Psychological Problems

Question 1

mental health

Answer 1

a person’s emotional and psychological well being in which they can cope with normal stresses and funciton in society

Question 2

mental ilness

Answer 2

diagnosable conditions in which a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours change and they are less able to cope/function

Question 3

how incidence of mental health is changing over time

Answer 3

• 24% of UK adults (16-74) were accessing mental health treatment in 2007, which rose to 37% in 2014.
• by 2030 the figure will have increased by 2 million more people
• more women suffer from mental health issues than men
• nearly twice as many women are diagnosed with depression compared to men

Question 4

issues surrounding mental illness diagnosis

Answer 4

• symptoms ar open to subjective interpretation
• who decides what is defined as difficultly gettig up or going to work
• diagnosis is harder to be certain about

Question 5

jahoda’s 6 categories for ideal mental health (PISAMP)

Answer 5

P - personal growth
I - integration
S - self attitudes
A - autonomy
M - mastery of the environment
P - perception of reality

Question 6

factors affecting increased rate of children with mental illness (SAFEPEBS)

Answer 6

S - Social media
A - Academic pressure
F - Family dynamics
E - Economic factors
P - Pressure to conform
E - Early exposure to adult issues
B - Bullying
S - Sleep deprivation

Question 7

increased challenges of modern living

Answer 7

• being poor is a factor with MHI
• MIND reports men who are poor have a 27% chance of a mental health issue compared 15% who aren’t
• social isolation is a MHI factor with elderly on their own, who are unable to get out and socialise
• Living in cities increases the MHI, there is:
• 40% higher risk of depression
• less than 20% more anxiety
• double risk of schizo
• more loneliness, isolaiton and stress

Question 8

culture bound syndrome

Answer 8

• some ilnesses seem only to be present in certain cultures
• eg Koro, common in Asia, were a young man fears his nipples and penis will retract into his body
• anorexia for many years was only seen in western cultures

Question 9

cultural variaitons for mental illness

Answer 9

• in one culture what is normal is seen as abnormal in another
• eg auditory hallincations are seen as a symptom of schizophrenia
• but in south africa and india it is seen as positive
• so if a person from that part of the world came to the UK they are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health issue than if they stayed in their own country

Question 10

stigma

Answer 10

a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person

Question 11

social stigma with mental illness

Answer 11

• people prejudge you if you have a mental illness
• may have trouble getting a job or relationship
• in the past ppl were called nutters or lunatics who lived in psychiatric hospital
• nowadays we try to use less harsh words so we say a person has a mental health condition, this lessens the stigma and implies the person can get better, whereas lunatic suggests its forever

Question 12

what does a decreased stigma around mental illness cause

Answer 12

people are more likely to seek support and thus resulting in an increase in mental health cases

Question 13

PEECH on increase of mental health problems

Answer 13

P: increase in the diagnosis of mental health problems, may be influened by socioeconomic factors and changing attitudes towards mental health
E: research indicates that individuals in low socioeconomic households have a 27% chance of being diagnosed with a MHP, pmapred to a 15% chance for those not in poverty
E: living in poverty is often associate with higher levels of stress, limited access to resouces and increased exposure to adverse life events, all of whihc are factors known to impact mental health.
H: it’s crucial to consider the role of changing attitudes and stimga associated with mental health. the eivdence indicates that as stigma decreases over the years, most people feel comfortable seeking help and disclosing their mental health diagnoses. this positive shift in societal attitudes could also contribute to the observed increase in mental health diagnoses

Question 14

how have mental health problems changed over time (CRESP)

Answer 14

C - Challenges of modern living are increased
R - Recognition of nature of MHP increased
E - Economic deprivation increased
S - Social stigmas are lessening
P - People are seeking help more

Question 15

indiivdual effects of mental health problems

Answer 15

• damage to relationships (affect two-way comm relationships need)
• difficulties coping with day to day life (not looking after self, problems getting dressed, making meals)
• negative impact on physical wellbeing (body produces cortisol, preventing immune system functioning fully, causing more illness)

Question 16

social effects of mental health problems

Answer 16

• need more social care (tax fund social care, providing food, human company)
• increased crime rates (ppl with MHS are 4x more likely to commit crime)
• implications for the economy (care of mentally ill costs 22 billion pounds / year)

Question 17

Unipolar depression

Answer 17

A mood disorder that is characterised by a constant feeling of sadness. The iindividual also loses interest and enjoyment in life and has redued energy levels.

Question 18

Sadness

Answer 18

A normal emotional response to an unpleasant situation or experience

Question 19

How is depression different to sadness

Answer 19

• Depression is: feelings of guilt or low self worth
• it affects someone’s mood, causing them to feel drained, and causes someone to feel down for weeks/months
• Sadness is: feelings of sorrow or unhappiness.
• doesn’t last very long, it can be something that makes yu sad that day and then you eventually get over it.

Question 20

Bipolar depression

Answer 20

A mood disorder that causes an individuals mood and activity levels to change between depression and mania. Mania ia a state of euphoria or frenzied activity in which they believe the world is theirs for the taking.

Question 21

symptoms of depression

Answer 21

• low mood
• loss of interest and pleasure
• reduced energy levels
• changes in sleep pattern
• changes in appetite
• decrease in self confidence
• reducd concentration, attention, self harm, suicide, guilt, negtative view of the future

Question 22

symptoms of a manic episode

Answer 22

• feeling very happy, elated, or overjoyed
• talking very quickly
• feeling full of energy
• feeling self-important
• feeling full of great new ideas and having important plans
• being easily distracted
• easily irritated or agitated
• being delusional, having hallucinations or illogical thinking
• not feeling like sleeping
• not eating
• doing things that have disastrous consequences

Question 23

biological explanantion to depression (BASIC)

Answer 23

low levels of serotonin

Question 24

biological explanantion of depression (EXTENDED)

Answer 24

• high levels of serotonin in the synaptic cleft stimulate the postsynpatic neuron improving mood.
• low levels mean less stimulation of the postsynaptic neurone, resulting in low mood.
• serotonin affects memory, sleep and appetite. these are linked to characteristics of depression, e.g. lack of concentration, disturbed sleep and reduced appetite

Question 25

evaluation of bio explanation

Answer 25

A: reduces social stima as it doesn’t attribute blame to the persons faulty thinking
A: SSRIs are cheaper than CBT and easier to use
D: serious adverse effects: nausea, insomia, dizziness, weight loss/gain, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. side effects mean people stop taking the durgs, reducing effectiveness.
D: SSRIs don’t treat the cause they treat the symptoms so may not be a long term solution to treating depression

Question 26

placebo

Answer 26

a treatment/substance that has no effects

Question 27

meta analysis

Answer 27

• no direct research
• reasearcher looks at many research studies carried out in the past
• is secondary research

Question 28

study supporting SSRI’s

Answer 28

• Ciprinani carried out meta analysis looking at 21 antidepressants using 116000 pps
• used double blind trials as well as random allocation to experimental group
• found that in ALL cases the 21 antidepressant drugs were more effective than the placebo
• drugs CAN effectively treat depression

Question 29

cognitive explanation for depression with schemas

Answer 29

• negative schemas can be created when a child has a traumatic experience at an early age
• this leads to ppl viewing themselves and the world in a negative way
• they see everything that happens to them in a glass half empty approach so justify bad things as expected and good things as just luck
• may have a tendenccy to interpret events in a way that reinforces negative bliefs aout themselves, the wolrd, and the future. this type of thinking can contibute to and maintain depression symptoms overtime

Question 30

attributions

Answer 30

inferences that people make about the causes of events and behaviours
- people make attributions to understand their experiences
- attributions strongly influence the way ppl interact with eachother

Question 31

classification of attributions

Answer 31

• internal vs external
• stable vs unstable
• global vs specific

Question 32

how attributional style is linked to depression

Answer 32

• in the context of depression, individuals often engage in negative attributional style. meaning they tend to attribute negative events or outcomes to internal, stbale, and global factors

Question 33

attributional styles related to depression

Answer 33

• internal: believe they are personally at fault or that theyre inherently flawed or inadequate
• stable: individuals with depression may see negative situations as unchanging or permanent. things will never get better and will persist indefinitely.
• Global: view negative events as having widespread effects across different areas of their lives. may feel that a single failure or setback reflects a pattern of failure in various aspects of live

Question 34

evaluation of the psychological explanation of depression

Answer 34

• research with dogs and learned helplessness where he shocked the dogs and hey laid there without escaping, supporting the negative attributional explanantion where stable situations may lead a personto think their life is always going to be this way
  A: holistic as it not only looks at faulty thinking but takes into account social life support networks
  D: suggests the causation of depression is down to the sufferer’s faulty thinking thereofre attaching blame to the sufferer, creating a stigma around the disease

Question 35

the aim of CBT

Answer 35

• to focus on the thinking of the client
• CBT thinks the client has faulty thiking
• aim is to make them think rationally
• to focus on the behaviour of the clinet
• if you can chnge how a person thinks you can change how they behave
• e,g, give them tasks to do that makes them feel like they have achieved something: making a meal or going to see a movie
• this is thought to create positive emotions and improve the mood of the client

Question 36

how CBT is carried out

Answer 36

• one method is to address the negative, irraitonal thoughts that the client has (known as dispuing)
• the therapist asks for proof that the thought the client holds is true
• e.g. ‘everyone hates me’ but look at your facebook you have many firends, why u think ppl hate you
• leads to the client thinking more rationally and improving their self liking
• another method is to keep a mood diary writting down any negative thoughts
• next the client has to write down a rational explanantion to these automatic negative thoguhts

Question 37

evaluation of CBT

Answer 37

A: long-lasting effectiveness as it treats cause and gives the clients the tools to deal with how to overcome depression
A: seen as holistic treatment as it looks at the whole person not individual bits like levels of serotonin
D: lot of time and effort to learn, some may struggle with commitment
D: some people may sturggle with talking about their inner thoughts, so not for everyone
D: attributes blame to the sufferer maintaining a stigma around mental health

Question 38

compromise for treatment of depression

Answer 38

combination therapy is most effective as the drugs alleviate the symptoms, making it easier for patients to access CBT sessions. These sessions then tackle the thoughts and feelings.

Question 39

Addiction

Answer 39

Refers to a complex psychological and behavioural condition characterised by compulse drug or substance seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It involves a strong psycholical attachment to the subtsance and may be accompanied by withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued

Question 40

Difference between dependence vs addiction

Answer 40

Addiction is due to your brain, but dependence is due to your body. So you may have a phone addiciton but your body doesn’t go into withdrawel when you don’t have it so you have a phone addiction not phone dependence.
Dependence is when your body shows withdrawal if you don’t have the substance.

Question 41

Difference between substance misuse vs abuse

Answer 41

ABUSE is the use of a medication other than what its presciption intended the durg for, eg when a person takes a drug to ‘get high’.
MISUSE involves not following medical instruction, eg if a person isn’t able to fall asleep after taking a single sleeping pill, they make take another pill an hour later.

Question 42

6 catergories for addiction diagnosis (SHAPED)

Answer 42

S: strong desire to use the subtance
H: higher priority given to the substance
A: a withdrawal state
P: persisting despite harm
E: evidence of tolerance
D: difficulty in controlling use

Question 43

Kaij Twin study AIM

Answer 43

to see if hereditary factors infleunce the development of alcohol addiction

Question 44

Kaij Twin study PARTICIPANTS

Answer 44

• 174 pairs of ppts, 48 pairs were MZ twins and 126 were DZ twins
• all male twins from sweden who were registered with the tempreance board

Question 45

Kaij Twin study PROCEDURE

Answer 45

twins and close relatives were interviewed to collect info about drinking habits

Question 46

Kaij twin study RESULTS

Answer 46

• 61% of the mZ were both alcoholic whereas only 39% of the DZ twins were
• as the level of alcohol increased, there was a higher concordance rate for identical twins, with 72% of chronic alcoholic twins being in the same catergory as their co-twin

Question 47

Kaij twin study CONCLUSION

Answer 47

• alcohol abuse is related to genetic vulnerability
• if it was entirely genetic we would expect all mZ twins to be the same. If it was entirely due to environment we would expect no difference between MZ and DZ

Question 48

Kaij twin study EVALUATION

Answer 48

A: large sample size of twins, this mitigates anomalies that may skew the data, so we have more confidence that the conclusion of genetic and alcoholism is valid
D: the info on alcohol use came from the ppt and other fmily, this type of self report method is subjective, many reasons why the info is not correct. these include lying about the amount of alcohol consumed to give a socially desied answer.
D: the study was done in 1960 were there was no DNA test for identical or non identical twins, therefore we cannot be certain that Kaij knew which twins were MZ and which were DZ undermining the validity

Question 49

diathesis-stress explanation for addiction

Answer 49

• hereditary facotrs involved in addiction
• research shows that the role of inherited influences in addictions is moderate to high. multiple genes operate to create a vulnerability to addiciton. however this genetic vulnerability is only expressed if the person’s life stresses and experineces are a trigger.
• this is the diathesis-stress explanantion

Question 50

peer pressure

Answer 50

the effect that our peers have on us. peers are people who are of a similiar age, status or background to us. Often share the same interests. Peer influence is most strong during adolescence as we spend more time wiht them and less time with family.

Question 51

psychological explanation to addiction (influence of nurture

Answer 51

• social learning theory
• social norms
• social identity theory

Question 52

social learning theory

Answer 52

• bandura states we learn how to behave and think by observing what others do
• we imitate them espiecally if they are rewarded
• we even more espiecally imitate those we identify with: peers, same sex role models
• eg someone gets a hot gf bcs they drink and smoke. SLT theory argues we will copy that in order to get the same reward

Question 53

vicarious reinforcement

Answer 53

occurs when the frequency of certain behaviours increases as a result of observing others rewarded for the same behaviours

Question 54

social identity theory

Answer 54

• explorse how individuals categorize themselves and others into social groups based on shared characteristics, such as: race, gender, ethnicity, other factors
• it examines how these social catergoisations influence intergroup behvaiour, perceptions, and attitudes

Question 55

evaluation of psychological explanation of addiciton

Answer 55

A: peer influence research support. Farhat reviewed 40 studies in meta analysis and found a positive correlation between peers and smoking. showing a strong relation between peers and addiction (however this is correlation)
D: it may be peer selection, peers may not be the influencers. inidividuals may be actively selecting others who are like them rather than conforming to social norms -> additve behaviour is a consequence of belonging to a group rather than caused by the group
D: reductionist argument, doesnt take account the biological explanation that it can be caused by gnes

Question 56

aversion therapy

Answer 56

a form of psychological therapy in which the patient is exposed to the addictive stimulus whilst being exposed to some form of discomfort. This is a form of classical conditioning.
The addictive stimulus becomes associated with the discomfort so that it is avoided in the future

Question 57

Aversion therapy evaluation

Answer 57

D: high drop out rates due to unpleasant side effects. maybe too unpleasant and provides little in the way of reward or incentive.
D: found to be a short term fix rather than a long term solution
A: can be combined with CBT which is more holistic. aversion therapy tackls the behaviour whilst CBT can be used to teach coping strategies that may be used by the patient when they are close to relaspe.

Question 58

12 step recovery programmes

Answer 58

• key element is giving control to higher power and letting go
• admitting and sharing guilt. members of group and higher power listen to confession to accept the sinner
• lifelong process: recovery is never complete. offers support in case of relaspe.

Question 59

Evaluation for Self management programmes

Answer 59

D: lack of clear evidence, poor quality research on effectiveness. AA reported in 2007 that 33% members remained sober for 10+ years but doesn’t include how many left w/o success
D: individual differences, work for only certian types of people, drop out rates are high, suggesting it is demanding and requires high motivation, treatment is limited
A: holistic approach, focuses on the whole person, steps concerned with emotions, particularly guilt, together with social support to help a person cope