Psych - Addiction, OCD and Eating Disorders

Question 1

What is addiction?

Answer 1

Addiction is the repeated compulsion of an action such as substance abuse despite the knowing about the harmfulness of your actions.

Question 2

What are 2 central concepts in addiction?

Answer 2

• Suffering/distress/tension

- Social isolation

Question 3

How is distress a central concept of addiction?

Answer 3

These can act as distresses, therefore we introduce distress reducing behaviours. We repeat these behaviours to reduce distress and develop compulsions and thus addiction

Question 4

How is social environment a central concept of addiction?

Answer 4

Rats and saline/cocaine experiment - rats only chose the cocaine drip when they were isolated. When in a large group, the cocaine drip was not used by rats.

Question 5

Why may someone get addicted to alcohol or cigarettes?

Answer 5

These substances reduce distress or tension therefore we repeat using them as they become associated with stress-relieving. Also chemical component e.g. nicotine has a direct neural effect.

Question 6

What is cognitive dissonance?

Answer 6

This is the feeling of discomfort generated when you have 2 conflicting cognitions. E.g. patient views themselves as worthless, but their partner loves them - 2 conflicting views generates anxiety.

Question 7

What characterises obsessions in OCD?

Answer 7

Intrusive thoughts which are both distressing and involuntary

Question 8

What is the purpose of compulsions in OCD?

Answer 8

These act to reduce/ receive the state of anxiety created through the obsessions

Question 9

How does negative reinforcement relate to OCD?

Answer 9

Negative reinforcement is driven by distress caused by the negative thoughts. This in turn is cemented by habit formation

Question 10

What are some of the symptoms of an eating disorder?

Answer 10

Restriction of diet
Purging
Laxative abuse
Exercise abuse

Question 11

What intrinsic beliefs drive eating disorders?

Answer 11

There is an intrinsic societal belief that certain foods are good and certain foods are bad, which are respectively associated with weight loss (good) and weight gain (bad).

Question 12

What can drive eating disorders?

Answer 12

Feeling of low self worth/ anxiety

Question 13

What are eating disorders?

Answer 13

Means of reducing intense distress, especially distress caused by a lack of control.

Question 14

What can low self worth or anxiety lead to?

Answer 14

This can be projected onto our body and make us view that low self worth in the context of our body - we begin to hate the image so try and change it through diet restriction

Question 15

Explain compulsion with high calorie food

Answer 15

Low self worth and anxiety may lead to relief through high calorie food which provide temporary relief. Once we finish eating, the feeling of anxiety comes back so we eat more food and develop the compulsion.

Question 16

Explain binge eating

Answer 16

This is caused by low self worth which leads to diet restriction - as a result of this we give in once and have food. This causes a feeling of failure and subsequent loss of control, facilitating eating more food and thus a cycle of binge eating

Question 17

Explain the compulsion of purging

Answer 17

After giving in and having food following diet restriction, we get a feeling of failure so try and correct this by completely purging to provide relief. This works however we eventually must eat again, perpetuating the feeling of failure and causing the compulsion of purging

Question 18

Explain the compulsion of weight loss.

Answer 18

Diet restriction leads to a feeling of achievement which leads to a compulsion of diet restriction ,as the feeling of achievement relieves the stress. This is facilitated by weight loss - it is a tangible measure of “success” and will lead to brain starvation and cognitive inflexibility. As a result of this, we are more likely to develop a habit from the compulsive diet restriction.