psychological problems Flashcards
What is unipolar depression?
A type of mood disorder causing a person to feel sad and lack motivation to do everyday activities
What are mood disorders?
Affect how people feel
What are the main symptoms of unipolar depression?
Low mood
Lack of energy
Lack of motivation
How many symptoms and what are the features of the mild unipolar depression episode?
- Four symptoms are displayed
- A patient may find symptoms upsetting but carry on with day-to-day activities
How many symptoms and what are the features of the moderate unipolar depression episode?
- Five or six symptoms are displayed
- Patient have serious problems with going to school or work (day-to-day activities)
What is the incidence of depression overtime?
People in the 1980s were 10 times more likely to be diagnosed with depression than they were in the 1940s. The King’s Trust Fund states that mental health in England by 2026, 1.45 million people will be diagnosed with the depression. High levels of social media usage is a higher risk of depression and young American participants.
How does depression affect individuals?
- Risk of suicide
- 10–15% of patients with severe depression will commit suicide
How many symptoms and what are the features of the severe unipolar depression episode?
- Seven or more symptoms
- A patient may have suicidal thoughts or engage in self-harm to cope with feelings
How does depression affect society?
- amount of time missed from work by patients
- cost of treatment
What are monozygotic twins?
They share 100% of the same genes
What are dizygotic twins?
They share 50% of the same genes
What is a genetic predisposition?
A biological tendency to develop a particular behaviour as a result of the genes someone has
What are some points of the genetic explanation of depression?
If a monozygotic twin gets depression the other twin is definitely will get depression as they share the same genes
If a dizygotic twin gets depression the other twin may get depression as they share 50% of the same genes
What are strengths of the genetic explanation of depression?
- take away the stigma of being depressed (society will eventually become more accepting of it as its biological)
- some are more prone to depression than others
What are weaknesses of the genetic explanation of depression?
- deterministic as it assumes that if you have certain genes you are likely to become depressed and you have no way to change that
- reductionist as it doesn’t consider other factors like nurture
What is the cognitive theory?
An explanation that focuses on how thought processes influence behaviour
What is Beck’s cognitive triad?
- created a negative triad which consisted of a negative view of the self, the world and the future
What is Ellis’s ABC model?
- 3 stages that might cause a person to develop negative thought processes,
- 3 stages are activating event, beliefs, consequences
What are strengths of the cognitive theory explanation of depression?
- takes into account the events in a person’s life and why they have become depressed
- applied to therapy (CBT)
What are weaknesses of the cognitive theory explanation of depression?
- difficult to tell whether irrational thoughts are a cause of depression or a symptom of depression
What the aim of CBT?
Help the patient change the way they think and help the patient change the way they act to improve symptoms
What are the stages of CBT?
- discuss symptoms and explain how they feel and what makes them feel this way
- involves challenging irrational ways of thinking
What will CBT give to help patients suffering with depression
Homework
What are strengths of using CBT to treat depression?
- evidence suggests its effective / depressed patients treated with CBT improved more than people with no treatment at all
- longer lasting treatment / gains skills to help argue irrational thoughts
What are weaknesses of using CBT to treat depression?
- if wanting to change behaviour, will only happen if their motivated
- ethical issues - some may believe therapist is trying to make their irrational thoughts wrong
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals found in the nervous system that passes messages from one neuron to another across a synapse
What are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors?
Serotonin is available for longer and increase serotonin in the brain
What stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors?
SSRI’s
What are strengths of drug therapy as a treatment of depression?
- improve a patients symptoms
- positive effect on the symptoms of patients
What are weaknesses of drug therapy as a treatment of depression?
- unpleasant side effects
- more likely to relapse
What is addiction?
A mental health problem that means people need a particular thing to be able to go about their normal routine
What is withdrawal?
A set of unpleasant physical or psychological symptoms someone gets when they are trying to quit or cannot satisfy their addiction