psychopathology lessons 8-13

Question 1

behavioural characteristics of depression

Answer 1

shift in energy levels
social impairment
weight changes
poor personal hygiene
sleep pattern disturbance
aggression and self harm

Question 2

emotional characteristics of depression

Answer 2

loss of enthusiasm
constant depressed mood
worthlessness
anger

Question 3

cognitive characteristics of depression

Answer 3

delusions
reduced concentration
thoughts of death
poor memory
negative thinking
absolutist thinking

Question 4

what is the cognitive triad by beck

Answer 4

the idea that people become depressed because of their negative outlook on life and so they develop negative schemas. this is usually developed from childhood where parents were overly critical of them.

Question 5

examples of negative schemas

Answer 5

self blame - feel responsible for misfortunes
ineptness - expecting to fail at everything

Question 6

steps of cognitive triad

Answer 6

negative thoughts about self: feeling worthless
negative thoughts about world: negative thinking continues on larger scale
negative thoughts about future: causes low self esteem and can lead to suicidal thinking

Question 7

evaluation of cognitive approach by beck

Answer 7

advantages: research support from terry who assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth. he found that women with high cognitive vulnerability to negative thinking were more likely to suffer post natal depression. the theory has been based on sound experimental research that is objective and permits testing.

disadvantages: cause and effect is not clear as do negative thinking cause depression or does depression cause the patient to think in a negative way. becks theory doesn’t explain how other symptoms are formed such as hallucinations and anger.

Question 8

what is ellis abc model

Answer 8

activating event: an event that triggers negative thinking
beliefs: patients record their thoughts associated with the events
consequences: patients record their emotional response to their beliefs such as feeling upset.

ellis identified mustabatory thinking can cause irrational and negative thinking that can be emotionally damaging: i must be loved or i’m worthless.

Question 9

evaluation of ellis’s abc model

Answer 9

advantages: research support from bates who found that depressed patients who were given negative thought statements became more and more depressed. by knowing negative thinking contributes to depression it can help provide effective treatments to cure depression.

disadvantages: cause and effect not established. the biological approach criticises the cognitive approach as neurotransmitters and genes may affect depression as well. zhang found there is a gene that makes it ten time more likely to develop depression.

Question 10

what is CBT by beck

Answer 10

therapy that restructures negative ways of thinking so they become more positive and rational. used on individuals or in small groups. therapist is highly trained. helps patient think in a more positive way. thought catching which is patients identifying negative thoughts. weekly sessions

Question 11

evaluation of cbt

Answer 11

advantages: very effective to use when client has mild depression as it stops it from getting worse. widely respected and supported in the use by the nhs. it also is very economical and cost effective. also identifies root cause of depression unlike medication.

disadvantages: more effective when paired with drugs and drugs require less effort. not as effective with severe depression as patient may be unwilling so drugs may be better for that.

Question 12

what is REBT by ellis

Answer 12

practises positive thinking by reinforcing the abc model in a more logical way. clients also given homework assignments between sessions to test irrational beliefs. active participation encouraged. Disputing irrational thoughts done through logical and empirical disputing. which is questioning if it is logical and if there’s proof
Effective disputing can change self defeating beliefs to rational ones
Feelings: thinking more positively makes you feel better.

Question 13

evaluation of REBT

Answer 13

advantages: research support from psychologist who said the use of rebt is effective to treat depressive stroke patients. david tested long term treatment of rebt on 170 depressed patients using drugs and rebt. after 6 months he found that rebt was more effective

disadvantages: rebt is dependant on patients being articulated and being able to talk coherently. therefore it won’t work on people who are uncomfortable or unable to do so. depends on the skill of the therapist as more skill leads to more effective

Question 14

what are the behavioural characteristics of OCD

Answer 14

compulsive behaviour: repetitive unconcealed acts that they believe they have to do
hinder everyday functioning: having obsessive ideas that create anxiety
social impairment: obsessions and compulsions may hinder the ability to have personal relationships
repetitive: repeat behaviours.
avoidance: avoiding situations that may trigger anxiety.

Question 15

what are the emotional characteristics of OCD

Answer 15

anxiety and distress: sufferers aware of their obsessions have feelings of shame and embarrassment
accompanying depression: anxiety might be accompanied by low mood
guilt and disgust: irrational guilt over minor issues or disgust which may directed towards self

Question 16

what are the cognitive characteristics of OCD

Answer 16

obsessions: recurrent intrusive thoughts or actions that are perceived as inappropriate
recognised as self generated: sufferers understand their obsessions, and images are self invented
realisation of inappropriateness: sufferers understand compulsive behaviours are innappropriate
attention bias: focussed on anxiety generated stimuli and they tend to be hyper vigilant.

Question 17

what are SSRI drugs

Answer 17

selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that prevents the reuptake of serotonin and prolongs activity in synapse so the person feels less anxious. increasing serotonin reduces the worry circuit. helps the orbital frontal cortex function at normal levels. prescribed for 12-16 weeks

Question 18

SSRI evaluation

Answer 18

advantages: soomro reviewed 17 studies that compared SSRI drugs to placebos to treat OCD and found that in all studies SSRI drugs were more effective than placebos especially when combined w CBT. 70% of patients noticed a decline in symptoms so it is quite effective.

disadvantages: the remaining 30% found it not very effective so tend to opt for a combination with other treatments. koran said that the drugs are not effective in the long term but only in the short term. they also have terrible side effects such as indigestion and blurred vision

Question 19

what are benzodiazepines

Answer 19

BZ drugs reduce anxiety and aim to control neurotransmitters. e.g xanax. BZ reduces blood pressure and heart rate. aims to increase GABA. BZ binds to GABA to slow down neurone activity.

Question 20

BZ evaluation

Answer 20

advantages: very effective at reducing anxiety and OCD symptoms. works on a global basis. works very quickly and in a short period. when used short term they don’t have much side effects

disadvantages: if used long term then it has side effects such as drowsiness and depression. ashton found that BZ when used long term can become very dependent and have withdrawal. stewart carried out a meta analysis and found long term use leads to cognitive impairment.