Psychopathology - OCD Flashcards
What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?
Repetitive
avoidance situations
compulsions reduce anxiety
What are the emotional characteristcs of OCD?
anxiety
depression
guilt and disgust
What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?
obsessive thoughts
cognitive coping strategies
What is an example of a concordance rate or MZ and DZ twins?
MZ 32%
DZ 14%
What are the two genes associated with OCD?
COMT - dopamine (high)
SERT - serotonin (lower)
What evidence is there for genes comprising to the explanation?
Lewis (1936) found 37% of patients had a parent with OCD and 21% had siblings with OCD.
what did Kiara Cromer et al. (2007) find?
over half the OCD clients in their sample had experienced a traumatic event in their past
what did Nestadt et al. (2010) find?
68% MZ shared OCD
31% DZ
what brain structures are associated with OCD?
higher activity in the orbitofrontal cortex
basal ganglia damaged associated with movement
how could OCD be learnt? (two-process model)
anxiety x dirt
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
what do benzodiazepines do?
Benzodiazepines (BZs) (anti-anxiety drugs) eg Xanax and Valium. They slow down the activity of the central nervous system by enhancing the activity of the NT GABA which has a general quieting effect an many neuron in the brain.
evaluate drug therapy?
Soomro (2009) - Placebos v SSRIs - 17 studies - the use of SSRIs with OCD patients found them to be more effective than placebos in reducing symptoms of OCD up yo 3 months after treatment
more effecitve with psychological therapy
what is good about drug therapy?
cheap
quick
non-intrusive
why is evidence from drug therapies unreliable?
Turner et al (2008) showed that there is bias towards publication of studies that show positive outcomes of antidepressant medication, which exaggerates the benefits of the drugs
