Topic 3 : Psychological Problems Flashcards
What do mood disorders do?
Mood disorders affect how people feel.
What are the 3 main symptoms of unipolar depression?
Lowering mood
Lack of energy, even when rested
Lack of motivation
What is the official diagnosis of unipolar depression?
At least one of the main symptoms, most of the time for most days for at least 2 weeks.
Name a feature of unipolar depression.
- 1 in 15 people suffer from an episode of serious depression every year.
- Depression affects females twice as much as males.
- Depression also seems to affect females for longer periods of time than males.
What are the 3 levels of depressive episodes?
Mild, Moderate and Severe
How many symptoms are displayed in each level of depressive episode?
Mild - 4
Moderate - 5 or 6
Severe - 7
Which level of depressive episode would you expect to have serious problems doing day to day activities?
Moderate.
Name 5 of the other symptoms of unipolar depression.
Feeling suicidal Lack of self-esteem Poor appetite Extreme tiredness Feeling guilty Poor sleep Struggle enjoying usually pleasurable activities Acting nervously
Which group in society saw a large increase in diagnosis of unipolar depression? Why?
Teenagers.
Scientists have found that modern day life is more stressful for teens which could be as a result of the high use of social media.
How does depression affect the individual?
Increased risk of suicide
Feelings of worthlessness and sadness
(Reduces quality of life)
How does depression affect society?
High cost to treat -drugs, counselling
In one year it cost the NHS £1.7 billion to treat depression
Estimated 9.9 million days of work are missed due to stress and depression in 2 years
What is addiction?
Addiction is a psychological problem where people feel they need to ‘have’ or ‘do’ something regularly to avoid negative feelings.
What are the 5 symptoms of addiction?
- A feeling of need for the substance/activity
- Reducing the substance/activity is difficult
- Ignore arguments that substance/activity is harmful
- Replacing fun things with the substance/activity
- Increasing amount or strength of substance or activity for the same effect.
- Withdrawal symptoms when substance/activity isn’t taken/done.
Give examples of withdrawal symptoms
Shaking, sweating, vomiting
What is the difference between dependence disorders and behavioural addictions?
Dependence disorders are addictions to substances while behavioural addictions are addictions to activities.
State some features of addiction.
- 141,646 adults being treated for addiction in 2015
* About 6% of the worlds population have problematic internet use which could be classified as an addiction.
What are some of the newly classified addictions?
Internet, Video games, behavioural addictions
What is the diagnosis for addiction?
At least 3 of the symptoms must be shown at the same time for 1 month or repeated occasions over a year.
What is the name of the book that contains the symptoms and diagnosis for most medical conditions?
The ICD-10.
What does the genetic explanation of depression argue?
That depression is controlled by our genes and that if someone in our family is diagnosed with depression you have a higher chance of being diagnosed too.
What is the scientific name for identical twins and what percentage of their genes are shared?
Monozygotic twins share 100% of their genes. Usual twins (Dizygotic) share only 50%.
What do twin studies tell us about depression?
That depression must have some genetic cause seeing as people with more shared genes have a higher risk of both being diagnosed with depression.
What is genetic predisposition?
When you have a greater risk of getting something due to your genes.
What is the diathesis stress model?
A model that combines both nature and nurture by factoring both genetics and environment into the risk.
Name two strengths for the genetic explanation of depression.
It will remove the stigma of depression .
Supporting evidence from Caspi (2003).
Name two weaknesses of the genetic explanation of depression.
It is very deterministic.
It could be considered reductionist.
What gene has been found to be related to addiction?
The DDR2 gene
State three strengths for the genetic explanation of addiction.
Scientific evidence to support the theory
Twin studies and adoption studies support the theory
Explains why only some people become addicted.
