Psychopathology 4: OCD

Question 1

Three questions could be asked on OCD, what are these?

Answer 1

-Characteristics
-Biological explanations
-Biological treatment

Question 2

What type of disorder is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

Answer 2

An anxiety disorder

Question 3

What does OCD involve?

Answer 3

Frequent intrusive and unwelcome obsessional thoughts, often followed by repetitive compulsions, impulses or urges.

Question 4

What three symptoms does OCD have?

Answer 4

-Behavioural
-Emotional
-Cognitive

Question 5

What are two behavioural symptoms of OCD?

Answer 5

-Compulsions (repetitive and reduce anxiety)
-Avoidance

Question 6

What are three emotional symptoms of OCD?

Answer 6

-Anxiety and distress
-Comorbid depression
-Guilt and disgust

Question 7

What are three cognitive symptoms of OCD?

Answer 7

-Obsessive thoughts
-Cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions
-Selective attention

Question 8

What is the overall assumption of the biological approach on the cause of OCD?

Answer 8

It is a physical/bodily problem

Question 9

What are the two main biological explanations in the spec?

Answer 9

-Genetic explanations
-Neural explanations

Question 10

What are the two neural explanations of OCD?

Answer 10

-Neurotransmitters
-Brain structure

Question 11

What are neurotransmitters?

Answer 11

Chemicals that transmit electrical messages from one nerve cell in the brain to another

Question 12

What does the biological explanation of neurotransmitters suggest?

Answer 12

OCD is caused by imbalances in these neurotransmitters within the brain

Question 13

OCD has been linked to low levels of which neurotransmitter?

Answer 13

Serotonin

Question 14

How has OCD been linked with low levels of serotonin?

Answer 14

Because anti-depressants that increase serotonin actually decreases symptoms of OCD

Question 15

What does structure of the brain suggest about OCD?

Answer 15

Tha OCD is caused by problems with the structure of the brain

Question 16

Which areas of the brain are thought to be abnormal with people with OCD?

Answer 16

Several areas of the frontal lobes

Question 17

PET scans show that a person with OCD has…

Answer 17

High levels of activity in the orbital frontal cortex (OFC)

Question 18

What action is the Orbital Frontal Cortex (OFC) linked with?

Answer 18

Carrying out an activity due to an impulse

Question 19

What does over activity in the OFC mean for those with OCD?

Answer 19

That even once they carry out the activity the impulse to do so doesn’t go away

Question 20

What has genetic research suggested about OCD?

Answer 20

That some people may be at risk of genetically developing OCD, it can be inherited

Question 21

How do we test the link of genetics with OCD?

Answer 21

We look at twin studies

Question 22

What percentage of genes do Monozygotic (MZ) twins share?

Answer 22

100%

Question 23

What percentage of genes do Dizygotic (DZ) twins share?

Answer 23

50%

Question 24

What did Carey and Gottesman (1981) find about twin studies?

Answer 24

That MZ twins have concordance rates of 87% for OCD and DZ twins have 47%

Question 25

Genes have been identified that mean that people are more likely to suffer from OCD, what are these called?

Answer 25

Candidate genes

Question 26

What is a candidate gene that we use in the spec?

Answer 26

The SERT gene

Question 27

What does the SERT gene affect?

Answer 27

The transport of serotonin

Question 28

What has been found in relation to the SERT gene in OCD sufferers?

Answer 28

The SERT gene is mutated which creates lower levels of serotonin

Question 29

What are the evaluations of the biological/neural approach to OCD?

Answer 29

😍There is evidence to support genetic - Billett (1988)
😞The research into genetics as an explanation for OCD suggest that there is some kind of connection, but not 100% concordance
😞There are issues with determining causality
😞Not everyone with OCD responds to drugs
😍Evidence to support neural- NIMH study
😍It’s scientific

Question 30

What did the NIMH study find to support the neural approach to OCD?

Answer 30

National Institue for Mental Health (NIMH) found that OCD patients had mutations to the SERT gene, causing low levels of serotonin

Question 31

How does drug therapy work for OCD patients?

Answer 31

By altering the amount of neurotransmitters in the brain

Question 32

What do drugs in therapy aim to do?

Answer 32

Increase the levels of serotonin in patients

Question 33

What is the name of a drug used to increase serotonin in OCD patients?

Answer 33

SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor)

Question 34

What is an example of an SSRI?

Answer 34

Prozac

Question 35

How do SSRIs work?

Answer 35

They increase the amount of serotonin by blocking the re-uptake pump in the synapse. Allowing more serotonin to attach to the receptors as it is not being taken away by the pump

Question 36

What are the 5 evaluations of drug therapy for OCD?

Answer 36

😍Drugs are quick/easy
😍Evidence proves it’s effective - Soomro (2009)
😞Possible side effects
😞Treat symptoms not cause
😞Not long lasting treatment

Question 37

What was found in the study to prove drug treatment effectiveness - Soomro (2009)?

Answer 37

Compared patients treated with SSRIs and a placebo, found that in all studies the SSRI were more effective