Psychological therapies

Question 1

What mechanisms underlie the placebo effect?

Answer 1

Expectancy
Classical conditioning
Anxiety/attention
Release of endogenous opiates

Question 2

What is exposure therapy?

Answer 2

Treatment of phobias through exposure to the feared conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus, response prevention is used to keep operant avoidant response from occurring. Highly effective for reducing anxiety responses
Controversial because intense temporary anxiety is created by treatment

Question 3

What is the cognitive model of panic disorder?

Answer 3

Internal/external trigger -> Perceived threat -> Anxiety -> Physical/cognitive symptoms -> Misinterpretation (loops back to anxiety)

Question 4

What is cognitive therapy?

Answer 4

Identifying the nature of thoughts: they don’t have to be true to affect emotions
Learn about common biases in thoughts
Treat thoughts as guesses or hypotheses about the world

Question 5

What conditions are physiological therapies recommended by NICE for?

Answer 5

Depression
Social anxiety
PTSD
Generalised anxiety disorder
OCD
Bulimia
Panic disorder and specific phobia
Schizophrenia