psychpath- OCD Flashcards
In the ‘emotional’ category of characteristics of OCD
what are the 3 subtopics, name and explain them
1- Anxiety and distress: Obssessive thoughts that are unpleasant, and the anxiety that goes with these thoughts can be very overwhelming
2- Guilt and disgust: irrational guilt over a minor issue
3- Accompanying depression: experience low mood to
In the ‘behavioural’ category of characteristics of OCD
what are the 2 subtopics, name and explain them
1- Compulsions: repeating specific actions e.g. excessive hand washing
2- Avoidance: avoiding a situation that triggers anxiety e.g. stop coming in contact with germs to stop hand washing
In the ‘cognitive’ category of characteristics of OCD
what are the 2 subtopics, name and explain them
1- Obsessive thoughts: 90% of OCD sufferers have intrusive re-occcuring thoughts r.g. about being contaminated by germs
2- Insight into excessive anxiety: Awareness that thoughts are irrational e.g. they are over aware and hyper vigilant about their obsession
Define OCD
OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsion Disorder which is when people have obsessive thoughts and compulsive activity
define what an obsession is
an obsession is an unwanted thought that repeatedly enters your mind, causing feelings of anxiety, disgust or unease
define what a compulsion is
a compulsion is a repetitive behaviour or mental act that you feel the need to carry out, for temporary relieve from the obsessive thoughts
Carrying out compulsions is time consuming and interferes with normal functioning
Name and explain the 4 categories of OCD
OCD- sits in its own category of disorders
Hoarding disorder- getting possessions and having difficulty letting them go
Trichotillomania- Pulling and breaking your own hair
Excoriation- Skin picking and can’t stop it
Define concordance rate
A measure of genetic similarity
e.g. 100 twin pairs and one has a phobia disorder
define Dopamine
One of the key neurotransmitters in the brain, with effects on motivation and ‘drive’
Neurotransmitter
A chemical substance in the nervous system which transmits nerve impulses across a synapse
Genetic explanations of OCD
Genes are involved in how vu______ someone is to OCD
name the researcher L____ (193_) who observed his OCD patients and found that 7% had parents with OCD, and 2% had siblings with OCD.
researcher is Lewis 1936
37%
21%
Hhow does the diathesis-stress-model explain OCD
There is an OCD gene which makes someone vulnerable, and if a person has a stressor in their environment, will trigger the gene and develop behaviours which will be displayed.
What are candidate genes
researchers believe that candidate genes have been implicated in the development of OCD. These genes tend to be involved in regulating serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter that facilitates message transfer across synapses
There are two candidate genes, which create vulnerability to OCD, which are involved in regulating the development of the serotonin system
name and explain them
SERT gene: linked to serotonin transportation and if the gene is defective, then the serotonin levels can be disrupted (lowered), which is associated with OCD
COMT gene: helps regulate dopamine, a low activity version of the gene results in increased levels of dopamine which is associated with OCD
What is OCD thought to be
what does it mean
OCD is thought to be a Polygenic
this means that its development is not determined by a single gene, but a few.
what is a strength of the genetic explanations of OCD
twins
research Nes___ 20_0
a strength is there is a wide range of evidence to demonstrate that people are vulnerable to OCD because of the genetic makeup.
For example, Nestadt et al 2010 found 68% of twins shared OCD, compared to 31% of non-identical twins.
This suggests that there is genetic influence to OCD because they those with identical genes are more likely to inherit OCD, compared to the general population
What is a weakness of genetic explanations of OCD
env
research Cro_____ 200_
dia____ stre__mo___
a weakness is that there are separate factors, such as environment, which can also trigger the risk of developing OCD, whichis the diathesis stress model.
For example, Cromer et al 2007 found half the OCD ppts had traumatic events in the past, and they had more severe OCD.
This is a weakness for the biological approach because there is evidence that environmental factors impacted OCD as well
What are the other explanations for OCD aside from genetic
Neural Explanations
Define what is meant by Neural explanations
the genes associated with OCD are likely to afffect the levels of key neurotransmitters as well as structure of the brain, these are called neural explanations
what is the role of serotonin in ‘neural explanation’
what happens if theres low levels of serotonin
what is OCD seen as
serotonin helps mood regulation and neurotransmitters are responsible for relaying information from one neuron to another
if there are low levels of serotonin- the normal transition of mood related information doesn’t happened, which affected the mood and mental processing
OCD is seen as reduction in the functioning of the serotonin system in the brain
What OCD disorder links to difficulty in decision making and where is the abnormal functioning in the brain
which part of the brain is responsible for logical thought and making decisions
Hoarding disorder in OCD is associated with impaired decision making, if there’s abnormal functioning of the lateral (side parts) of the frontal lobes of the brain
frontal lobe
What is a strength and weakness to neural explanations of OCD
strength - There’s evidence support for neural mechanisms in OCD. For example, antidepressants work only on the serotonin system, increasing levels of neurotransmitters. Antidepressants are effective because they reduce symptoms of OCD, which demonstrates that the serotonin system is involved in OCD.
weakness- Studies that research decision-making show that these neural systems are the same systems that function abnormally in OCD as well as decision making.
This means that neural explanations have reduced reliability because there isn’t enough consistent evidence to show that neural mechanisms are involved in OCD
The biological approach how ways of treating OCD
name the two treatments
1- drug therapy
2- SSRI’s
Explain how drug therapy treats OCD
drug therapy aims to increase or decrease levels of neurotransmitters in the brain or increase/decrease thier activity
