Psych - Anxiety, Depression and Self Harm

Question 1

What region of the brain does anxiety affect?

Answer 1

Neocortex

Question 2

What are the 4 main functions of the brain?

Answer 2

1. Maximise efficiency
2. Organise sensory input
3. Interpret sensory and social information (forming predictive models)
4. Motivate survival (avoiding physical/social harm)

Question 3

What is compulsion?

Answer 3

Overwhelming urge to repeat behaviour despite the knowledge of it being harmful - present in numerous disorders

Question 4

What is trait anxiety?

Answer 4

The adaptive modulations to automatic threat responses

Question 5

What causes state anxiety?

Answer 5

Trait anxiety will lead to state anxiety in the presence of stressors

Question 6

How does trait anxiety come about?

Answer 6

It is due to individual traits, genetic factors and the environment

Question 7

How does anxiety disorder relate to trait/state anxiety?

Answer 7

Anxiety disorder is a self perpetuating network of positive feedback loops arising from normally adaptive responses.

Question 8

What is state anxiety?

Answer 8

This is a normal state of physiological anxiety that motivates us to avoid harm - however, avoidance only perpetuates a conditioned fear.

Question 9

What are depressogenic stressors?

Answer 9

Bullying, chronic illness etc.

Question 10

What do depressogenic stressors lead to?

Answer 10

Lead to a low self worth and chronic/prolonged stress

Question 11

What is a low self worth?

Answer 11

Your self perception goes down in the world and you expect that bad things will happen to you as they have done before.

Question 12

What does low self worth lead to?

Answer 12

This leads to a cognitive bias which self perpetuates. Low self worth also leads to a low mood.

Question 13

What does chronic/prolonged stress cause

Answer 13

This causes a recuperative response where the body recalibrate itself in response to the stressors. This overwhelms the homeostatic response and as a result the body is forced into the cycle of depression, causing a low mood.

Question 14

What does low energy lead to?

Answer 14

Low energy leads to a lack of social withdrawal, this then causes directly low energy and also a low self worth once again

Question 15

What does low mood cause?

Answer 15

This causes anhedonia, but also causes poor sleep which self perpetuates with the low mood.

Question 16

What does anhedonia lead to?

Answer 16

Along with low mood, this will cause hopelessness and in some cases, this can lead to suicide.

Question 17

What are the reasons why people sometimes self-harm?

Answer 17

• People may hate themselves
• They may feel as if they deserve punishment
• People may use self harm as a control mechanism - they are in control of the distress that they feel as opposed to their mental disorder.
• People may also use it as temporary relief - release of endogenous endorphins or opioids helps them get away from the pain.

Question 18

When does self harm usually occur?

Answer 18

In the context of low self worth and persistent distress.

Question 19

Explain the cycle of compulsion

Answer 19

A state of distress will arise from various stressors. Therefore, we use distress reducing behaviour such as self harm or drug abuse. This provides temporary relief. However, once the relief goes, we have the urge to repeat the behaviour to avoid distress again. Therefore, we repeat the behaviour and it quickly becomes a compulsion.

Question 20

How does distress reducing behaviour directly induce a state of distress?

Answer 20

This is because we are inflicting harm on ourselves which can cause distress or be disabling

Question 21

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 21

This is when we are in a constant state of distress so we try and do something to avoid this such as self harm which provides us with this reward or relief

Question 22

How does self harming become compulsive

Answer 22

Our brain naturally makes habits out of repetition. This is part of the maximising efficiency response. Therefore, our brain frees up space in the frontal lobe for the new habit so that it becomes muscle memory and we no longer have to think about self harming: we just do it. As a result of this, we lose control and have these compulsions.