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Description
Flashcards by Mollie Thompson, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Mollie Thompson
over 9 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| Behavioural characteristic of OCD: | Compulsions - repetetive - When you do these things, it reduces their anxiety - Avoid triggers for anxiety |
| Emotional characteristics of OCD: | - Anxiety comes pair with compulsions - Not doing the compulsive behaviour also produces stress+anxiety - Lowered mood and self esteem - Guilt, disgust |
| Cognitive characteristics of OCD: | - Excessive anxiety leads to worst case scenario - Obsessive thoughts - Patient uses cognitive coping strategies |
| What is the genetic explanation for OCD? | - Genes are inherited from parents - Diathesis stress model: some people are more vulnerable to mental disorders due to genetics, BUT they need an environmental trigger |
| What are candidate genes? | - They are certain genes which cause a vulnerability to OCD - Some help to regulate serotonin E.g. 5HT1-D |
| What does polygenic mean? | - Taylor found that around 230 genes were involved in OCD |
| What can particular groups of genes cause? | - Different type of OCD e.g. hoarding, religious obessions |
| Strength of genetic explanation for OCD: | - Supporting evidence - MZ twins had a higher concordance rate for OCD that DZ twin - Suggests that OCD may be genetic |
| Weakness of genetic explanation (candidate genes): | - Psychologist less successful with pinning down all the genes involved - Gives little predictive value |
| Weakness of genetic explanation (environment): | - In a study, over half OCD patients had had a traumatic experience - Suggest environmental factors also involved |
| What is the neural explanation for OCD? | Suggest that genes associated with OCD affect neurotransmitters and structures in the brain |
| What is the roe of serotonin? | - Regulates mood - Someone with low levels of serotonin=low mood, may lead to OCD |
| What is decision making in terms of the neural explaining of OCD? | - Some types of OCD e.g. hoarding, may be associated with impaired decision making - This might be due to abnormal functioning of the sides of the frontal lobes (responsible for logical thinking - Parahippocampal gyrus (associated with processing unpleasant emotions) functions abnormally in OCD patients |
| Strength of neural explanation (evidence): | - Some supporting evidence - Some antidepressants which work on the serotonin system also help to reduce symptoms of OCD - Suggests serotonin plays a part in OCD |
| Weakness of neural explanation for OCD? - It's not clear what mechanisms are involved | - Other brain systems may be involved sometimes, they haven't found a system that plays a role in every case - We cant claim to understand what mechanisms are involved in OCD |
| Weakness of neural explanation for OCD (we should not assume): | Biological abnormalities may be the result of OCD rather than it cause of it |
| What is the biological approach to treating OCD? | Biological treatments are successful for OCD patients, mainly drug treatments that target abnormal neurotransmitter levels |
| What are SSRI's? | - Type of anti depressant SSRI - Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor - Allows more serotonin to pass into the post synaptic terminal - This means that more serotonin is passed through the synapse - to increase the levels |
| What is tryclics? | - Older antidepressant - With more severe side effects - Used if patient does not react to SSRI's |
| What other form of treatment may you use combined with SSRI's? | CBT |
| Strength of drug therapy? (effective) | - Seen to reduce symptoms of OCD - Study showed that when placebo and SSRI's were used as a treatment, the SSRI's had a larger effect - MOST effective when combined with CBT |
| Strength of drug therapy (cost) | - Cost effective and non disruptive - Fits in with everyday life - Good value for NHS |
| Weakness of drug therapy (side effects): | - Blurry vision - Loss of sex drive - Aggression - Weight gain - Reduce effectiveness because people stop course of medication |
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