Psychopathology Flashcards
(161 cards)
1
Q
what is psychopathology?
A
the scientific study of mental/psychological disorders.
2
Q
what is normal behaviour?
A
following the basic expectations of society.
3
Q
what is subjectivity in regards to psychopathology?
A
abnormality is difficult to define because it is subjective - based on opinions and ideas rather than objectivity (free from bias).
4
Q
what is cultural relativism?
A
the idea that cultural norms and values are culture specific and no one culture is superior to another, therefore, abnormality has to be defined in the context of the culture the behaviour takes place, otherwise it is culturally biased.
5
Q
what are the definitions of abnormality?
A
statistical infrequency/deviation, deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately and deviation from ideal mental health.
6
Q
what is statistical infrequency/deviation?
A
when an individual has a less common characteristic e.g. being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population.
7
Q
what is an example of statistical infrequency/deviation?
A
- schizophrenia affects 1% of the population.
- IQ below 70 (bottom 2% of the normal distribution for IQ) is part of the diagnosis for intellectual disability disorder (IDD)
8
Q
what are the strengths of statistical infrequency/deviation?
A
- it looks at the whole picture, taking all the population into account so it can give a useful insight into the whole picture of a particular characteristic.
- there are benefits as some ‘unusual’ people can receive extra support from being classed as abnormal e.g. someone with a low IQ or with a high BDI.
- there is real-world application as it has been used in clinical practice; as part of formal diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of an individual’s symptoms.
- the mathematical nature of this definition means it is clear what is defined as abnormal and what is not, there is no opinion involved which means there is no bias.
-> counterpoint: however, it takes no consideration of cultural differences e.g. in some cultures, hearing voices is normal and even considered beneficial.
9
Q
what are the weaknesses of statistical infrequency/deviation?
A
- not all statistically unusual people benefit from labels, someone with a low IQ who can cope with their chosen lifestyle would not benefit from a label - there is a social stigma attached to such labels.
- abnormal behaviour can occur frequently e.g. in 2014, depression occurred in nearly 20% of the UK population.
10
Q
what is deviation from social norms?
A
it concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society; different for each generation/culture so there are a few behaviours universally abnormal.
11
Q
what is an example of deviation from social norms?
A
antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy) is impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible behaviour which, according to the DSM-5, doesn’t fit into our society’s norms and values meaning they are classified as abnormal.
12
Q
what are the strengths of deviation from social norms?
A
- it is flexible dependent on the situation and age e.g. normal to wear full clothing whilst out shopping, but a bikini on the beach.
- adhering to social norms means that society is ordered and predictable, this is argued to be advantageous for society.
- it is used in clinical practice (has value in psychiatry) and it needed to be able to use the definition to diagnose conditions such as antisocial personality disorder.
13
Q
what are the weaknesses of deviation from social norms?
A
- norms vary dependent on the time and legislation changes causing a lack of consensus between generations e.g. homosexuality - a mental illness in 1970s but not now.
- different cultures have different ideas about what is and is not normal, it is only being immersed in the culture for a period of time that the decision can be made, therefore this definition can be culturally biased if applying one culture’s standards of normal on another.
- social norms tend to be dictated by the majority within a culture and this means that there are sections of society where behaviour is seen as normal within an ethnic community, but not within the culture as a whole, this can lead to a lack of understanding from both the ethnic minority and the majority of people within a culture.
14
Q
what is failure to function adequately?
A
behaviour which causes an inability to cope with everyday life and personal distress or anguish to themselves and/or others.
15
Q
what did rosenham and seligman (1989) propose?
A
additional signs that can be used to determine when someone is not coping with everyday life.
16
Q
what are the signs that rosenham and seligman (1989) proposed?
A
- when a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules.
- when a person experiences severe personal distress.
- when a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or others.
17
Q
what is an example of failure to function adequately?
A
intellectual disability disorder - an individual must be failing to function adequately before given a diagnosis.
18
Q
what are the strengths of failure to function adequately?
A
- this definition is focused on the individual and their perspective, so if someone feels as though they are struggling they will be deemed abnormal and get help.
- the global assessment of functioning scale (GAF) is used to measure the exten of the failure to function which means that it is relatively objective.
- failure to function adequately can be seen by others which means that problems can be picked up by others and if the individual is incapable of making a decision or helping themselves others can intervene.
19
Q
what are the weaknesses of failure to function adequately?
A
- abnormal behaviours may not be a problem for the individual, but may be for others around them e.g. someone may be abnormally aggressive and not be worried by it, but family and friends are.
- some abnormal behaviour can be missed because people may appear fine to others as they fit into society and have jobs and homes, but they may have distorted thinking which is causing them inner distress that they hide.
- people have different ideas of normal everyday life which varies within and across cultures, culturally it is not unusual to have siestas or move home regularly which may be seen as abnormal, this means that the definition is not clear.
20
Q
what is deviation from ideal mental health?
A
behaviour which fails to meet a particular criteria for psychological wellbeing.
21
Q
what did jahoda (1958) suggest?
A
a criteria for good mental health.
22
Q
what was jahoda’s criteria for good mental health?
A
- no symptoms or distress.
- rational and can perceive themselves accurately.
- self-actualise (strive to reach potential).
- can cope with stress.
- has a realistic view of the world.
- good self-esteem and lack guilt.
- independent of other people.
- can successfully work, love and enjoy leisure.
23
Q
what are the strengths of deviation from ideal mental health?
A
- it allows for an individual who is struggling to have targeted intervention if their behaviour is not ‘normal’ e.g. addressing distorted thinking to improve behaviour (paranoia).
- it focuses on what is helpful and desirable for the individual, rather than looking at negatives of behaviour.
- it allows for clear goals to be set and focused on to achieve normality.
24
Q
what are the weaknesses of deviation from ideal mental health?
A
- the criteria for ideal mental health is practically impossible to achieve, making the majority of the population, using this definition, abnormal.
- it applies well to most western cultures (individualist) but not non-western cultures (collectivist) that cannot relate to the criteria, the definition is not universal e.g. autonomy - collectivist cultures value dependence, community and seeking the greater good so would appear abnormal using this criteria.
- the criteria is vague and very difficult to measure, making it hard to decide whether someone fulfils it or not.
25
what is a phobia?
it is categorised as an anxiety disorder which causes an irrational fear of a particular object or situation.
26
what are the 3 categories of phobia?
simple (specific) phobia, social phobia and agoraphobia.
27
what is simple (specific) phobia?
most common type of phobia where a person fears a specific object in the environment e.g. arachnophobia (spiders).
28
what is social phobia?
involves feelings of anxiety in particular social situations e.g. giving speeches in public.
29
what is agoraphobia?
a fear of open or public spaces (can be caused by simple phobias and/or social phobias) e.g. the simple phobia mysophobia (fear of contamination) could lead to a fear of public spaces.
30
what are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?
panic, avoidance and endurance.
31
what is panic?
a person with a phobia may panic in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus, this panic may involve a range of behaviours including crying, screaming or running away - it can be considered but different age groups react differently, e.g. children may have a tantrum.
32
what is avoidance?
individuals tend to go to a lot of effort to prevent coming into contact with the phobic stimulus, this can make it hard to go about daily life e.g. someone with a fear of public toilets may have to limit the time they spend outside in relation to how long they can last without a toilet - can interfere with work, education and a social life.
33
what is endurance?
the alternative behavioural response to avoidance, it occurs when the person chooses to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus.
34
what are the emotional characteristics of phobias?
anxiety, fear and emotional response is unreasonable.
35
what is anxiety?
phobias involve an emotional response of anxiety, an unpleasant state of high arousal, this prevents a person relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any positive emotion - anxiety can be long term.
36
what is fear?
the immediate and extremely unpleasant response individuals experience when encountering or thinking about a phobic stimulus - usually more intense but experienced for shorter periods than anxiety.
37
what does it mean when the emotional response is unreasonable?
the anxiety or fear is much greater than is 'normal' and disproportionate to any threat posed.
38
what are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
selective attention and irrational beliefs.
39
what is selective attention?
if a person can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away from it, keeping attention on something really dangerous is a good thing as it gives the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat but this is not useful when the fear is irrational.
40
what are irrational beliefs?
holding unfounded thoughts in relation to phobic stimuli, that can't easily be explained and do not have any basis in reality.
41
what does the behavioural explanation suggest about phobias?
it focuses on the role of learning in acquiring phobias.
42
who developed a model for explaining phobias and what is it called?
mowrer (1960) - the two-process model
43
what is the two-process model?
it suggests that phobias can be learnt through classical conditioning (association) and maintained through operant conditioning (reinforcement).
44
what does classical conditioning suggest about phobias?
a fear response is associated with a neutral stimulus with becomes a conditioned stimulus due to being paired with a 'threatening' stimulus.
- it leads to an acquisition of a phobia.
- fear is then generalised to other similar objects.
45
what does operant conditioning suggest about phobias?
it occurs when behaviour is reinforced - increases the likelihood of behaviour being repeated; avoidance behaviour learnt through reinforcement.
- phobic patients avoid feared stimulus.
- this relieves them of fear and anxiety so continue to avoid phobic stimulus and phobia continues.
46
what are the strengths of the two-process model?
there is research support, watson (little albert) shows how phobias are learnt and maintained through avoidance.
-> counterpoint: not all phobias are due to a bad experience and not all scary experiences lead to phobias - association not as strong.
there is real-world application, exposure therapies mean that phobias can be successfully treated by preventing avoidance and once prevented, it is reinforced by anxiety reduction and avoidance is declined - the phobias is the avoidance so when prevented, phobias is cured showing that the model is valuable as it identifies a means of treating phobias.
47
what are the weaknesses of the two-process model?
it does not account for cognitive aspects of phobias, the behavioural explanation explains behaviour and it can be considered that phobias are not simply avoidance responses, they also have a significant cognitive component which means that the model explains avoidance behaviour but not for phobic cognitions, there also may be more general aspects to phobias that may be better explained by the evolutionary theory.
48
what are the two types of treatment for phobias?
systematic desensitisation and flooding.
49
what do the treatments do?
they both use principles of classical conditioning to replace a person's phobia with a new response - relaxation; these are called 'exposure therapies' as they prevent avoidance and help people confront their fears.
50
what is systematic desensitisation?
it uses gradual counter-conditioning to unlearn the maladaptive (bad) response to a situation or object, by replacing fear with another response (relaxation).
51
what are the 3 important components of systematic desensitisation?
fear hierarchy, relaxation training and gradual exposure.
52
what is the fear hierarchy?
it is a list of situations to a phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety (least to most scary).
53
what is relaxation training?
e.g. breathing techniques, muscle relaxation or mental imagery techniques.
- techniques to relax the participant.
54
what is gradual exposure?
it is when an individual is exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state.
55
what is reciprocal inhibition?
it is based on the premises that two emotional states (e.g. to be afraid and relaxed) cannot exist at the same time.
56
what is flooding?
a more extreme behavioural therapy which involves exposing a phobic patient to the most frightening situation immediately.
- a person is unable to avoid (negatively reinforce) their phobia and exposure continues until anxiety levels decrease.
- a patient is also taught relaxation techniques which are applied during flooding.
57
what forms can flooding take?
invivo and invitro.
58
what is invivo?
actual exposure.
59
what is invitro?
imaginary exposure.
60
what are the strengths of treatments for phobias?
mcgrath et al (1990) found 75% of patients were successfully treated using systematic desensitisation (invivo techniques) meaning that it is therefore effective.
gilroy et al (2003) found that that the systematic desensitisation group were less fearful than a control group showing that relaxation techniques are effective im reducing anxiety.
systematic desensitisation can be used to help people with learning disabilities, they often struggle with cognitive therapies that require complex thoughts, may feel confused and distressed by traumatic experience of flooding so systematic desensitisation is the most appropriate treatment.
they are cost-effective and quicker than other treatments meaning that more people can be treated.
61
what are the weaknesses of treatments for phobias?
systematic desensitisation is not effective in treating all phobias e.g. those not acquired through personal experience like fear of heights (evolutionary phobias), meaning it lacks reliability as it is not consistent with everyone.
flooding can be highly traumatic and patients may not finish treatment which means it is a waste of time and money, it is also highly effective for simple (specific) phobias but less effective for other types of phobias e.g. soical phobias and agoraphobia due to irrational thinking vs classical conditioning.
62
what is depression?
a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels.
63
what is the DSM criteria for depression?
- depressed mood
- lack of interest or pleasure in activities
- significant weight loss/gain
- insomnia or hypersomnia
- fatigue or loss of energy
- feelings of worthlessness
- lack of ability to think or concentrate
- recurrent thoughts of death
64
what are the 4 categories of depressions?
major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
65
what is major depressive disorder?
severe but often short-term depression.
66
what is persistent depressive disorder?
long-term or recurring depression, including sustained major depression.
67
what is disruptive mood dysregulation disorder?
childhood temper tantrums.
68
what is premenstrual dysphoric disorder?
disruption to mood prior to and/or during menstruation.
69
what are the behavioural categories of depression?
activity levels, disruption to sleep and eating behaviour and aggression and self-harm.
70
what is meant by activity levels?
typically people with depression have reduced levels of energy, making them experience excessive tiredness.
- knock-on effect - people tending to withdraw from work, education or social life, can be so severe the the individual cannot get out of bed.
- psychomotor agitation (opposite effect) - struggle to relax and may end up pacing up and down a room.
71
what is meant by disruption to sleep and eating behaviour?
- individuals may experience reduced sleep (insomnia) or an increased need for sleep (hypersomnia).
- appetite and eating may increase or decrease, leading to weight gain or loss.
72
what is meant by aggression and self-harm?
can become verbally or physically aggressive to oneself and/or others.
- knock-on effects - a number of aspects of life.
73
what are the emotional characteristics of depression?
lowered mood, lowered self-esteem and anger.
74
what is meant by lowered mood?
people experiencing feelings of sadness, worthlessness and a lack of pleasure/interest in activities.
75
what is meant by lowered self-esteem?
people like themselves less than usual; can be quite extreme - some people describing a sense of self-loathing.
76
what is anger?
experience more negative emotions, frequently anger (sometimes extreme anger) and can be directed at the self or others where such emotions can lead to aggressive or self-harming behaviour.
77
what are the cognitive characteristics of depression?
poor concentration, attending to and dwelling on the negative and absolutist/irrational thinking.
78
what is meant by poor concentration?
unable to stick with a task or hard to make decisions as usually done - likely to interfere with individual's work.
79
what is meant by attending to and dwelling on the negative?
paying more attention to negative aspects, also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones, can lead to repetitive thoughts of self-harm/suicide.
80
what is meant by absolutist/irrational thinking?
'black and white thinking' - a thought pattern that makes people think in absolutes e.g. something is seen as an absolute disaster or best thing ever.
81
what are the two explanations for depression?
beck's negative triads and ellis's ABC model.
82
what is beck's negative triad?
3 kinds of negative thinking which leads to depression i.e. negative views of the world, future and self.
83
how did beck explain depression?
in terms of the way a person thinks and that this creates a cognitive vulnerability (more prone to depression), there are 3 parts to his theory: faulty information processing, negative self-schemas and negative triad.
84
what is the faulty information processing part?
he found that depressed individuals are prone to distorting and misinterpreting information (cognitive bias) and focusing on negative aspects of life.
85
what are negative self-schemas?
they are developed during childhood and come from negative experiences, these schemas mean that they may interpret information about themselves in a negative way which leads to cognitive bias.
86
what is the negative triad?
3 types of negative thinking (world, future and self), leading to dysfunctional self-view.
87
what is ellis's ABC model?
depression involves activating events, irrational beliefs and consequences for our behaviour.
88
how did ellis explain depression?
he proposed the ABC model to explain how irrational thoughts could lead to depression.
89
what does the 'A' of the model suggest?
activating event - an event occurs.
90
what does the 'B' of the model suggest?
beliefs - an individual's interpretation of the event, either rational or irrational thoughts.
91
what does the 'C' of the model suggest?
consequences - rational beliefs lead to healthy emotional outcomes, irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotional outcomes.
92
what are the strengths of beck's model as a cognitive explanation for depression?
there is research support, cohen et al (2001) found a link between cognitive vulnerability and depression in teens, cognitive vulnerabilities were more common in depressed individuals and preceded the depression - shows an association with cognitive vulnerability and depression.
buory et al (2001) also found that patients with depression were more likely to misinterpret information negatively (cognitive bias) and feel hopeless about their future (negative triad).
93
what are the strengths of ellis's model as a cognitive explanation for depression?
there is real-world application, rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) has been developed as a result of the ABC model, by arguing with a depressed person, a therapist can alter irrational beliefs which shows that the development of the ABC model has been effective in supporting patients with depression.
94
what are the weaknesses of ellis's model as a cognitive explanation for depression?
it does not explain origins of irrational thoughts so it is difficult to determine if negative, irrational thoughts cause depression or if depression leads to a negative mindset.
it places the blame on the individual with depression which is seen as unethical and unhelpful.
other explanations suggest genetics and neurochemistry are more effective in explaining depression.
95
what are the cognitive treatments of depression?
cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), beck's CBT and ellis's rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT).
96
what is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)?
it involves a cognitive and behavioural element.
97
what is the cognitive element of CBT?
it aims to identify irrational and negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.
98
what is the behavioural element of CBT?
it encourages patients to test their beliefs through behavioural experiments and homework.
99
what does the CBT involve?
it involves initial assessments (identifying the patient's problems), agreeing on a set of goals and plan of action to achieve them and identifying negative and irrational thoughts.
100
what is the aim of beck's CBT?
to identify negative thoughts in relation to themselves, world and future (negative triad)/
101
what is the central component of the theory of beck's CBT?
to challenge the irrational thoughts, by discussing evidence for and against them.
102
what is the test reality of beck's CBT?
the patient is encouraged to test the validity of their negative thoughts i.e. homework (patient as scientist).
103
what is ellis's REBT?
it is the 'DE' of the ABC model - ABCDE.
- D = dispute
- E = effect
104
what does ellis's REBT involve?
it involves challenging irrational thoughts (achieved through dispute); logical and empirical dispute.
105
what is logical dispute?
logic of a person's thoughts is questioned.
106
what is empirical dispute?
evidence is seeked for a person's thoughts.
107
what is the behavioural activation part of the ellis's REBT?
involves encouraging of the individual to engage in activities which decreases avoidance and isolation.
108
what are the strengths of the cognitive treatments of depression?
there is research support, march et al (2007) compared CBT to antidepressant drugs and to a combination of CBT and drugs and found that after 36 weeks, 81% of CBT group, 81% of drugs group and 86% of CBT and drugs group significantly improved which shows that CBT is an effective treatment; on its own and better with the drugs, also it is a popular treatment.
they are effective as they deal with issues in the patient's past which can help if they want to talk about their childhood experiences and CBT is time and cost-effective so it is available for a wide range of patients.
109
what are the weaknesses of the cognitive treatments for depression?
they may not be suitable for severe cases of depression due to a lack of motivation or patients with learning disabilities due to the complex rational thoughts.
-> (counterpoint): however, newer evidence suggests CBT is as effective as drugs or behavioural therapies and when used appropriately, it can be effective for people with learning disabilities.
it places too much emphasis on cognition and doesn't explore biological causes, present situation or childhood experiences as being the cause of depression, therefore ignoring other factors that could be accounted for e.g. biological.
110
what is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
a serious anxiety related condition where a person experiences frequent intrusive and unwelcome obsessional thoughts, often followed by repetitive compulsions, impulses or urges.
111
what is the cycle of OCD?
obsessive thought -> anxiety -> compulsive behaviour -> temporary relief -> (back to) obsessive thought
112
what are some statistics about OCD?
- 70% of OCD sufferers experience both obsessions and compulsions.
- 20% just experience obsessions.
- 10% just experience compulsions.
113
what are obsessions?
cognitive
- they are persistent and uncontrollable thoughts, images, impulses, worries, fears or doubts; often intrusive, unwanted and disturbing and significantly interfere with the ability to function on a day-to-day basis as they are incredibly difficult to ignore.
114
what are compulsions?
behavioural
- they are repetitive physical behaviours and actions or mental thought rituals that are performed repeatedly in an attempt to relieve the anxiety caused by the obsessional thoughts.
115
what are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?
compulsions are repetitive, compulsions reduce anxiety and avoidance.
116
what does it mean by compulsions are repetitive?
sufferers often feel compelled to repeat a behaviour.
117
what does it mean by compulsions reduce anxiety?
it can be used to manage and reduce anxiety, repetitive checking is used to reduce fear of forgetting something important.
118
what is avoidance?
it is an attempt to reduce anxiety by keeping away from situations that trigger it - it can also lead people to avoid very ordinary situations and can interfere with leading a regular life.
119
what are the emotional characteristics of OCD?
anxiety and distress, depression and guilt and disgust.
120
what is anxiety and distress?
obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and frightening and the anxiety that goes with these can be overwhelming, the urge to repeat a behaviour creates anxiety (compulsion).
121
what is depression?
severe anxiety can result in a low mood and loss of pleasure in everyday activities as these activities are interrupted by obsessions and compulsions - compulsive behaviour tends to bring some relief from anxiety but this is temporary.
122
what is guilt and disgust?
negative emotions which may be directed against something external or at the self.
123
what are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?
obsessive thoughts, cognitive coping strategies and insight into excessive anxiety.
124
what are obsessive thoughts?
thoughts that occur repeatedly and sufferers are aware that thoughts are irrational.
125
what are cognitive coping strategies?
used to help a sufferer deal with obsessions, may help manage anxiety and guilt but can make the person appear abnormal and distract them from tasks that they do everyday.
126
what is insight into excessive anxiety?
experience catastrophic thoughts about the worst case scenarios that might result if their anxieties were justified, also tend to be hyper-vigilant, also known as selective attention - attention directed towards the anxiety.
127
what are the causes of OCD?
family history, differences in the brain, life events and personality.
128
what are biological explanations for OCD?
they suggest that an individual's genes and/or brain functioning make them vulnerable to developing this disorder.
- genetic explanations
- neural explanations
129
what are genetic explanations?
they suggest individuals inherit specific genes that cause OCD, this could lead to a genetic vulnerability for OCD.
130
what evidence is there for genetic explanations?
- lewis (1936) found that 37% of OCD patients had parents with OCD while 21% had siblings with OCD and concluded that 1st degree relatives of OCD patients experience a significantly higher risk of developing OCD.
- twin studies show that if 1 MZ twin has OCD, the other is 2 times more likely to have OCD.
- overall, twin/family studies of OCD estimate that genetics contributes approximately 45-65% of risk for developing OCD.
131
what is diathesis?
a tendency to suffer from a particular medical condition
- genes, abnormalities of brain structure or functioning, neurotransmitters.
- vulnerability to psychological disorders.
132
what are stressors?
noxious physical stressors, trauma, abuse, neglect, relationships - loss/turbulence, culture-related stressors.
133
what is the diathesis-stress model?
psychological disorders are due to the genetic vulnerability to them and environmental factors.
134
how is OCD considered polygenic?
it is because OCD is caused by a combination of genetic variations that significantly increase vulnerability.
135
what are candidate genes?
genetic explanations try to identify the genes implicated in a disorder.
136
what candidate genes are included (that are linked to OCD)?
- COMT gene: involved in the regulation of dopamine in the brain - it is more common in OCD patients.
- SERT gene: linked to the neurotransmitter serotonin (regulates mood) and affects transport of serotonin, causing lower levels of serotonin.
137
what are the strengths of the genetic explanations?
there is research support, nestadt et al (2010) reviewed twin studies and found that 68% of MZ twins and 31% of DZ twins have OCD, marini and stebnicki (2012) found that OCD is 4 times more likely if a family member has it and animal studies show that particular genetic variations are associated with repetitive behaviours (e.g. repetitive handwashing) in other mammal species e.g. mice.
-> counterpoint: the human mind and brain are much more complex than those of other mammal species which means animals cannot always be generalised to humans - weak support.
138
what are the weaknesses of genetic explanations?
cromer et al (2007) found that over half OCD clients in one sample experienced a traumatic event and OCD was more severe, which shows that genetic vulnerability only provides a partial explanation for OCD.
139
what are neural explanations?
suggests genes linked to OCD could affect levels of neurotransmitters and structures of the brain.
140
what is the role of neurotransmitters in relation to OCD?
serotonin regulated mood and lower levels of serotonin have been found in some OCD cases (SERT gene), higher levels of dopamine associated with the symptoms of OCD.
141
what is the role of brain structures in relation to OCD?
basal ganglia start/stops wanted/unwanted behaviours and is hyperactive in people with OCD, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) converts sensory information into thoughts and actions, notices wrongs and PET scans have found found higher activity in OFC of OCD patients.
142
what evidence is there for neural explanations?
- comer (1998) found that low levels of serotonin are linked to OCD (hightened activity of OFC).
- sukel (2007) found that high levels of dopamine are linked to OCD (overactivity in the basal ganglia).
- max et al (1994) found that when the basal ganglia is disconnected from the frontal cortex (decision-making) during surgery, OCD-like symptoms are reduced.
143
what are the strengths of neural explanations?
there is research support, antidepressants that work on serotonin are effective in reducing OCD symptoms and biological conditions (e.g. parkinson's disease) have similar symptoms to OCD, suggesting that biological factors may be responsible for OCD and there is real-world application.
144
what are the weaknesses of neural explanations?
the apparent serotonin-OCD link may just be comorbidity with depression - the depression disrupts serotonin so serotonin may not be relevant to OCD symptoms.
145
what are the treatments for OCD?
drug therapy.
146
what is drug therapy?
involves taking medication which aims to increase or decrease levels of neurotransmitters in the brain/their activity (increase levels of serotonin).
147
what drug therapy is included for the treatment of OCD?
antidepressants (SSRIs) and anti-anxiety drugs (BZs).
148
what does SSRI stand for and what are they?
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitions e.g. prozac and fluoxetine.
149
what does the biological explanation suggest?
OCD is the result of low levels of serotonin in the brain.
150
what do SSRIs do?
they prevent the re-absorption (reuptake) or serotonin - increasing levels and prolonging its activity in the brain (they stop the absorption with more serotonin landing on receptions so the brain thinks there is more serotonin).
151
how long do SSRIs take?
usually 3-4 months of daily use to have an effect.
152
what happens if there is no effect from the SSRIs?
if there is no effect after the 3-4 months time period, the SSRIs can be combined with other drugs such as: tricyclics and SNRIs.
153
what do tricyclics do?
e.g. clomipramine
- acts on various systems such as serotonin and have the same effect as SSRIs.
154
what do SNRIs do?
increase serotonin and noradrenaline (if SSRIs don't work, 2nd line of defence).
155
what are SSRIs used along and why?
they are used alongside CBT as patients may engage easier in CBT with drugs reducing negative emotions e.g. anxiety.
156
what are anti-anxiety drugs (BZs)?
benzodiazepines e.g. valium/diazepum.
157
what do BZs do?
they enhance the action of the neurotransmitter GABA.
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what is GABA and what does it do?
gamma-aminobutyric acid, it tells neurons in the brain to 'slow down' and 'stop firing'.
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what effect do BZs have?
they have a quieting effect on the brain and therefore reduces anxiety associated with obsessions.
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what are the strengths of treatments for OCD?
soomro et al (2009) found that SSRIs were significantly more effective than placebos in OCD treatment (17 different trials): 70% = improvement of symptoms and 30% = needs other drugs or combination therapy, this means that drugs are helpful for most people with OCD.
-> counterpoint: skapinakis et al (2016) concluded both cognitive and behavioural (exposure) therapies were more effective than SSRIs in treatment of OCD which means drugs may not be the optimum treatment for OCD.
it is time-effective as it does not involve a lot of time spent going to therapy sessions and causes less disruption to everyday lives, drugs are quick and easy to take and it is a popular option for patients and health services.
it is also cost-effective as it is quite cheap compared to psychological treatments e.g. CBT sessions cost £40-£100 per session.
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what are the weaknesses of treatments for OCD?
there are side effects to drug therapy, SSRIs can cause indigestion, hallucinations, erection problems and raised blood pressure and BZs can cause high addiction, increased aggression and long-term memory impairments which means that taking drugs reduces the quality of life for some people.
