Low mood, Anxiety and Trauma related difficulties Flashcards
What is phenomenology?
The study of lived experience
What did previous Cartesian thinking suggest about a ‘real’ reality and the individual experience of reality?
There’s a distinction between the outer ‘real’ reality and the individual experience of reality (dualism).
Simply = Clear difference between the mind and body
What did previous Cartesian thinking suggest about the mind and body?
They are seperate
What did previous Cartesian thinking suggest about sensation and perception of reality?
They are untrue and are illusions
What did previous Cartesian thinking suggest about understanding reality?
Reality can only be understood through
deductive reasoning
Who was the founder of phenomenology?
Edmund Husserl
What does Phenomenology seek to understand?
Phenomenology seeks to understand the outside world as it is interpreted by and through human consciousness
How do we understand reality according to phenomenology?
By gathering first-person accounts about what it is like to have certain experiences
Researchers put aside assumptions or preconceived ideas
Why should we study phenomenology? List 7 reasons
1) Informs the content of mental health problems (e.g., symptoms).
2) Groundwork for building theory (biological, psychological) – e.g., how do mental health difficulties develop, and how are they maintained?
3) May reveal/inform how psychological and health interventions work.
4) Ensure we are asking the right questions in research.
5) Helps to develop and refine questionnaires or other assessment tools.
6) Promotes understanding and empathy.
7) Places the individual’s experiences at the centre of any intervention (psychological or medical)
What is the main method of studying phenomenology?
Qualitative method
Why do we use qualitative research to study phenomenology? List 2 reasons
1) To explore meaning and experience
2) Tends to be inductive (specific observation becomes generalised conclusion)
What type of data in qualitative research is used to study phenomenology? List 3
1) Language, words and/or images
2) Collection of rich and detailed data
3) Interviews, focus groups etc.
True or False?
Knowledge about mental health difficulties is gathered from “experts by profession” rather than “experts by experience”
False
Knowledge about mental health difficulties is gathered from people with lived experience of these difficulties (“experts by experience” as opposed to “experts by profession”)
What % of adults in Great Britain experienced moderate to severe depression between September and October 2021
16% (approx. 1 in 6)
In a systematic review of depression in university students, prevalence rates (the proportion of a population who have a specific characteristic in a given time period) ranged from… % to …..%
10% - 84.5%
In a systematic review of depression in university students, depression was present in …% of the total (n = 48,650) students studied
30.6%
What is sadness?
An emotional response characterised by feelings of loss, disappointment, disadvantage, grief etc
An emotional response characterised by feelings of loss, disappointment, disadvantage, grief etc
This is known as…?
Sadness
Low mood difficulties are linked to the basic emotion of…?
Sadness
Sadness can have an adaptive (coping) value
True or False?
True
Negative affect and sadness imply the presence of …?
Unmet important goals, values and needs
How can we adapt to sadness? List 2 ways
1) Motivate the avoidance of actions that might lead to future loss (protective)
2) Elicit empathy and comforting behaviour in others, strengthening social bonds
When does sadness become a problem? List 3 signs
1) When sadness is present for a prolonged period of time
2) When sadness is perceived as distressing and uncontrollable
3) When sadness causes disruption to social and occupational functioning, or more generally interferes with the person’s goals and values
What is it like to feel depressed? List 4 changes one might go through when experiencing prolonged low mood and depression
- Affect / Emotional Changes
- Bodily / Physiological Changes
- Behavioural Changes
- Cognitive Changes
How do prolonged low mood and depression affect emotional changes? List 5 effects
- Feel sadness
- Feel guilt
- Feel hopelessness
- Experience other emotions not readily recognisable as a consequence of depression, like irritability or anger
- Feel reduced “hedonic capacity” (i.e., capacity to feel pleasure)
How do prolonged low mood and depression affect bodily/physiological changes? List 5 effects
- Alteration in sleep
- Alteration in eating
- Alteration in the interest in sex
- Loss of energy
- Physical complaints like aches/pains (somatic components)
How do prolonged low mood and depression affect behavioural changes? List 3 effects
- Often (but not always) induce more overt (behaviour that is observable and measurable) behaviours typically associated with intense sadness (e.g., crying)
- Experience reduced activity
- Experience restlessness and agitation
How do prolonged low mood and depression affect cognitive changes? List 3 effects
People with depression may have negative thoughts/beliefs about the self (e.g., decreased self-esteem), the world, and the future.
They can also experience rumination (repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences)
They may experience memory and concentration difficulties
What is rumination?
Repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences
Repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences
This is known as…?
Rumination
What are the 3 psychological theories of low mood and depression?
1) Negative triad
2) Attributional style
3) Rumination
What is the negative triad theory of low mood and depression?
A set of negative views about the self, the world and the future that promote and maintain low mood
A set of negative views about the self, the world and the future that promote and maintain low mood
Which theory implies this?
The negative triad theory of low mood and depression
What is the attributional style theory of low mood and depression?
An internal, stable and global attributional style to make sense of negative life experiences
An internal, stable and global attributional style to make sense of negative life experiences
Which theory implies this?
The attributional style theory of low mood and depression
Compulsively focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress, and on its possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions
Which theory implies this?
The rumination theory of low mood and depression
What is the rumination theory of low mood and depression?
Compulsively focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress, and on its possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions
…..% of adults in Great Britain reported experiencing some form of anxiety between September and October 2021
16%
In a study following 285 students from the school of psychology and clinical language services at a UK university, how many people had a score => 3 on the GAD-2 (anxiety measuring tool)?
Give a %
41.2%
Difficulties of anxiety are liked with what basic emotion?
Fear
What is fear?
An emotional response to a perceived threat
An emotional response to a perceived threat
This is known as…?
Fear
True or False?
Fear can have an adaptive value
True
Why do we experience fear, anxiety and/or worry?
Worry promotes threat monitoring; anxiety/fear is essential to survival – fight or flight
When can fear/anxiety become a problem? List 3 signs
1) When anxiety is present for a prolonged period of time
2) When anxiety is distressing/uncontrollable
3) When anxiety interferes/disrupts life
What is it like to feel anxious? List the 4 changes one might experience when they have anxiety
- Affect / Emotional Changes
- Bodily / Physiological Changes
- Behavioural Changes
- Cognitive Changes
How does anxiety affect emotional changes? List 1 effect
People with anxiety may experience fear (and associated feelings/emotions)
e.g. feeling tense, threatened, intimidated
How does anxiety affect bodily/physiological changes? List 9 effects
- Sweating
- Increased heart rate/palpitations
- Increased rate of breathing/struggling to breathe
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Trembling
- Muscular tension
- Agitation
- Sleep difficulties
How does anxiety affect behavioural changes? List 3 effects
- Fight, flight, or freeze
- Escape/avoidance
- Being hypervigilant (paying extra attention to threatening stimuli)
How does anxiety affect cognitive changes? List 4 effects
- Fearful/threatening mental images or memories
- Overestimation of threat and its consequences
- Underestimation of ability to cope
- Excessive and uncontrollable “what if…” thoughts (i.e., worrying)
What is fight, flight or freeze?
A physiological reaction regulated by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival
A physiological reaction regulated by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival
What is this known as…?
Fight, flight or freeze
Why do people with anxiety experience fight, flight or freeze?
It is a response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival
What happens to the saliva flow in fight, flight or freeze?
The flow decreases
What happens to the skin in fight, flight or freeze?
Blood vessels constrict; shills and sweating
What happens to the heartbeat in fight, flight or freeze?
It beats faster and harder
What happens in the enzymes in the stomach in fight, flight or freeze?
The output of digestive enzymes decreases
What happens to the muscles in fight, flight or freeze?
It becomes more tense; trembling can occur
What happens to the eyes/pupils in fight, flight or freeze?
Pupils dilate
What happens to the lungs in fight, flight or freeze?
Quick, deep breathing occurs
What happens to the bowel in fight, flight or freeze?
Food movement slows down
What happens to the blood vessels in fight, flight or freeze?
Blood pressure increases as major vessels dilate
What are the 3 main psychological theories of anxiety?
1) “Catastrophic” appraisals
2) Attentional processes
3) Safety-seeking behaviours and avoidance
What does the “catastrophic” appraisal theory of anxiety suggest?
People often overestimate threats, and the consequence of threats (e.g., normal physical sensations are seen as a sign of an imminent hearth attack)
What does the attentional processes theory of anxiety suggest?
People often experience selective attention towards threat-related information
People often overestimate threats, and the consequence of threats (e.g., normal physical sensations are seen as a sign of an imminent heart attack)
Which theory of anxiety implies this?
The “catastrophic” appraisal theory of anxiety
People often experience selective attention towards threat-related information
Which theory of anxiety implies this?
The attentional processes theory of anxiety
What is trauma? List 2 things that come under the term trauma
1) The experience of negative life events
2) Distressing reaction to adverse life experiences that exceeds a person’s ability to cope, or integrate the emotions involved in these experiences
Distressing reaction to adverse life experiences that exceeds a person’s ability to cope, or integrate the emotions involved in these experiences
This is known as…?
Trauma
The experience of negative life events
This is known as…?
Trauma
Approximately …..% of the world’s population has experienced a potentially traumatic event
70%
How common are trauma-related difficulties in the immediate aftermath of traumatic events?
Extremely common in the immediate aftermath of traumatic events
People who have experienced trauma often get over it quickly
True or False?
False
People who have experienced trauma experience a lifetime prevalence of PTSD
A large proportion of those who show initial symptoms of trauma difficulties recover without interventions
True or False?
True
Out of the people who have experienced trauma, what % also experience PTSD?
7%
What is it like to experience trauma-related difficulties? List 4 changes one might go through when experiencing trauma-related difficulties
- Affect / Emotional Changes
- Bodily / Physiological Changes
- Behavioural Changes
- Cognitive Changes
How do trauma-related difficulties affect emotional changes? List 2 effects
- Experience intense emotions (fear, shame, guilt disgust)
- Feeling emotionally numb/detached
How do trauma-related difficulties affect bodily/physiological changes? List 7 effects
- Experience hyperarousal
- Feeling on edge/alert
- Feeling easily startled
- Feeling pain
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Trembling
How do trauma-related difficulties affect behavioural changes? List 3 effects
- Avoidance of external reminders e.g., people, places, conversations, activities
- Having difficulty sleeping
- Feeling irritated and/or angry
How do trauma-related difficulties affect cognitive changes? List 3 effects
- Re-experiencing, flashbacks, nightmares, and negative thoughts about others, self, and the world
- Having concentration difficulties
- Avoidance of thoughts/reminders, dissociation (i.e., detachment)
What has been proposed to explain the “re-experiencing” features of trauma-related difficulties?
Memory accounts
What do intense emotional distress and other cognitive reactions during the traumatic event (e.g., dissociation) disrupt …?
Normal encoding memory processes
How are trauma memories stored?
In a “fragmented”, de-contextualised way
Rather than integrated, coherent recollections, what kind of memories do people with trauma-related difficulties experience?
“Chaotic” intrusive memories (not just images, smells, emotions, physical sensations etc.) that are vivid (high sensory detail)
These memories are also easily triggered by contextual cues that are only loosely associated with the trauma
True or False?
Lived experience is not central to mental health research and practice
False
Lived experience is central to mental health research and practice
True or False?
Low mood, anxiety and trauma-related difficulties are common and are never distressing or impairing.
False
Low mood, anxiety and trauma-related difficulties are common but can be distressing and impairing.
