Psychological problems Flashcards
State two symptoms of unipolar depression according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
Persistent sadness and Low motivation
Describe one way that mental health problems affect society
Mental problems can cost society a lot of money as treatment for patients with depression cost the NHS $1.7 billion
Explain one way drugs could be used as a treatment for addiction
Drugs can be used as a treatment for addiction as it can help cope with the effects of detoxification
Explain two weaknesses of using drugs as a treatment for addiction
the evidence supporting drugs as a treatment for addiction effectiveness is very mixed. As John Krystal found that there was no significant difference in relapse rates between patients who were given a placebo and patients who were given naltrexone
another weakness is that some would argue that giving a substance to a person who is already addicted to another substance could make them dependent of the new substance.
Caspi et al aim
to investigate why stressful events seem to lead to depression in some people and not others
Caspi et al procedure
participants completed a questionnaire that measured life events between their 21st to 26th birthdays. another questionnaire was given to assess whether they had any symptoms of depression in the year before their 26th birthday
Caspi et al result
it was found that one short version of the 5-HTT gene and who had been through stressful life events showed a significant increase in symptoms of depression after the event
participants with a short version of the 5-HTT gene and experienced a stressful event were more likely to be diagnosed with depression than participants with two long versions of the gene
Short version of the gene were more likely to develop suicidal thoughts after stressful life events than two long version of the gene
two short versions of the 5-HTT gene were most likely to report severe
