Psychological Problems Flashcards
memorize main keywords and questions
define
Unipolar Depression
A type of mood disorder causing periods of feeling sad and lacking motivation to do everyday tasks
What are the symptoms of Unipolar Depression
- lack of self esteem
- feelings of guilt
- poor appetite
- poor sleep
- lack of enjoyment in past activities
- extreme tiredness not relieved by sleep
- feeling suicidal
- acting nervously/slowed down behaviour
What are the 3 main symptoms of Unipolar Depression?
- lowering of mood (feeling very sad/upset)
- lack of energy (even after long rest periods)
- lack of motivation
What are the features of Unipolar Depression?
there are 3 ranges
- Mild - 4 symptoms displayed (may find it upsetting but can carry on daily)
- Moderate - 5/6 symptoms displayed (serious problems doing daily ativities)
- Severe - 7+ symptoms (suicidal thoughts/ might engage in self-harm)
define
what are Monozygotic twins?
Identical Twins - share only 100% of the genes
define
what are Dizygotic twins?
Fraternal Twins - share only 50% of the genes
What were the findings of twin studies?
McGiffin et al. (1996) found that if one MZ twin became depressed, there was a 46% chance that the other twin would develop depression (DZ twins had a 20% chance). This showed that depression could be genetic
define
Genetic Predisposition
The biological reason for developing a particular behaviour as a result of genetics
define
Diathesis Stress Model
a model that links genetic predisposition to stress (ie, a trigger from the environment that activates the gene)
list at least 3
What environments/situations could trigger depression?
- Death of a family member/friend
- Failing an exam
- Losing a job
- Negative relationships
- Financial issues
- Being bullied/isolated
- Negative domestic situations
Strengths of genetic explinations for depression
- evidence to suggest its effectiveness - Matthijis Beltman et al.(2012) found that depressed patients treated with CBT improved more than patients still seeking/not receiving treatment
- longer lasting compared to antidepressants - patients learn to control their actions and thought processes and change the negative ones
- helps depressed patients deal with their own symptoms - reduces feelings of helplessness because they believe they can act to do something about their state
Weaknesses of genetic explinations for depression
define
Serotonin
a neurotransmitter associated with controlling mood
define
Congitive Theory
behaviour that can be explained by looking at how the brain processes informations/ how we think
define
Becks Cognitive Triad + the stages
the idea that depression could be explained by three negative thought patterns
1. Negative view of self (im worthless)
2. Negaive view of the future (i will never amount to anything)
3. Negative view of the world (everyone is against me)
define
Ellis’s ABC model + the stages
suggests that there are three stages that cause a negative thought process –> leads to depression
* Activating event - an event happens that causes an emotional effect
* Beliefs - thoughts associated with the event, either rational (healthy) or irrational (unhealthy)
* Consequences - either rational thought = positive emotional consequence (no depression) or irrational thought = negative emotional consequence (might become depressed)
Strengths of Congitive Theory for depression
- Takes into account the persons life and what could trigger the depression
- Has been applied to CBT, which challenges irrational thinking to stop them from feeling depressed
Weaknesses of Congitive Theory for depression
- Difficult to tell the difference between if irrational thoughts cause depression or if its the depressive symptoms
- Not all depression can be easily explained by thought processes (eg: post natal depression - implies more biological factors)
What does CBT stand for?
NOT cock and ball torture ;P
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
What is the aim of CBT?
to help a patient change the way they think (cognitive) and act (behavioral) to improve their symptoms
What are the stages of CBT
Stage 1. Identify all the symptoms, feelings and triggers
Stage 2. Challenge irrational thinking (replace them with rational beliefs)
Stage 3. Practicing what they’ve learnt (often through assigned “homework” tasks over a series of sessions)
What are the strengths of CBT?
3 points
- CBT can lead to improvement for depression symptoms (Beltman (2010) study)
- Treatment lasts longer - suggests that skills learnt during CBT helps patients to ;earn how to control/change negatice/irrational thinking (less likely to relapse)
- helps patients to feel better - they can take control of their feelings and remove negative depression symptoms
What are the weaknesses of CBT?
3 points
- relies on patients wanting to to change their behaviour and recognising irrational thoughts - could be prevented due to a lack of motivation (depression symptom)
- eithical issues involving CBT -could cause the patient to feel that the way they think and behave is wrong, or the therapist could abuse their power to change a patients thought processes
When are antidepressants used?
- if depression keeps reaccuring (other therapies dont work)
- if the symptoms have lasted over a long period
How do anti-depressants work?
they raise the level of neurotransmitters (chemicals in the nervous system) like serotonin and noradrenaline, that control our mood
define and explain
SSRIs
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
* Block the reuptake (reabsorbtion) of serotonin
* allows serotonin to stay for longer
* ‘therefore increases serotonin in the brain
define and explain
SNRIs
Serotonin and Noradreneline Reuptake Inhibitors
* Similar to SSRIs except also with noradrenaline
* also helps to improve mood
define and explain
MAOIs
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors
* prevent MAOAs from doing its job
* break down neurotransmitters, serotonin, and noradrenaline once they’ve served their purpose in the synapse
* helps to make more neurotransmitters available in the synapse
* lifts peoples mood
define and explain
TCAs
Tricyclics
* boosts the effect of serotonin and noradrenaline in the brain
* prevents the reabsorbtion of neurotransmitters in the neuron
* enhances mood
Strenghts of drug therapy as a treatment of depression
- improves mood faster - preventing depression from becoming more destructive in the patients life
- can improve the patients symptoms for them to gain access to other therapies - the drug would improve their mood and motivate them for therapy like CBT
- according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists 50-56% of patients with moderate/severe symptoms of depression showed improvement when given antidepressants
Weaknesses of drug therapy as a treatment of depression
- could cause unpleasant side effects - nausea, dizziness, drowzyness, and an impact on sleep. other side effects like diabetes and suicidal thoughts can occur
- treats the symptoms but not the cause - they could relapse once they stop the medication as its only temporarily stopped the main symptoms
define
Addiction
- A psychological problem where people feel compelled to do something regulalrly to avoid negative feelings
- ICD-10 classifies it as a ‘dependence disorder’
- you can become addicted to activities and substances
define and explain
Withdrawal symptoms
physcial/psychological symptoms after a person tries to quit/cant satisfy their addiction
* physical: shaking, sweating, vomiting
Symptoms of Behavioral Addiction
- Finding it difficult to reduce/quit the activity
- need to do the activity regularly
- more time spent doing the activity compared to other activities they enjoyed
- ignore arguments for the addiction being unhealthy
- need to do the activity often or more severely
Symptoms of Dependance Disorder
- feeling the urge to take the substance
- ignore evidence of the substance being harmful
- reducing the use of the substance is difficult
- replacing regular activities to partake in using/recovering from the substance
- physcial withdrawal symptoms
- might need to increase the usage of the substance to get the same effect over time
who founded the study + explain
Twins and Addiction
Carmeli et al(1992) found that if one MZ twin smoked, then there was a higher chance that the other twin would also smoke compared to the DZ twins
define + explain
Adoption Studies
Goodwin et al(1973) found that adopted children with biological addicts where more likely to show signs of addiction themselves
define + explain
DDR2
danganronpa 2 gene lol
the gene that makes individuals more susceptible to developing an addiction, and affects how the brain reacts to pleasure
Strengths of the genetic explination for addiction
- scientific evidence to support genetics
- twin studies + adoption studies act as a control group to compare factors that could explain addiction
- explains why only some people become addiction and reduces the stigma against them
weaknesses of the genetic explination for addiction
- reductionist - fails to take social factors into account
- Carmeli et al (1992) looks into environment as well, which contradicts the genetic explination
- no single gene has been identified, which makes it difficult to pinpoint how it links to addiction (DDR2 A1 has also been linked to autism, which has different symptoms and features)
define + explain
Classical Conditioning
Learning though association
* Pavlovs dog
* 2 unrelated stimuli are paired together, causing one stimulus to be associated with another
define + explain
Operant Conditioning
Learning though consequence
* Put forward by Skinner (rat guy)
* Association is made between an action and a reward
* positive consequence = positive reinforcement/reward for the action, leading to the behavior likely to be repeated
* negative consequence = avoiding punishment/ removing negative consequence by continuing the behavior
define + explain
Social Learning Theory
Learning through observation
* modeling our behavior after role models
* motivation through the model being rewarded for the behaviour (vicarious reinforcement)
How depression affects individuals and society
- increases risks of suicide
- Missed work days from other patients - falling behind on work leads to increased feelings of guilt and cost implications for the company as they have to cover their workload
- cost of treatment for patients - antidepressants can be expensive due to their high demand, and put a strain on serviced provided by the NHS
Strengths of learning theory as an
explanation of addiction
- the behaviours can be unlearnt
- explains why people relapse (could be in an environment where the addiction takes place)
Weaknesses of learning theory as an
explanation of addiction
- considered reductionist - ignores the role of biological factors of addiction
- doesnt explain why many people try addictive behaviors but dont become addicted
