OCD

Question 1

OCD

Answer 1

obsessive compulsive disorder

Question 2

Trichotillomania

Answer 2

compulsive hair pulling

Question 3

Hoarding disorder

Answer 3

Compulsive gathering of possessions and inability to part with anything

Question 4

Excoriation disorder

Answer 4

compulsive skin-picking

Question 5

cycle of OCD

Answer 5

1. Obsessive thought
2. Anxiety
3. Compulsive behaviour
4. Temporary relief

Question 6

Behaviour characteristics of OCD

Answer 6

• Compulsions
• Avoidance

Question 7

Compulsions

Answer 7

There repetitive - people with OCD repeat a behaviour
(e.g. washing hands, counting, cleaning)

Reduce anxiety - compulsive behaviours are performed to magian anxiety produced by obsessions
(e.g. washing hands is a response to an obsessive fear of germs)

Question 8

Avoidance

Answer 8

attempt to reduce anxiety by avoiding situations that trigger it
(e.g. suffered who wash compulsively avoid coming into contact with germs)

Avoidance can lead people to avoid ordinary situations such as taking out the bins, interfering with leading a normal life

Question 9

Emotional characteristics of OCD

Answer 9

Anxiety and distress
Accompanying depression
Guilt and disgust

Question 10

Anxiety and distress

Answer 10

OCD is an emotional experience because of the anxiety that accompanied both obsessions and compulsions

Urge to repeat a behaviour created anxiety

Question 11

Accompanying depression

Answer 11

OCD is occompanied by depression so anxiety can be accompanied by low mood and lack of enjoyment in activities

Question 12

Guilt and disgust

Answer 12

OCD involves guilt
(e.g minor moral issues/disgust)
- may be directed to dirt or themselves

Question 13

Cognitive characteristics of OCD

Answer 13

• Obsessive thoughts
• Cognitive strategies to deal with
  obsessions
• Insight into excessive anxiety

Question 14

Obsessive thoughts

Answer 14

• thoughts that recur over and over again
  (e.g. worries of being contaminated by germs/ left door unlocked)

Question 15

Cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions

Answer 15

(e.g. a religious person tormented by obsessive guilt may respond by praying) - helps manage anxiety

Question 16

Insight into excessive anxiety

Answer 16

tend to be hyper vigilant - constant alertness + focused on hazards

Question 17

Biological approach

Answer 17

Physical processes in the body like genetic inheritance and neutral function

Question 18

genetic explanation

Answer 18

Genes make up chromosomes and consist of DNA which codes physical features of an organism
(eye colour, height) and pyschological features
(mental disorder, intelligence

Genes are transmitted from parents to offspring - inherited

Question 19

Neural explanation

Answer 19

physical + psychological characteristics are determined by the behaviour of the nervous system (brain and neurons)

Question 20

Role of serotonin

Answer 20

• neurotransmitter serotonin helps regulate mood
• neurotransmitters relay info from one neurone to another
• low levels of serotonin - transmission of mood-relevant info doesn’t take place - person has low moods

Question 21

decision - making systems

Answer 21

Frontal lobes - front part of brain responsible for logical thinking/making decisions

Left parahippocampal gyrus - processing unpleasant emotions, functions abnormally in OCD

Question 22

Diathesis Stress model

Answer 22

Suggests that people develop vulnerability from their genes but we need an environmental trigger

Question 23

Co - morbidity

Answer 23

having to disorders together

involves the disruption to the action of serotonin - leaves us with a logical problem to serotonin as a possible basis of OCD

Question 24

Nature

Answer 24

what your born with/inherited genes

Question 25

Nurture

Answer 25

what you learnt / exposed to

Question 26

candidate genes

Answer 26

involved on regulating serotonin, a neurotransmitter which facilitates message transfer across synapses