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Psychology - Psychopathology ~ continuation (The Biological Approach to…
Psychology - Psychopathology ~ continuation
Beck's Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
CBT is the standard psychological treatment for depression mostly used by clinical psychologists. It's based on cognitive and behavioural approaches where the therapy aims to deal with thinking such as
challenging negative thoughts.
How CBT goes:
Assess what the patient's are.
Identify goals and put together a plan to achieve them.
To identify where negative and irrational though may be and out more effective behaviours in place.
Some CBT therapies sometimes use a combination of Beck & Ellis' therapy.
CBT identifies thoughts about the world, self & future - the negative triad. Once identified, these thoughts must be challenged. This is a central component to CBT. This helps test patients the reality of their negative beliefs.
They do this through
"patient as scientist"
where they record their an enjoyable event or when people were nice to them in a diary so when the patient says an irrational belief "I'm unworthy" the therapist can produce their diary as evidence they aren't.
Behavioural Activism:
The therapist may also work to encourage a depressed patient to me more active and engage in enjoyable activities.
(+)EVALUATION:
It's effective because a study compared the effect of CBT in three groups: CBT with antidepressant drugs(86%), CBT alone (81%) and antidepressants only (81%) in 327 adolescents diagnosed with depression found they significantly improved after 36 weeks. This shows CBT is effective as medication or alongside medication.
(-)EVALUATION:
CBT may not work for some patients as the most severe cannot motivate or engage themselves with CBT so we should treat patients with antidepressants then commence CBT.
(-)EVALUATION:
An overemphasis on cognition which can lead to minimising the importance of the patient's environment, for example, living in poverty or suffering from abuse. These circumstances are not taking into consideration in CBT and therefore CBT used ineffectively can demotivate patients to change their situation.
CBT: Ellis' Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)
Extends the ABC Model to an ABCDE Model:
D stands for DISPUTE
E stands for EFFECT
The central technique of REBT is to identify and dispute (challenge) irrational thoughts which is more confrontational and stronger of CBT.
EVALUATION IS THE SAME FROM CBT
The Biological Approach to Explaining OCD
Genetic Explanations
: [Diathesis-stress model] Genes are involved in individual vulnerability to OCD. Lewis observed of his OCD patients, 37% had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with OCD. This suggests that OCD runs in families.
Candidate Genes
: Researchers have identified genes which create vulnerability in developing OCD called candidate genes. Some of these genes are involved in regulating the development of the serotonin system.
OCD is Polygenic
: OCD is not caused by one single gene but several genes invloved. Taylor found that up to 230 different genes may be involved in OCD.
Different types of OCD
: One group of genes may cause OCD in one person but another group of genes for another individual, The term to describe this is aetiologically heterogeneous, meaning the origin of OCD has different causes.
Neural Explanations
: The genes associates with OCD are likely to affect the levels of key neurotransmitters as well as structures of the brain.
The Role of Serotonin:
This conerns the neurotransmitter, seretonin which is believed to regulate mood. Some causes of OCD may be explained by the reduction of the serotonin system in the brain.
Decision-Making Systems:
Impaired decision making where the frontal lobe are responsible for logical thinking and making decisions.
(+)EVALUATION for Genetic Explanations:
There is supporting evidence from twin studies where psychologists found concordance levels of 68% in identical twins who shared OCD as opposed to 31% of non-identical twins. This stringky suggests a genetic influence on OCD.
(-)EVALUATION for Genetic Explanations:
There are to many candidate genes involved which makes it vague and not fully valid as an explanation.
(-)EVALUATION for Genetic Explanations:
There are environmental risk factors in twins due to them sharing the same environments so it may not be genetic factors as the sole purpose for OCD.
(+)EVALUATION for Neural Explanations:
Low serotonin levels is linked to the likelihood that the symptoms of OCD is triggered as it affects the decision-making part of the brain.
(-)EVALUATION for Neural Explanations:
Not clear what neuropathways are involved.
The Biological Approach to Treating OCD
Drug Therapy:
Aiming to increase/decrease levels of neurotransmitters in the brain to increase/decrease their activity.
SSRIs:
Standard medical treatment used to tackle symptoms of OCD which involve a particular type of antidepressant called a SSRI - This works on the serotonin system in the brain.
SSRIs are antidepressants used to prevent the absorptions of serotonin. SRRIs help serotonin stay in between the synapse so the level of serotonin remain high and have it flooding between the neurons.
Combining SRRIs with other Treatments:
SRRIs used alongside OCD to treat OCF. Drug reduced a patient's emotional symptoms (e.g. anxiety) so the patient can engage in CBT more effectively.
(+)EVALUATION:
Drugs are cost-effective and non-disruptive in patient's lives.
(+/-)EVALUATION:
Meta-analysis demonstrates that SRRIs perform better than placebos. However, half of patients who are taking the placebos aren't being treated.
The Cognitive Approach to Explaining & Treating Depression ~ continutation