Psychopathology Flashcards
What are the 4 ways Abnormality can be defined as
DSN Deciation from Social Norms
FFA Failure to Function Adequately
SI Statistical Infrequentcy
DIMH Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
DEVIATION FROM SOCIAL NORMS
Outline the deviation from social norms detention of abnormality
-Every society has norms which are standards of behaviours set by social groups
-According to DSN, any behaviour which goes against unwritten rules and norms of society is abnormal
-This definition is concerned with behaviour that is antisocial/undesirable and different to what we expect in society everyday
E.g people with antisocial personality disorder can be deceiving, impulsive, pack empathy and these all go against social norms
FAILURE TO FUNCTION ADEQUATELY
Outline the failure to function adequately detention of abnormality
-Behaviour is considered abnormal when it means an individual cannot cope with day to day life + cannot fulfill everyday responsibilities expected of them
-If a behaviour causes enough distress, it causes an inability to function + work + participate in relationships which are sings of abnormality
-It can also stop you from experiencing positive emotions or behaviours
-Rosenhan and Seligman suggested related characteristics include irrational behaviour and causing observer discomfort: when an individuals behaviour makes those around them concerned/anxious
STATISTICAL INFREQUENCY
Outline the statistical infrequently detention of abnormality
-Any behaviour which is rare and uncommon within the general population is seen as abnormal
-If very few people demonstrate the behaviour, that behaviour does not occur enough statistically so is abnormal
E.g. schizophrenia affects less than 1 in 100 people and is seen as an abnormal behaviour
((4TH MARK))
Plot the behaviour or trait on a normal distribution curve
Calculate the mean of the behaviohr
Any behaviour that strays far from the mean is considered abnormal
DEVIATION FROM IDEAL MENTAL HEALTH
Outline the deviation from ideal mental beauty detention of abnormality
Jahoda suggested that normal mental health includes:
PANDAS SLEEP BETWEEN PLAYFUL ACTIVITIES EVERYDAY
POSITIVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS SELF- Having self respect and a positive self concept
SELF ACTUALISATION AND PERSONAL GROWTH- Having the motivation and drive to want to achieve your full potential
BEING RESISTANT TO STRESS- Being able to cope with stressful situations and any anxiety that may be caused from such situations
PERSONAL AUTONOMY Being independent, self reliant and able to make personal decisions
ACCURATE PERCEPTION OF REALITY perceiving the world In a non distorted fashion having an objective and realistic view of the world
ENVIRONMENTAL MASTERY being competent in all aspects of life and able to meet the demands of any situation
Having the flexibility to adapt to changing life circumstances
What is a strength and weakness of DSN
It has face validity
If is too culture specific
A strength of the DSN definition is it has face validity
A strength of the DSN definition is it has face validity
This is because it is consiisten with people’s general view of what abnormality is
For example, someone with schizophrenia would deviate from social norms as they may be talking to themselves or showing obviously irrational decision making and behaviour
This is a strength as firstly, its easy for ppl in general population to identify people who are abnormal that they know or around them and get them the right support by referring them to clinicians
dsn also makes it easier for clinicians to identify and treat illnesses
This means it often leads to valid diagnoses
A limitation of the DSN as a definition of abnormality is that it is too culture specific
A limitation of the DSN as a definition of abnormality is that it is too culture specific
For example, hearing voices is socially acceptable (or even seen as a gift) in some cultures, but would be seen as a sign of mental abnormality in the UK
This is a limitation because social norms vary tremendously from one community to another
Based on this definition, a person may be diagnosed as abnormal based on the clinicians cultural standards
However, their behaviour may not be abnormal based on their own cultural standards
Therefore, this definition must be used with caution as it has to take into consideration that person’s culture to prevent misdiagnosis of that person’s behaviour
Strength and weakness of FFA
STRENGTH One strength of the FFA detention is that is it an important criteria that helps us clearly distinguish between mild and serious cases of mental abnormalities
Howver, the key difference betweeb those diagnosed with mental illness and general population is those are are diagnosed find that their depression/anxiety seriously interferes with their day to day life
The FFA definition helps us distinguish between different severities of mental health problems which helps identify who can and cannot cope with everyday life, this helps provide the appropriate treatment
This is useful in diagnoses and improving lives so it is a valid tool for defining abnormality
WEAKNESS A weakness of ffa is thar many people with mental health issues may still function well and appear to live normal loves
For example Harold Shipman was a doctor who was responsible for the death of over 200 of his patients over 23 years. In spite of his appalling crimes, he functioned adequately and was seen to be a respectable doctor. This shows that while being psychologically abnormal enough to commit over 200 murders, he didn’t show signs of functioning inadequately. According to this detention, he would be seen as mentally sound so this definition leads to innachrate diagnosis of mental abnormality
Strength and weakness of statistical infrequency
STRENGTH A strength of statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality is it can lead to objective ways of diagnosing abnormality
For example it can be used to define and diagnose someone as suffering from intellectual disability disorder IDD. Anyone who has an Iq less than 70 has IDD. Therefore, it allows objective diagnosis as it doesn’t depend on subjective interpretation if diagnostic criteria leads to accurate diagnosis
WEAKNESS A weakness of statistical infreqruncy is that while it measures abnormality through how often it occurs, it does not consider whether a train is desirable or undesirable. For example, a very low iq is just as rare as a very high iq but a high iq is typically seen as a desirable trait. According to this detention having a high iq is abnormal even though it causes no congitive defecits. Furthermore, depression affects approximately 1 in 5 ppl at some point in their life in uk making it a statistically common behaviour. Since it is frequent, depression is seen as normal according to this detention even though there is a wide agreement that it is an abnormality. As a result, it can lead to invalid diagnosis
Strength and weakness of deviation from ideal mental health
STRENGTHS A strength of this detention is it offers a positive view of mental abdonality which can contribute to accurate diagnosis. It focuses on the desirable traits instead of targeting undesirable behaviour which helped people identify areas of mental health they need to work on to improve their mental health. This helped reduce the stigma around mental health issues and see it in a more positive way. Having 6 criterias offers a broad and comprehensive diagnostic tool which covers all mental illnesses in some way, mental abnormality less likely to go undiagnosed, accurate diagnosis
WEAKNESS A weakness is that the criteria set by this for having good mental health is unrealistically high
For example due to the stresses of everyday life, very few people would match all the criteria set by jahoda and nobody achieves all of them at the same time or keep them up for very long. This is an issue as according to this definition, Large majority of people are seen as abnormal and in need of help but mental health research shows this is not the case and mental abnormality prevalence is much lower which is why this detention may lead to innacurate diagnosis as it may class mentally healthy people and abnormal
A weakness of the detention is the characteristics listed by Jahoda are rooted in Western cultures and western ideas of personal growth and achievement. For example, self actualisation and personal autonomy are a goal in individualistic cultures but collectivist cultures are focused more in tbe needs of the community so are less likely to meet this criteria. This is because it is abnormal to seek own goals, especially if they come at a cost to the geoup collectively. Furthermore , personal autonomy is also limited as it is usual to look to elders to approve major life decisions for example who to marry. Therefore, the detention I’d too culture specific to western culture and may not be valid in inherited cultures, leads to misdiagnosis is applied to other cultures.
What is specific phobia
Fear of a particular situation or object
What is social phobia
Fear of a situation involving other people
Whar is agoraphobia
A fear of public spaces and being unable to leave
What are behavioural characteristics
Symptoms seen in a patient through their actions
Give 3 behavioural charecteristics of phobias
PANIC: Panic in response to phobic stimulus. This may involve a range of behaviours including crying, running, screaming, freezing, fainting or collapsing
AVOIDANCE: People with a phobia make a conscious effort to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus. This can make it hard to fo about daily life e.g. not going to places where they may be encountered
ENDURANCE/FREEZE RESPONSE: Sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but experiences high levels of anxiety, may ‘freeze’
What are emotional characteristics
Feelings associated with a disorder
What are the 3 emotional characteristics of phobias
ANXIETY: Phobias ads examples of anxiety disorders, they involve an emotional response of anxiety, anxiety can be long term. Anxiety prevents the sufferer relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion. They experience feelings of worry
FEAR is the immediate and extremely unpleasant response we experience when we encounter or think about the phobic stimulus. They experience feelings of terror.
EMOTIONAL RESPONSES ARE UNTEASONABLE The response to the phobic stimulus is disproportionate to any threat posed
What are cognitive characteristics
Thoughts associated with a disorded
What are the 3 cognitive characteristics of phobias
DECREASE IN CONCENTRATION People with phobias often find it very difficult to concentrate and therefore have an inability ro complete task when the phobic stimulus is around
IRRATIONAL BELEIFS A phobia may hold irrational thoughts in relation to phobic stimuli that do not have any basis in reality
SELECTIVE ATTENTION: Increases awareness of the phobic stimulus
What is the two process model to explaining phobias
Acquisition by classical conditioning
Maintenence by operant conditioning
Explain acquisition of phobias by classical conditioning and GIVE AB EXAMPLE
-Learn to associated a neutral stimulus (something we initially have no fear of) with an unconditioned stimulus (something that already triggers a fear response)
-This leads to the phobic stimulus (conditioned stimulus) producing the same response as the unconditioned stimulus
-Acquisition of phobia is complete
Before conditioning
UCS (Being bitten) -> UCR (Fear)
During conditioning
NS (Dog) + UCS (Being bitten) -> Fear (UCR)
After conditioning
CS (Dog) -> CR (Fear)
Explain maintenance of phobia by operant conditioning
-Conditioned response declines over time if it is not maintained e.g. through extinction
-According to Mowrer, phobias are maintained through operant conditioning through negative reinforcement
-Avoid unpleasant situations which is the desirable action and this removes the unpleasant experience
-Reinforces avoidance behaviour so more likely to continue to avoid the phobic stimulus so phobia is maintained
What are 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses of the two process model
STRENGTHS Research support
Went boyind Watson and Rayner’s conveof of how cc leads to phobias
WEAKNESSES Could be considered an incomplete explanation of phobias
Could be an alternative explanation which better explains how phobias are acquired
One strength of the two process model is there is research support
One strength of the two process model is there is research support
For example, Watson and Rayner created a phobia in a 9 month old baby called ‘Little Albert’. Albert showed no anxiety for the rats at the start of the study. Researchers presented a white rar alongside making a frightening loud bang. With time, Albert showed anxiety when he saw a rat even without the noise. Therefore, the rat then became a conditioned stimulus that produced a conditioned response of fear. This shows that we learn new phobias by pairing a stimulus we are already scared of with a new neutral stimulus that we had no previous fear of. By doing this, we can go on to develop a phobia of a stimulus that was initially neutral. This increases validity of the learning explanation of phobias
One strength of the two process model is it Went beyond Watson and Rayners cocpef of how cc leads to phobias
One strength of the two process model is it Went beyond Watson and Rayners cocpef of how cc leads to phobias
It explained how phobias could be maintained Overtime and this has implications for therapies bechase it explains why patients need to be exposed to the feared stimulus. This led to practical applications hough treatments like flooding where patients are prevented from avoiding the phobic stimulus and this eventually helps then overcome their phobia. Furthermore, research from Ougrin et al showed that underlying assumptions of the two process model are valid. This jncreases the validity and utility of the model
A weakness of two process model is there could be an alternative explanation which could better explain how phobias are acquired
A weakness of two process model is there could be an alternative explanation which could better explain how phobias are acquired
The cognitive approach proposes that phobias may develop as a result of irrational beliefs. Thoughts like these contribute to feelings of anxiety that lead a person to shoe the emotional symptoms of phobias and maintainence of phobias through avoidance of the phobic stimulus, a key behavioural symptom. Since the two process model does not account for this, it can be seen as a very simplistic model that does not consider important cognitive mediating factors that affect how phobias are acquired. This reduced the validity of the two process model
What are two methods of the behavioural approach to treating phobias
Systematic desensitisation
Flooding
What are two reasons why systematic desensitisation works
Reciprocal inhibition which is the idea that is it impossible to feel two opposite emotions at the same time, this is because one opposite emotion will inhibit the other from occurring
Counter conditioning is when you break the association between the phobic stimulus and anxiety and replace it with an association between the phobic stimulus and relaxation
Name and explain the 3 processes involved in systematic desensitisation
ANXIETY HIERARCHY: a series of events related to the phobia, each one causing a little more anxiety than the previous one (e.g. picture of spider, play with toy spider, sit next to real spider)
RELAXATION: Patients taught relaxation techniques to relax their muscles completely, e.g. breathing techniques relaxation and anxiety can’t both occur at the same time
EXPOSURE: Patient gradually exposed to each anxiety evoking stage and they try to relax, when fully relaxed on a stage they move on to the next, treatment is successful when patient relaxed while facing phobic stimulus
What is flooding
Immediafe exposure of phobic stimulus without a gradual build up
Exposed for an extended period of time to a very frightening situation related to the phobia with no opportunity to avoid it so soon learn its harmless. In terms of classical conditioning, this process is called extinction. This is when they conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus. The result is the conditioned stimulus no longer produces the conditioned response
What is systematic desensitisation
Gradual exposure to phobic stimulus over multiple sessions while getting a patient to relax
One strength of the behaviourist treatment of phobias is there is supporting research for the effectiveness of systematic desensitisation
Gilroy et al followed up 42 people who had been treated for spider phobia in three 45 - minute systematic desensitisation sessions . A control group was treated by relaxation without exposure . At both three months , and 33 months after the treatment , the systematic desensitization group were significantly less fearful than the control group .
This shows that SD is an effective treatment of phobias and the positive impacts of SD are long lasting making it a useful treatment for phobias as patients are less fearful even after nearly 3 years of treatment.
This increases the validity of systematic desensitisation as a treatment of phobia
One strength of behaviourist treatment of phobias is flooding is often a more appropriate and time efficient treatment than others
Ougrin compared behavioural therapies to cognitive therapies and found behavioural therapies to be significantly quicker . Some cognitive therapies such as CBT require patients to keep diaries throughout their week and also do homework tasks to try and overcome disorders . Flooding procedures in general require less conscious effort on the patient’s part compared to congitive therapies where patients must play a more active part in their treatment .
This means patients are more likely to continue with the treatment with a lower attrition rate , and as a consequence overcome thier phobia. Flooding may also be a more appropriate treatment for those with a busy lifestyle. Therefore, fhis shoes why such treatments may be more appropriate than congitive treatments
What type of disorder are phobias
Anxiety disorder
What kind of disorder is depression and what is it characterised by
When will you be diagnosed with major depression
Mood disorder
It is characterised by extreme sadness
The individual must experience at least 5 from a list of symptoms including one of depressed mood and/or loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, every day for at least 2 weeks
Explain the 3 emotional characteristics of depression
DEPRESSED MOOD A key charectersiric is the ever present and overwhelming feelings of intense sadness/hopelessness and lowered mood in every day life
LOSS OF INTERESR AND PLEASURE Lack of enthusiasm associated with a lack of concern or pleasure in daily activites
WORTHLESSNESS constant feelings of low self worth and or inappropriate/unnecessary feelings of guilt
Explain the 3 cognitive characteristics of depression
REDUCED CONCENTRATION difficulty paying and maintaining concentration and slowed down thinking and difficulty making decisions. This interferes with everyday work
NEGATIVE BELEIFS AVOUT SELF experience persistent negative veelifs about themselves and their abilities (negative schemas)
SUICIDAL THOUGHTS Depressives cab have constant thoughts of death and suicide
Explain the 3 behavioural characteristics of depression
CHANGE IN ACTIVITY Depressed people have reduced amounts of energy resulting in fatigue, lethargy and high levels of inactivity
CHANGE UN EATING PATTERNS people may experience a chnage in appetites which may mean they Ear more or less than usual and have significant wright chnages 5% either gaining or losing weight
CHANGE IN SLEEPING PATTERNS Sleeping less (insomnia) or excessive sleeping (hypersomnia)
SOCIAL IMPAIRMENT reduces levels of social interaction with friends and relations
REDUCED SPEECH People with depression may speak slower take a longer time to complete the same number of words and display longer pauses between words and sentences
THE COGNITIVE APPROACH TO EXPLAINING DEPRESSION
Explain negative self schemas
Negative schemas develop in childhood and adolescence as a result of rejection by parents or friends in the form of criticism and exclusion, or perhaps by anoosd of a close family member. This can make you feel unloved/unwanted and this can transfer to adulthood and provides a negative framework of viewing life leading to depression
What makes up Aaron Beck’s negative congitive triad
Negative view of the self/world/future
Explain each part of Beck’s negative cognitive triad
STARTS WITH NEGATIVE VIEW OF SELF Negative self schema develops in childhood due to rejection by parents or friends in the form of criticism and exclusion, or perhaps loss of close family member. This can make someone feel unloved and unwanted
FEEDS INTO NEGATIVE VIEW OF WORLD obstacles in own life perceived negatively as something that can’t be dealt with
FEEDS INTO NEGATIVE VIEW OF FUTURE Personal inadequacy and worthlessness is seen as permanent and blocking any improvement
This forms an undersigned, intrusive cycle of depressive thoughts that cannot be controlled by the thinker. Negative schemas and cognitive biases maintain the negative triad and depression
What are the two parts to cognitive biases and explain cognitive biases and the two parts
Selective attention and over generalisation
Cognitive biases - people with negative schemas become prone to making errors in their thinking
Selective attention - focus on certain negative aspects of a situation and ignore other relevant information
Over generalisation - Make sweeping conclusions based on a single event/limited evidence
What does Ellis ABC MODEL claim depression is caused by
Irrational beleifs
Explain all 3 parts to Ellis ABC model
ACTIVATING EVENT
Something that has happened to you or in the environment around you
BELEIF ABOUT THE EVENT
This can help interpret the event(Explaining reason why it happened) and also what can be done about it
CONSEQUENCES OF BELEIF
If rational belief used to interpret event, healthy consequence
If irrational belief used to interpret event, unhealthy consequence
Persistently and excessively using irrational beliefs to interpret activating events can lead to the development of depression overtime
One strength of cognitive explanations of depression is there is research support for Beck’s cognitive explanation
Koster et as did a study where he used student volunteers who took part in an attention task and they were presented with positive, negative and neutral words. They found that depressed participants spent longer attending the negative words that the non depressed group. This result demonstrates selective attention and cognitive biases in people with depression that makes them attend to negative information and negative aspects of their life rather than the positive and this reinforces their negative thoughts
This increases the validity of cognitive explanations of depression
A strength of the cognitive explanation to depression is it has led to practical applications in the treatment of depression.
For example, understanding negative schemas can lead to depression has lead to developments of treatment like CBT where faulty schemas and beliefs are targeted, broken down and then replaced with positive beliefs to treat symptoms of depression. Furthermore, beck reviewed the effectiveness of CBT and found it highly effective in treating depression. As the treatment is effective, we can infer that the underlying assumptions of the cognitive approach to depression that the treatment is based on is also valid.
One weakness of the cognitive explanation of treatments is it is an incomplete explanation of how depression develops
For example, it underplays the role of gene on the development of depression. Mcguffin did a twin study on depression and found concordance rate of 20% for DZ twins and 46% for MZ twins. This shows as the proration of shared genes increases, the probability of both genes having depression increases. This is a weakness as jr suggests biological factors also playa role in the development of depression. To develop a full understanding of depression, it’s important to take a more holistic outlook which includes biological and psychological theories.
Since the cognitive approach reduces the ability to, it can be considered incomplete
Explain musterbation and utopianism
MUSTERBATION
musterbatory thinking is trying to live by absolute/unrealistic/perfectionist standards if they fall short of it, this leads to frustration, negative emotions which overtime causes depression
UTOPIANISM
Beleif that life should be fair, when it is not, it causes negative emotions and Overtime causes depression
What are two types of Cognitive treatments for depression
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT)
Explain the 3 cognitive stragetegies used in CBT
THOUGHT CATCHING
Therapist helps client identify faulty negative beelifs they have about themsleves/world/future
This is done through homework assignments where they are requriting to keep a diary of their positive and negative thoughts everyday OR conversations with therapist
CHALLENGING BELEIFS
Once the belief has been identified, this negative belief is challenged through discussion in order to break them down or through engaging in reality testing
This is when they are asked to work and think like a scientist and make a hypothesis based on their negative belief and gather real life evidence to support or refute this hypothesis
COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING
Replacing beleifs with positive and constructive beliefs about self which will lead to positive emotions and therefore treating their depression
Explain the behavioural part of CBT
Behavioural activation
A charecterisitc of many depressed people is they no longer participate in activities that they previously enjoyed
During CBT, the therapist and client identify potentially pleasurable activities and to overcome any obstacles in carrying the out
They are then given graded homework assignments which allow them to experiment with the chosen activity and then engage in progressively more rewarding activities to gain pleasure for them
What is the central technique of Ellis REBT(Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy)
Identify and dispute irrational thoughts
In ELLI’S REBT, what are the three types of Disputing
EMPIRICAL DISPUTING
Irrational beleifs are not consistent with reality. No evidence for them in real life
LOGICAL DISPUTING
Irrational beleifs do not follow logically from the available information. Conclusions drawn are illogical
PRAGMATIC Disputing the utility of the belief
In Ellis’s REBT, what stages did she add to her ABC model
D and E
Disputing and Effect of disputing
What is the difference between identification in REBT and thought catching in CBT
Identification- Heated debate
Thought catching- Conversation
What is pragmatic disputing
Disputing the utility of the irrational belief
ELLIS’ RARIONAL EMOTIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY
Explain stage E - effect of disputing
Successful disputing chnages self defeating, irrational beleifs into more rational beelifs which have healthier consequences. This in turn helps the depressed clients feel batter and become more self accepting
One strength of REBT is there’s lots of studied showing that is is effective in reducing symptoms of moderate and sever depression and in preventing relapse
Ellis claimed a 90% success rate of REBT taking an average of 27 sessions to complete the treatment. David et Al compared the effectiveness of REBT, Becks CBT and drug therapy. All 3 forms of therapy were comparably effective at the end of the treatment. At 6 month follow up, howverr there was evidence that REBT was more effective than the other two forms of therapy. This demonstrates that REBT is the most effective for treating depression in the long term
This increases the effectiveness
One strength of CBT is it is appropriate for use in a wide variety of situations and modes of delivery.
There are many modes of developers (online sessions/apps as well as face to face therapy) for CBT and It has been used to help people of all ages and with varying degrees of depression(from mild to severe). This shows CBT is not restricted to certain types of people and can be adjusted to help people of different lifestyle/types of depression. Furthermore this treatment does not have any negative side effects like insomnia and weight loss found with SSRIs and other drugs, making it a suitable treatment for a wider variety of people, even those with underlying health conditions, as it is less likely to have adverse effects
Therefore, it is a treatment that can be made easily accessible and offers to help a wide range of people with depression
One weakness of CBT is it may not work for all personality types of situations
For example, simons found that CBT was not effective for people who have very rigid attitudes and who are resistant to chnage. Such people may resist the challenging or disputing or restructuring suggested by the therapists. It is also not effective for people who have high stress levels, due to long term problems in their lives such as an abusive marriage, that a brief treatment like CBT can’t resolve. Furthermore, considering CBT is focused on a person’s thinking, if the cause of CBT is external and out of the person’s control
What type of disorder is OCD and what is it characterised by
Anxiety disorder
It is charecterisised by obsessions and compulsions
Explain obsessions and compulsions in OCD
OBSESSIONS
-recurrent persistent thoughts in mind that is unwanted and intrusive
-Leads to anxiety and distress
-Can be neutralised through another thought or action
COMPULSIONS
-Repetitive beh or mental act
-Done in response to obsessions to reduce anxiety
-Often excessive, cab be unrealistic
What are 2 differences begween obsessions and compulsions
Obsessions are recurrent persistent thoughts but compulsions are repetitive behaviour of mental act
Obsessions cause anxiety but compulsions neutralise anxiety
What are the congitive charecteristics of OCD (OBSESSIONS)
-RECURRENT AND PERSISTENT THOUGHTS- sufferers experience constantly repeated obsessive thoughts, images and ideas of an intrusive nature. They are uncontrollable and cause distress
-INSIGHT INTO EXCESSIVE ANXIETY Pppl suffering from ocd are aware that their obsessions and compulsions are not rational
-SELECTIVE ATTENTION Increased awareness of source of obsessions in new situations, increased awareness of certain stimulus while ignoring other eully relevant stimuli
-HYPERVIGILANCE Ppl with ocd may constantly be on the lookout for threats, both real and imagined. They may be hyperspace of their surroundings, scanning for potential dangers at all times
-CATASTROPHIC THINKING Porple with ocd may assume the very worst will happen in situations if they do not perform their compulsions
What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD (COMPULSIONS)
COMPULSIONS ARE REPETITIVE sufferers feel compelled to repeat beh as a response to their obsessive thoughts, ideas and images
COMPULSIONS REDUCE ANXIETY the vast majority of compulsive beh are performed in an attempt to manage the anxiety produced by obsessions. Performing these helps reduce the anxiety
What are the emotional characteristics of OCD
ANXIETY AND DISTRESS obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening and the anxiety that goes with these can be overwhelming. The urge to repeat a beh creates anxiety
GUILT AND DISGUST ocd often involves irrational guilt for example over minor moral issues or it may cause digsut towards external objects like dirt
What are the 2 explanations of the biological approach to explaining OCD
Genetic explanation of genes
Neural explanations of abnormal levels of neurotransmitters and abnormal brain circuits
THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO EXPLAINING OCD
Explain candidate genes and polygenic
-Specific genes lead to a vulnerability for ocd, these are called ocd candidate genes, 5HTT gene is responsible for the transportation of serotonin in a neurone. Inheriting the faulty version of the 5HTT gene dispripts the transportation of serotonin which leads to low levels of serotonin in the synapse
Ozakj et al found a mutation of the 5HTT gene in families where 6 out of 7 people has OCD
POLYGENIC
Other researchers claim ocd might be a polygenic disorder
Taylor did a meta analysis and found evidence up to 230 different genes involved in OCD
THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO EXPLAINING OCD
Explain abnormal levels of neurotransmitters
-Serotonin is responsible for regulating mood by facilitating synaptic transmission from one neurone to another
-Ocd is caused by serotonin removed too quick fron the synapse so no chance to pass on signal
-Also Dopamine levels are abnormally high in ocd, this is linked with anxiety and inability to stop focusing in obsessive thoughts in ocd
THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO EXPLAINING OCD
Explain abnormal brain circuits
-One of the roles of the orbitofrontal cortex is to send worry signals to the thalamus, for example if we cross’s a potential germ hazard
-This is mediated by the caudate nucleus within the basal ganglia which suppresses minor signals from OFC but let’s them through major signals and presents it from acting on every worry
-Thalamus is alerted to the major worry signal and initiates a reaction
-In people with OCD, the caudate nucleus is damaged, if it is hypersensitive, instead of suppressing minor signals, all major and minor signals from the orbitofrontal cortex go to the thalamus. The thalamus confirms and receives minor signals too creating a worry circuit which leads to acting on worries through compulsive/repetitive actions
One strength of the genetic explanations for OCD is there is research support from twin studied
Nestadt et al reviews previous twin studies into OCD and found that concordance rate for mz twins was 68% compared to 38% for dz twins. This shoes as the proportion of shared genes increases when comparing DZ twins (share 50% of genes) to MZ twins (share 100% genes), likelihood of both twins developing OCD also increases.
This shows ocd develops due to genetic factors and inheritance
This increased the validity
One weakness of the genetic explanation for ocd is it is reductionist as it oversimplified complex behaviour like ocd down tk simplistic low level causes like genes
For example, according to the diathesis stress model, inheriting genes makes an individual more vulnerable to ocd. There must be an environmental trigger for them to develop it. For example simply inheriting the vaults version of 5HTT gene will not lead to ocd unless this is combined with traumatic life experiences like being harshly punished for making a mess. This shows OCD can’t be entirely due to genetics as you need to consider genetics and environmental factors to have a holistic understanding of OCD. Since it fails to do this, it reduces the validity and is incomplete
One strength of the Neural explanations of OCD is it has practical applications
This led to the use of SSRIs (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) to treat depression. These drugs block the reuptake of serotonin into the pre synaptic neurone which prolongs the influence of serotonin on post synaptic neurone and increases levels of serotonin in the synapse. Furthermore, soomro et al reviwed evidence into the impact of ssris on ocd and found that they were effective in 70% cases. As ssris are an effective treatment, we can infer that the Neural explanations of ocd that the treatment is based on must also be valid. This increases the validity of the Neural explanations and shows it can improve lives
A weakness of Neural explanations of ocd is the evidence it relies on is correlational.
For example, it’s hard to determine based of the evidence if low levels of serotonin leads to depression or if having ocd depletes levels of serotonin in the synapse. If the former is true, the theory is validated. However, if the latter is true, then low levels of serotonin is not the cause of ocd but rather an effect of having ocd. For example, according to the social learning theory, someone may observe compulsive behaviors and imitate the beh and end up learning the beh. The correlational nature of supporting studies makes us question the validity of Neural explanations of OCD
What are the two drugs jn tbe biological approach to treating OCD
What do they both stand for
SSRI Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
SRI Tryciclics Serotonin reputakr inhibitors
THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO TREATING OCD
Explain SSRIs
Antidepressants that aim to reduce anxiety caused by ocd because ocd is caused by low levels of serotonin in the synapse
This increase in responding related mood and anxiety caused by ocd by reducing obsessive thinking and compulsive behaviour
-Blocks reuptske of serotonin back into the pre synaptic neurone After activation, this leads to more serotonin in the synapse, increases serotonin to influence activity on post dhnaltiv neurone, prolongs activation of serotonin in receptors making transmission of inhibition signal tk next neurone easier which inhibits repetitive behaviour
THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO TREATING OCD
Explain SRIs
Work the same as ssris but are less selective in their actions
Block the reuptake mechanism for serotonin and noradrenaline into the presynaptic neurone
More neurotransmitters left in the synapse which prolongs acitivry of neurotransmitter binding with receptors on post synaptic neurone making transmission to next neurone easier
Used when SSRIs are not effective
One weakness of the biological treatment of ocd is it is not a lasting cure and there is a risk or relapse after discontinuation
Simpson et al found 45% of patients on sris related back into ocd symptoms within 12 weeks after finishing course. Relapse rate was higher than that for patients who went through psychological therapy (12%)
Shows that drugs do not cure ocd, they only temporarily treat the symptoms of ocd, for more long term treatment, patients would be better off using psychological therapies like cbt
This shows biological treatments like drugs are limited in their effectiveness
One weakness of biological treatment of ocd is drug therapy isn’t appropriate for all patients as some may suffer from side effects
Common side effects of SSRIs include nauseoa, headache, insomnia, loss of sex drive. Tricyclic drugs have even more side effects like hallucination, weight gain, irregular heart beat.
This reduces effectiveness of ssris as people may stop taking them and drop the treatment to avoid side effects
This reduces appropriateness of ssris vs psychological treatments like cbt as ppl either existing cardiovascular or sleep conditions cannot take drug therapy
One strength of the biological treatment of ocd is drugs are often the proffered treatment for ocd
It is not disruptive to a patients life and requires little effort from user and barely any time compared to cbt where latient has to attend weekly sessions and has hw to complete
Means for patients ejo fo not suffer side effects are likely to have low attrition rates so patients are more likely to stick to the treatment and complete it
Drugs are also a good value for health service providers like NHS as it is cheaper than psychology treatments as it doesn’t require a therapist to administer treatment everything the treatment is being provided
Zinc drugs are easily dispensiblr and cost effective, this increases appropriateness of drugs for organisations like nhs
