Psychopathology: Phobias, Depression, OCD Flashcards
what’s a phobia?
described as excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation. the extent of fear is out of proportion to any real danger.
what’s the behavioural characteristics of phobias?
panic = crying, screaming, running away. avoidance = make conscious effort to avoid coming into contact with their phobia, hard to go about life. endurance = suffer is present but has high anxiety levels, unavoidable.
what’s the emotional characterisitics of phobias?
anxiety = unpleasant state of high arousal, can’t relax or experience positive emotions. unreasonable emotions = disproportionate to the danger posed.
what’s the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
selective attention = hard to look away, can react quickly if needs be. irrational beliefs = increases pressure of sufferer. cognitive distortions = perceptions may be distorted.
what’s depression?
a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels.
what’s the behavioural characteristics of depression?
activity levels = reduced energy and not doing activity they used to do. can’t get out of bed. disruption to sleep and eating = changes in sleeping and eating patterns, too much or too little. aggression = irritable, verbally and physically aggressive to others or themselves.
what’s the emotional characteristics of depression?
lowered mood = sad and lethargic, feeling worthless and empty. anger = could be extreme to themselves or others. lowered self-esteem = they like themselves less than usual, a sense of self-loathing.
what’s the cognitive characteristics of depression?
poor concerntration = unable to stick to a task or hard to make decisions. dwelling on the negative = ignore the positives, bias to recalling unhappy events. absolutist thinking = black and white thinking.
what’s OCD?
a condition characterised by obessions and compulsive behaviour.
what are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?
compulsions = repetitive - repeat a behaviour, reduces anxiety - they do the behaviours to manage their anxiety. avoidance = attempt to stay away from the situations that trigger their anxiety.
what’s the emotional characteristics of OCD?
anxiety and distress = unpleasant emotions, overwhelming, frightenting. accompanying depression = low mood and lack of enjoyment for activities. guilt and disgust = irrational guilt.
what’s the cognitive characteristics of OCD?
obsessive thoughts = thoughts recur over and over again. cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions = having responses to calm their anxiety and distract them. insight to excessive anxiety = they’re aware of how irrational their behaviour is but can’t help it
