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Pyschopathology > OCD > Flashcards

OCD Flashcards

1
Q

What is ocd charecterised by

A

characterised by either obsessions (recurring thoughts, images, etc.) and/or compulsions (repetitive behaviours such as hand washing).
Most people with a diagnosis of OCD have both obsessions and compulsions.

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2
Q

what is the cycle of ocd

A

1) obsessive thought
2) anxiety
3) compulsive behaviour
4) temporary relief

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3
Q

Behavioural characteristics of ocd

A

Behavioural characteristics - ways in which people act
• Repetitive compulsions
• Anxiety-reducing compulsions
• Avoidance

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4
Q

Emotional characteristics of ocd

A

• Emotional characteristics - ways in which people feel
• Anxiety and distress
• Accompanying depression
• Guilt and disgust

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5
Q

Cognitive characteristics of ocd

A

• Cognitive characteristics - ways in which people process information
• Obsessive thoughts

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6
Q

What are repetitive compulsions

A

• Typically, sufferers of OCD feel compelled to repeat a behaviour
• E.g. hand washing, counting, praying, tidying/ordering groups of objects (such as CD collections or food containers)

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7
Q

What are anxiety reducing compulsions

A

• Compulsive behaviours are performed in an attempt to manage the anxiety produced by obsessions
• E.g. compulsive hand washing is a response to an obsessive fear of germs

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8
Q

What is avoidance

A
  • OCD sufferers may avoid situations that trigger their anxiety
    • E.g. Sufferers who wash compulsively may avoid coming into contact with germs
    • Can interfere with leading a normal and healthy life (e.g. not emptying bins)
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9
Q

What is anxiety and distress

A
  • Obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening, and the anxiety that goes with these can be overwhelming
    • The urge to repeat a behaviour (a compulsion) creates anxiety
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10
Q

What are obsessive thoughts

A

• Recur over and over again
• Vary from person to person but are always unpleasant
• E.g. worries of being contaminated by dirt or germs
• E.g. certainty that a door has been unlocked and that intruders will enter through it
• E.g. impulses to hurt someone

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11
Q

What are Cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions

A

E.g. a religious person tormented by obsessive guilt may respond by praying or meditating
• May help to manage anxiety, but can appear abnormal to others and can distract from everyday tasks

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12
Q

What is excessive anxiety

A

OCD sufferers experience catastrophic thoughts about the worst-case scenarios that might result if their anxieties were justified
• They also tend to be hypervigilant - they maintain constant alertness and keep attention focused on potential hazards

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13
Q

What are the 4 ways to explain ocd genetically

A

• OCD runs in families
• Candidate genes
• OCD is polygenic
• Different types of OCD

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14
Q

Explain how ocd runs in families

A

Lewis (1936) - 37% of OCD patients had parents with OCD, 21% had siblings with OCD
• Although, it is likely that it is genetic vulnerability that is passed on through families, not the disorder itself
• According to the diathesis-stress model, certain genes leave some people more likely to suffer a mental disorder, but it is not certain - some environmental stress (experience) is necessary to trigger the condition

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15
Q

Explain how genes can cause ocd

A

• Researchers have identified genes which create a vulnerability for
OCD. These are called candidate genes.
• The COMT gene is associated with the production and regulation of dopamine (high levels linked to OCD)
• The SERT gene is involved in the transportation of serotonin (low levels linked to OCD)

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16
Q

How many genes are likely to cause ocd

A

Taylor (2013) conducted a meta-analysis found there may be up to 230 different genes involved in OCD
• These genes tend to be associated with our mood-altering neurotransmitters (dopamine and serotonin)

17
Q

What does aetiologically heterogeneous mean

A

the origin (aetiology) of OCD has different causes (heterogenous)

18
Q

Pros to genetic explanations to ocd

A

+ There is good supporting evidence
• A variety of sources have shown that some people are vulnerable to
OCD as a result of their genes.
• Nesdadt et al. (2010)’s meta-analysis found that 68% of identical twins shared OCD as opposed to 31% of non-identical twins.
• This strongly suggests a genetic influence on OCD, providing validity for the explanation.

19
Q

Drawbacks of genetic explanations to ocd

A
  • Twin studies are flawed
    • Twin studies assume that MZ twins are only more similar than DZ twins in terms of their genes, ignoring that shared environments will also be similar.
    • So twin studies ignore environmental factors, and are therefore a limited form of evidence.
  • Too many candidate genes
    • Psychologists have not been very successful in identifying all the genes involved in OCD.
  • Environmental risk factors
    • Environmental factors may also trigger / increase the risk of OCD (not just genetics).
    • Cromer et al. (2007) found that more than 50% of OCD patients had suffered a traumatic event, and that OCD was more severe in those with multiple traumas.
20
Q

What are the 2 neural explanations

A

• Neurotransmitters
• Brain areas

21
Q

explain neurotransmitters involvement in ocd

A

• The neurotransmitter serotonin helps regulate mood. If a person has low levels of serotonin, then normal transmission of mood-relevant information does not take place and mood (and sometimes other mental processes) are affected
• Dopamine has also been implicated in OCD, with higher levels of dopamine being associated with some of the symptoms of OCD, in particular the compulsive behaviours.

22
Q

Explain brain areas involvement in ocd

A

• Some cases of OCD (and particularly hoarding disorder) seem to be associated with impaired decision making. This may be caused by abnormal functioning of the sides of the frontal lobes (responsible for logical thinking and making decisions).
• The left parahippocampal gyrus (processes unpleasant emotions) functions abnormally in OCD, which may explain the anxiety, guilt and disgust associated with OCD.

• The basal ganglia is involved in the coordination of movement.
Patients who suffer head injuries in this region often develop OCD symptoms. When this area is surgically disconnected from the frontal cortex, OCD symptoms are reduced.
• The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), which converts sensory information into thoughts and actions, is more active in OCD patients. This heightened activity increases the conversion of sensory information to behaviours, which results in compulsions.

23
Q

Pros to explaining ocd neaurally

A

+ Supporting evidence for neurotransmitters
• Some antidepressants work purely on the serotonin system, increasing levels of the neurotransmitter
• Such drugs are effective in reducing OCD symptoms
• This suggests that the serotonin system is involved in OCD, validating the explanation

24
Q

Drawbacks to explaining ocd neurally

A
  • Unclear which mechanisms are involved
    other brain systems may be involved sometimes
    • But no brain system has been found to always play a role in OCD
  • Correlational issues
    • There is evidence to suggest that various neurotransmitters and structures of the brain do not function normally in patients with OCD
    • The biological abnormalities could be a result of OCD rather than its cause
    • Therefore, it is impossible to establish cause and effect from this research, limiting it’s usefulness
  • Co-morbidity with depression
    • Many sufferers of OCD become depressed
    • Having 2 disorders together is called co-morbidity
    • This depression probably involves disruption to the serotonin system
25
Q

What is drug therapy

A

• Treatment involving drugs
• In the case of psychological disorders, such drugs usually increase/decrease neurotransmitter levels / their levels of activity
• drugs therapy for OCD involves drugs that work in various ways to increase the level of serotonin in the brain

26
Q

What is a SSRI

A

Type of antidepressant
• Works on the serotonin system
• Serotonin is released by certain neurons in the brain
• It is released in the presynaptic neurons and travels across a synapse, conveying a message to the postsynaptic neuron (where it is broken down and reused)

By preventing the re-absorption and breakdown of serotonin, SSRIs effectively increase its levels in the synapse and thus continue to stimulate the postsynaptic neuron
• This compensates for whatever is wrong with the serotonin system in OCD
• It takes 3-4 months of daily use for SSRIs to have much impact on symptoms

27
Q

Alternatives to SSRI

A

Tricyclics
• Older types of depressant
• These have the same effect on serotonin as SSRIs
• However, Clomipramine has more severe side effects than SSRIs, so it is generally kept in reserve for patients who do not respond to SSRIs

SNRIs
• Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors
• Newer way of treating OCD
• Like Clomipramine, these are a second line of defence for patients who don’t respond to SSRIs
• SNRIs increase levels of noradrenaline, as well as serotonin
• Noradrenaline increases muscle contraction, including the heart

28
Q

Pros to drug therapy

A

+ Drug therapy is effective
• There is clear evidence for the effectiveness of SSRIS in reducing the severity of OCD symptoms and so improving quality of life for OCD patients
• Typically, symptoms decline significantly for ~70% of patients taking SSRIs. For the remaining 30%, alternative drug treatments or combinations of drugs and psychological treatments will be effective for some.

+ Drugs are cost effective and non-disruptive
• Drugs are cheap compared to psychological treatments
• Therefore, they are a good value treatment for the NHS
• Compared to psychological therapies, SSRIs are non-disruptive to patients’ lives
• Making them an easy treatment

29
Q

Cons to drug therapy

A
  • Side effects
    • SSRIs: Side effects such as indigestion, blurred vision, loss of sex drive
    • Clomipramine: side effects are more common and more serious
    • More than 10% of patients suffer erection problems, tremors, and weight gain
    • More than 1% become aggressive and suffer disruption to blood pressure and heart rhythm
    • Such factors reduce effectiveness of the drugs because people stop taking the medication
  • Unreliable evidence
    • Some psychologists believed the evidence favouring drug treatments is biased because the research is sponsored by drug companies who do not report all the evidence (Goldacre, 2013)
    • Therefore, the evidence into the effectiveness of SSRIs may not be trustworthy
  • Some cases of OCD stem from trauma
    • It is widely believed that OCD is biological in origin
    • Therefore, it makes sense to treat in biologically
    • However, it is acknowledged that OCD can have a range of other causes, such as traumatic life events
    • So, it may not be appropriate to treat OCD with drugs
    • Therefore, a weakness of drug treatments for OCD may be that they are used indiscriminately

Pyschopathology (4 decks)

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