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Psychopathology (Definitions of Abnormality (Deviation from Social Norms
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Psychopathology
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Depression
Characteristics
Behavioural:
Low activity levels, disturbances in eating and sleeping, aggressive
Cognitive:
Poor concentration, dwelling on the negative
Emotional:
low mood and self-esteem, anger
Developments
Becks Negative Triad
Faulty thinking leads to a negative view of self, world and future
Evaluation:
- (S) Supportive evidence from Grazoli and Terry (2000). 65 pregnant women for cog vulnerability factors and depression before and after birth. They found that those women with high cog vulnerability were more likely to suffer post- natal depression
- (S) Practical application in CBT- challenging irrational beliefs
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Treatments
Becks CBT
The idea behind the therapy is to identify the negative thoughts (triad). Once identified these thoughts are to be challenged as well as their their reality of the thoughts will be challenged by:
- The therapist setting homework / 'patient as scientist', investigating the reality of their negative thoughts (used in future sessions)
Ellis's rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT)
This extends the ABC model to ABCDE where D stands for dispute and E is for effect. The central technique is to dispute the irrational thoughts.
Evaluation:
- (S) Supportive research from March et al (2007). Compared the effectiveness of CBT with anti-depressant drugs and a combination in 327 adolescents. After 36 weeks, 81% of the CBT group, 81% of the drug therapy and 86% of the combination group improved.
- (W) May not work on severe cases > The depression could be so severe that patients cannot motivate themselves to engage with the therapy. May work with a combination of drug therapy, yet this is a limitation as it is not the sole treatment
Phobias
Characteristics
Behavioural:
Panic, Avoidance, Endurance
Cognitive:
Selective attention, irrational beliefs
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Developments
Two process model:
Phobias can be explained using the two process model. The first stage is classical conditioning. During this stage a phobia is acquired through an association with a neutral stimulus which is paired with an unconditioned stimulus, producing a negative response (UCR) such as fear or anxiety. The neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus (the phobic stimulus) that results in a conditioned response of the same fear or anxiety.
After a phobia has been acquired, the phobia is maintained through operant conditioning. The phobia is maintained through negative reinforcement when an individual escapes/avoids their feared situation which reduces their anxiety but reinforces their fear, meaning the avoidance behaviour is repeated. It may also be maintained through positive reinforcement if the individual is rewarded (eg. with attention) for showing fear or anxiety.
Evaluation:
- (S) Research to support from Little Albert
- (W) Can't explain all phobias > It is likely that evolutionary factors have an important role. For example, it is adaptive (beneficial for survival) to develop a fear of the dark so that we are more alert or avoid it if it is dangerous.
Treatments
Flooding
Sudden exposure to the phobic stimuli to cause the fight or flight responseEvaluation:
- (S) Cost Effective
- (W) Not suitable for all
- (W) Ethical implication as it can cause psychological stress
Systematic Desensitisation
A behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response. The learning of a different response is called counterconditioning.Three process model:
- The anxiety hierarchy
- Relaxation
- Exposure
Evaluation:
- (S) suitable for all patients
- (S) techniques could be applied later in life when exposed to the phobic stimuli
- (W) not cost effective as people are out of work > bad for the economy
OCD
Characteristics
Behavioural:
Repetitive compulsions (reduce anxiety), avoidance
Cognitive:
Obsessive thoughts, fear that
something bad will happen
Emotional:
anxiety, distress, guilt, disgust
Developments
Genetic
- Specific genes > one candidate gene 5HTI-D-BETA (serotonin transmission)
- Candidate genes have been identified > OCD is polygenic > Taylor suggested 230 genes
- Family studies > First-degree relative 10% vs. general prevalence 2%
Evaluation:
- (S) Supportive research > cc rate for MZ (68%) vs. DZ (31%)
- (W) Not 100% > must be another factor
- (W) Challenging research > Cromer found that over half of a sample of OCD suffers had a traumatic event
Neural:
- Genes associated with OCD can affect the level of key neurotransmitters. High levels of dopamine have been found in patients with OCD.
- PET scans (brain scans) on OCD sufferers have shown that they have low levels of serotonin. Serotonin regulates mood so if there are low levels then the information needed for neurons to pass on to each other is not available.
- There is also evidence to suggest that there is abnormal functioning in the neural circuits, i.e. in the frontal lobes.
Evaluation:
- (S) Research supporting this has shown that SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) reduce symptoms in 50-60% of cases meaning that serotonin is likely to be involved. This means the practical application of this explanation has lead to huge improvements in the lives of sufferers as they are able to get treatment to allow them to function in day to day life.
Treatments
- Antidepressant drugs are used to treat OCD
- Work by increasing the amount of the neurotransmitter serotonin - SSRIs are the most common type of antidepressant given to patients as they work by preventing the reabsorption and breakdown of serotonin in the synapse. Allows more serotonin to be passed on to the post synaptic neuron, which is stimulated. One example of an SSRI is fluoxetine If patients do not respond to SSRIs, other antidepressants may be given.
- Tricyclics are an older type of antidpressant but they can produce more side effects as they affect other neurotransmitters.
Evaluation:
- (S) Supportive research from Soomero. Found that they were more effective than a placebo in 17 studies. Symptoms typically reduce by 70%. This means they are an effective way at reducing symptoms for most patients with OCD
- (W) Severe side effects > including indigestion, blurred vision, weight gain > may stop taking he drug which reduces its appropriateness