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Topic 3 - Psychological Problems - Coggle Diagram
Topic 3 - Psychological Problems
Unipolar Depression
Symptoms
Main symptoms
Low mood over a long period of time
Lack of energy even after resting for a long time
Lack of motivation to do everyday activities
Other symptoms
Poor sleep (waking even when tired/sleeping lots)
Loss of appetite
Suicidal thoughts/acts
Low self-esteem
Blaming themselves when things happen/excessive guilt
General slowing down in movement
Mild depression - 4 symptoms, patient may find symptoms upsetting but still able to perform day-to-day activities
Moderate depression - 5-6 symptoms, patient may have serious problems performing day-to-day activities
Sever depression - 7+ symptoms, patient may have suicidal thoughts/commit self-harm
Explanations
Genetic
Believes unipolar depression is inherited in genes
If one of your family members has had depression, it is more likely that you will get it. However, not everyone in your family will develop depression.
Explained by the diathesis-stress model - you can have a genetic predispostion to depression, but it must be triggered by a stressful situation.
Supported by McGuffin et al (1996) - found that if a monozygotic twin had depression, there was a 46% chance the other twin would also have it - 20% for dizygotic twins
Evaluation
Strengths: Can take away stigma of being diagnosed with depression, supported by Caspi et al
Weaknesses: Ignores life events, assumes if you have certain genes there is no way to stop yourself being likely to become depressed
Cognitive
Believes thought processes cause depression
Ellis's ABC model
There are three stages that may lead to negative thought processes and depression
Activating Event: Something that happens to a person which makes them feel unsettled
Belief: What they think caused that to happen. Can be rational, irrational, healthy or unhealthy
Consequence: The emotional outcome. Can be positive or negative. Too many negative outcomes are likely to cause depression
Beck's Negative Cognitive Triad
Beck believed depression is explainable by three negative thought patterns/views people may develop
Thoughts about self
Thoughts about world
Example: If someone gets fired from their job, they may think they are useless, leading to them believing they will never get a job and that everyone is against them.
Thoughts about future
Evaluation
Strengths: Applications to therapy (CBT), NCT supported by Boury et al, considers events in person's life
Weaknesses: Cannot explain all types of depression (e.g: post-natal, which may be caused more by hormones), it is unknown if irrational thoughts are a cause or consequence of depression.
A mental health problem where a person has periods of feeling sad and lacing motivation
Effects
Individual
Increased risk of suicide (10-15% of people with severe depression will do so)
Friendship/romantic relationship problems
Poor work performance/being fired
Society
Work places (covering workload of people taking days off)
Health ministries (treatment)
Treatments
Drug therapy
Patients use anti-depressants (tablets) to cure their depression
Useful for patients with history of returning moderate/severe depression, if their symptoms have lasted for a long time or if other therapies have been ineffective
Two neurotransmitters (serotonin and noradrenaline) are thought to play a role in controlling mood
Antidepressants work by raising their levels or duration of effects
Two types to know for GCSE:
SSRIs: Block the reuptake of serotonin, so other neurons can absorb it and its levels in the brain increase, improving mood
SNRIs: Block reputake of both serotonin and noradrenaline
Evaluation
Strengths: Can be used in conjunction with other therapies, Royal College of Psychiatrists found a 50-65% improvement amongst people with moderate/severe depression
Weaknesses: Unpleasant side effects that can reduce quality of life, higher relapse rates
CBT
Addiction
Symptoms
A person must have 3 of these symptoms for a month or on repeat occasions throughout a year
Withdrawal symptoms (unpleasant physical responses from not having the addictive substance/activity)
A feeling that they need to take/do the substance/activity
Stopping/reducing use is difficult
Replacing normal fun activities with time spent using the substance/doing the activity/recovering from it
Tolerance increase (needs more of the substance/activity to get the same "buzz")
Ignoring evidence that use of the substance/activity is harmful to them (cognitive dissonance)
A mental health problem where sufferers need to have or do something regularly to avoid negative feelings and perform their normal daily routine
Can be to substances, like drugs, or activities, like gaming
Considered a dependence disorder because sufferers depend on something to feel normal
Explanations
Genetic
Learning theories
Treatments
Drug therapy
CBT
Issues and debates - Nature vs Nurture
Studies
Caspi et al (2003)
Young (2007)
The incidence of mental health problems
This has been increasing in recent years for both depression and addiction
For depression, this may be because people are more aware of the symptoms, or modern living is more stressful/includes more risk factors for depression
For addiction, this may be because several sources are becoming cheaper. Also, addictions to activities such as video games and the Internet have been added to the definition.