Psychological problems (topic 3)

Question 1

what is unipolar depression?

Answer 1

a type of mood disorder causing periods of feeling sad and lacking motivation for everyday activities.

Question 2

what are the symptoms of depression?

Answer 2

-lack of motivation
-lack of energy
-low mood
-lack of self-esteem
-feelings of guilt for problems in their lives
- feeling suicidal or attempting to hurt themselves

Question 3

how does suicide affect society and individuals?

Answer 3

—-individuals—-
-suicide
-health problems due to the lack of hygiene

—-society—-
-loss of workdays–>financial problems in the company
- treatment cost for government

Question 4

genetic explanation of depression

key terminology:
-monozygotic twins
-dizygotic twins
-neurotransmitters
-serotonin
-synapse
-predisposition

Answer 4

-monozygotic twins: identical twins

-dizygotic twins: non-identical twins

-neurotransmitters: chemicals found in the nervous system that carry messages around the brain

-serotonin: a neurotransmitter associated with controlling mood

-synapse: a gap between the two neurons that allow neurotransmitters to pass from one cell to another

-predisposition: the vulnerability to develop a diseas or disorder

Question 5

genetic explanation of depression

Craig Hyde et al (2016)

Answer 5

-analysed genetic variation in 75,607 people who self-reported being diagnosed or treated for depression
-compared to 231,747 healthy people
- found 17 genetic variations linked to depression (many combinations of genes, hard to analyse)

Question 6

genetic explanation of depression

peter McMuffin et al (1996)

Answer 6

-examined whether one twin suffering from depression led to the likelihood of the other suffering from it.
- found that there is a strong genetic component to major depressive disorder and no evidence for it being caused by a shared family environment

Question 7

genetic explanation of depression

what are the strengths for the genetic explanation of depression?

Answer 7

+ monozygotic twins have a higher concordance rate compared to dizygotic twins
+adoption studies have shown that the biological parents of adopted children who develop depression were eight times more likely than the adoptive parents to have suffered from depression
+evidence that some people are more prone to becoming depressed (caspi et al 2003)

Question 8

genetic explanation of depression

what are the weaknesses for the genetic explanation of depression?

Answer 8

-reductionist. it doesn’t take environmental factors into account
-the theory is too deterministic
-even though genes play a part there is not a single gene that is responsible for depression

Question 9

cognitive explanation of depression

key points:

Answer 9

-focuses on the people’s beliefs rather than behaviour.
-depression results from systematic negative bias in thinking process
-symptoms result from cognitive abnormality compared to clinically normal people

Question 10

cognitive explanation of depression: beck’s theory

what are the three factors that lead to depression according to beck?

Answer 10

1. faulty information processing: where an individual gets selective attention to the negative side of a situation, always ignoring the positive side.
2. negative self-schemas: beliefs and expectations about oneself that are essentially negative and pessimistic
3. the cognitive triad:
   -negative views about oneself
   -negative views about the world
   -negative views about the future

Question 11

cognitive explanation of depression

what is ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 11

Ellis suggested that good mental health is a result of rational thinking, whereas depression is the result of irrational thinking.
there are 3 stages of irrational thinking

A- activation event
B- belief
C- consequence

Question 12

cognitive explanation of depression

what are the strengths of cognitive explanation of depression?

Answer 12

+ takes environmental factors into account
+ has practical application (understanding how people become depressed)

Question 13

cognitive explanation of depression

what are the weaknesses of cognitive explanation of depression?

Answer 13

• it’s reductionist as it doesn’t take genetics into account.
  -it doesn’t establish cause and effect
• doesn’t account for post-natal depression
• doesn’t explain all types of depression, not all depressed individuals will experience a negative life event

Question 14

CTB

what is CBT?

Answer 14

-it is a treatment based on the premise that thoughts determine feelings
-patients are taught to monitor their thoughts and identify those that trigger faulty, irrational feelings and actions whilst they learn new coping skills and ways to stop relapse
- it helps people to develop an alternative wat of thinking and behaving which aims to reduce their psychological distress

Question 15

CTB

what happens during CBT sessions?

Answer 15

• breaking down problems (thoughts, feelings and actions)
• analysing and working out if thoughts are unrealistic or unhelpful and the effect on patient
  -works on how to change the unhelpful thoughts and behaviours
  -motivates patients to apply the skills of everyday life to manage problems and lower its impact on life

Question 16

CTB

what are the strengths of CBT?

Answer 16

+ long-lasting effect. patients learn how to avoid triggering thoughts therefore relapse is prevented
+ once CBT starts working it will be more effective as patients feel a sense of accomplishment

Question 17

CTB

what are the weaknesses of CBT?

Answer 17

• CBT takes a long time to show its effect compared to drug therapy
• ethical issues: therapists are telling the patient that the way they’re thinking is wrong and that they have to change it
• patients must be wiling to change their though process
• will CBT be used after therapy?

Question 18

Drug therapy

why should drug therapy be used?

Answer 18

• if patients have a history of suffering from moderate or severe depression that keeps coming back or their depression symptoms have lasted for a long time drug therapy is the best option to reduce the symptoms
• if CBT is not effective

Question 19

Drug therapy

how do antidepressants work?

Answer 19

• they work by increasing levels of chemicals called neurotransmitters
• certain neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and noradrenaline, are linked to mood and emotion

Question 20

Drug therapy

what are SSRIs and how so they work?

Answer 20

• selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors block the reuptake of serotonin when it is released from a neuron. this means that there is more serotonin available for longer and this allows more opportunity for other neurons to absorb it which should help to increase levels of serotonin.

1. serotonin release.
2. receptor activated
3. reuptake blocked
4. enhanced effect of serotonin

Question 21

Drug therapy

what are SNRIs and how does it work?

Answer 21

-it is similar to SSRIs. serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors block the reuptake of serotonin and noradrenaline
- noradrenaline is associated with mood

Question 22

Drug therapy

what are MAOIs and how do they work?

Answer 22

-monamine breaks serotonin and noradrenaline.
-monamine oxidase inhibotors reduse the breakdown so the amount of serotnin and noradrenaline released into the synapse is increased.

Question 23

Drug therapy

what are MAOIs and how do they work?

Answer 23

-monamine breaks serotonin and noradrenaline.
-monamine oxidase inhibotors reduse the breakdown so the amount of serotnin and noradrenaline released into the synapse is increased.

Question 23

Drug therapy

what are MAOIs and how do they work?

Answer 23

-monamine breaks serotonin and noradrenaline.
-monamine oxidase inhibotors reduse the breakdown so the amount of serotnin and noradrenaline released into the synapse is increased.

Question 24

Drug therapy what are MAOIs and how do they work?

Answer 24

-monoamine breaks serotonin and noradrenaline. -monoamine oxidase inhibitors reduce the breakdown so the amount of serotonin and noradrenaline released into the synapse is increased.

Question 25

Drug therapy what are TCAs and how do they work?

Answer 25

tricyclics block the reuptake channels, so increased amount of serotonin and noradrenaline

Question 26

Drug therapy what are the strengths of drug therapy?

Answer 26

+ fast to show its effect + if combine with CBT it is long-term successful + can help to improve motivation therefore the patient can start other ways of treatment such as CBT

Question 27

Drug therapy what are the weaknesses of drug therapy?

Answer 27

- TCAs and MAOIs have dangerous side effects - general side effects such as sleepiness, nausea, gaining/losing weight, etc. - temporary solution. relapse will happen if stopped using them.