AQA GCSE Psychology Unit 8 - Psychological problems

Mental health

our emotions, thoughts,feelings, our ability to solve problems and our understanding of the world around us (mental wellbeing)

mental disorder

somthing that affects the way people think behave feel or interact with others

Characteristcs of mental illness

• isolating oneself

• struggling with daily life

  • presence of these characteristics may not always mean a person is mentally ill

Jahada(1958)

• mentally healthy people

  • have a positive view of themselves

  • are in a state of self actualization where they feel they have reached their potential

  • can be autonomous

  • are able to handle some level of stress

  • can adapt to new situations

  • accurate perception of reality

Incidence of mental health problems

• figures recorded by MIND for England in 2009

  • depression in 2.6/100 people

  • anxiety in 4.7/100 people

  • eating disorders in 1.6/100 people

How incidence changes over time

• between 2007 and 2014 the amount of people aged 16-74 accessing mental health treatment went from 24% to 37%

• Mind estimates that by 2030 approximately 2 million more adults in the UK will have mental health problems than in 2013

Increased Challenges of Modern Living

• increasing economic deprivation is partially causing rises in mental health problems

  • people living in lower income households are more likeley to have mental health problems

Cultural variations in beliefs about mental health

• different cultures have different beliefs about mental health

  • hearing voices in the western world is considered abnormal while in places like india and africa it is considered a positive experience

• some mental health problems also become culture-bound dyndromes, such as Koro in asia and anorexia in the western world

Lessening of social stigma

• words used to describe people with mental disorders gradually become stigmatised over time

  • in the past people who had psychological problems were labelled as lunatics or insane

  • due to the stigma around them the term changed to “mental health problem“

Dispositional effects of mental health problems

• Damage to relationships

  • people suffering from mental health problems may find it difficult to understand what other people are feeling

Social effects of mental health problems

• increased need for social care

  • taxes used to fund social care like the NHS and to pay for mental health treatment

• Exonomic implications

  • cost to thecriminal justice system

  • some mentally unhealthy people are unable to work

Depression

• an abnormal emotional state, different from feeling sad which is normal in particular circumstances

• Bipolar - alternating periods of mania and depression

• Unipolar - one mood state of depression

Diagnosing depression

• the International classification of diseases is used to diagnose depression

  • Low mood

  • reduced energy levels

  • changes in sleep/appetite

  • decrease in self confidence

• ‘Manic’ episodes of Bipolar depression are

  • periods of extreme energy, happiness or irritable moods

Psychological explanation of depression

• Depression is due to Faulty Thinking

• Faulty thinking is when a depressed person tends to see the negative in situations more

• Negative Self-Schemas make people likely to interpret all information aboout themselves negatively

• Depressed people have a negative attiributional style

  • Internal

  • Stable

  • Global

• Negative attributional styles are learned - Learned Helplessmess

Evaluation of Psychological explanation of depression

• + Research has supported the idea of learned helplessness

  • dogs would no longer try to escape electric shocks which they had no control over

• + Psychological explanations of depression have led to treatment methods

  • Depression treated using CBT which aims to help people think differently

• - negative beliefs may simple be realistic

  • there are occasions where life experiences are sadenning and it is normal to be sad

• - The psychological explanation is reductionish and ignores factors like sertotonin and genetics

CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)

• CBT is based on the idea that out behaviours affect our behaviours

• CBT aims to help you to deal with problems in a more positive way

• CBT deals with current problems

• CBT usually consists of weekly or every other week sessions

• A therapist will aim to change thinking from irrational tp rational

Evaluation of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)

• + CBT hasa long lasting effect

  • treats causes rather than symptoms + gives patients ways to deal with it themselves

• + CBT is a hollistic treatment

  • CBT treats the patient as a whole person

• - CBT requires time and commitment

Biological explanation of depression

• depression is due to low serotonergic transmission

  • when there is lots of serotonin in the synapse mood is better

• Low serotonin may be due to

  • variations of genes which produce less serotonin

  • not enough tryptophan (key ingredient for making serotonin) in diet

Evaluation of Biological explanation of depression

• + McNeal reported lower levels of serotonin in the brains of people with depression

• - Low levels of serotonin coukd be an effect rather than a cause of depression

• - reductionist explanation which reduces the ailment to just one factor

Biological treatments for depression

• antidepressants work to increase serotonin lvels

• SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) block the channel that serotonin travels to re enter the presynaptic neuron

• this increases the amount of serotonin in the synaopse magnifying it’s effect

Evaluation of Biological treatments for depression

• + SSRIs are the first choice medication for depressin as they have fewer side effects

• - long term SSRI consumption can lead to decreased natural serotonin production

• - side effects of some antidepressants make takers feel worse

Wiles et al (2013)

• aimed to investigate the benefit of using a hollistic approach to treat people with TRD

• One group takes only ADMs while the other does CBT along with ADMs

• The mean BDI score of people doing the double treatment decreased lower than the score of people just using ADMs

  • 22% of people on just ADMs had a 50%+ reduction in symptoms

  • 46% of people on the double treatmenr had a 50%+ reduction in symptoms

Evaluation of Wiles et al (2013)

• + study had real world applications

  • informs healthcare

  • greater contributions to society - better treated people

• + used a hollistic approacj

Addiction

1. strong desire to use a substance

2. persists in use with knowldege og the negative substances

3. substance prioritised over other aspects of life

4. withdrawl symptoms

5. increased tolerance over time

if 3/6 symptoms are present for an extended period of time addiction is likely

Substance Misuse/Abuse

• misuse - not using a substance correctly i.e. taking the wrong dosage

• abuse - taking the substance in order to experience euphoria

Psychological explanation of Addiction

• Social learning theory

  • we learn by observing and imitating

  • we are more likely to imitate someone we identify with

• Social identity theory

  • Adolescents in a group feel pressure to conform in order to ‘remain’ a part of a group

• Social norms

  • social norms which we learn from out peers may lead to us overestimating how much of something people do

Evaluation of the psychological explanation

• Research support

  • a study found a possitive association between peers and smoking

  • 55% of drug addicts claimed to have been introduced to substances by friends

• Real world application

  • social norms marketing had been used ti address the issue of percieved norms’

• Peer selection’

  • people may pick their peers because they are addicted rather than be addicted because of their peers

Biological explanation of Addiction

• addcitions are moderately to highly inherited based on family studies

• one gene never makes the difference, multiple genes can be involved'

• genes creaate a predisposition not a predestination

• However addiction running in a family may not always be due to genetic factors

Kaij’s twin study

• aimed to see whether alcohol could be explained in terms of inheritability

• 310 twins were identified where atleast one was registered in the swedish temperance board

• interviews took place to determine if the twins were MZ (identical) or DZ (non-identical)

• 61% of MZ twins were also alcoholics

• 39% of DZ twins were also alcoholics

• from the results it can be concluded that alcohlism is related to hereditary factors but it is not defined by them as the figure for DZ twins was less than 100%

Evaluation of Kaij’s twin study

• Later studies investigating heritability of alcoholism found similar things

• - temperance board data only shows some kinds of alcohol problems so the sample is not representative

• - Interviews took place where people could have lied to look better due to social desirebility bias

Treatment for depression - Self management

• self management is the actions taken bu people to recognise treat and manage their own health

• Alcoholics anonymous is a method of self management which is based on a peer sharing model

• AA is a group of people who share their experiences in order to help others

• The only requirement for a membership is a desire to stop drinking

Evaluation of the self management treatment for addiction

• Hollistic

  • doesnt just focus on one aspect, but focuses on thw whole induvidual

• - Time

  • AA takes a long time and a large number of people involved in AA (81%) drop out within the first year

Aversion Therapy

• patients are given a drug which induces a negative response, such as throwing up or nausea

• the patient takes this in concordance with the substance/ action they want to stop

• the brain then begins to relate being sick or experiencing nausea with the substance or action

Evaluation of Aversion Therapy

• - less effective in the outside world than in a controlled setting

• - high relapse rate

• - ethical issue: protection from Harm

• + most effective when used in conjunction with biological/cognitive theories