disabilities
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Low self-esteem
What are the causes of ADHD?
Environmental and genetic factors.
Heritability = 75% to 91%
Certain causes are related to previous infection of or trauma to the brain
Drug and alcohol use and infections during pregnancy are associated with increased risk for the child to be born as low birth weight.
What are the treatments for ADHD?
- Counseling
Medications - Stimulants that raise dopamine levels by blocking or reversing the dopamine reuptake transporter.
- Antidepressants may also be helpful
What do the stimulants given for ADHD do?
They raise dopamine levels by blocking or reversing the dopamine reuptake transporter.
Basically, they raise the dopamine level, which scientists think is telling the brain that “this is an important task we should be focusing on” which would make it more willing to exert mental physical effort and make people able to focus very intensely on everyday tasks that they would usually not care about.