Psychopathology

-Phobias -Depression -OCD

Characteristics of Phobias

Characteristics of Phobias

• 6 months

• Emotional: Fear, anxiety

• Behavioural: avoidance, interferes with life

• Cognitive: recognized as disproportionate, rational argument doesn’t help

Behavioural Explanation

Two process model: created by classical conditioning and maintained by operant

Classical: Little Albert experiment showed neutral stimulus of rat paired with unconditioned stimulus of loud noise created a conditioned stimulus of phobia of rats.

Operant: Avoidance of rats negatively reinforces the phobia.

Evaluation of Behavioural explanation of Phobias- Research support

+Di Nardo: 60% dog phobia been bitten, supports classical conditioning

-BUT 40% had not been bitten, therefore doesn’t explain all phobia

-Evolution ‘prepares’ us to fear some objects not others eg spiders not cars.

Phobias- Behavioural treatment

Systematic desensitization: Hierarchy, relaxation, gradual exposure. Patient sees score going down. Eventually associates object with relaxation and phobia ends.

Flooding: Immediate total exposure until biological arousal declines, so phobia ends.

In vivo= in real life

in vitro= virtually exposed

Evaluation of Behavioural treatment of Phobias-Research support

+Mcgrath 75% for SD, in vivo better than in vitro

-Ohman: Good for phobias based on personal experience, not for other phobias

-Requires commitment from patient

-Doesn’t treat cause so phobia may return

Characteristics of Depression

• Every day for two weeks

• Emotional: Depressed mood, anhedonia

• Behavioural: Changes in behaviour eg too much or too little eating, sleeping

• Cognitive: Negative self-concept, suicidal thoughts

Cognitive explanation of Depression

Irrational thinking causes depression

Beck: negative schema: negative trias: Self, future, world

Ellis: ABC:

Activating event, eg end of friendship

Belief about the event- several types of irrational thought eg overgeneralization, catastrophizing

Consequence: Depression

Cognitive explanation of depression evaluation- Research evidence

+Alloy: Longitudinal study shows negative thinking lead to depression

+Real world application- creates therapy eg CBT (Beck), REBT (Ellis)

-Doesn’t explain where negative thinking comes from

-Negative thinking may come from real events

Cognitive treatment of Depression

CBT: Beck: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

REBT: Ellis rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy identify negative thoughts, homework eg diary of thought- catching, patient and therapist challenge and change thoughts behavioural activation: strategies to change behaviour

Cognitive treatment of Depression Evaluation

+Beck 80% effective

+Lewis & Lewis works well with both mild and severe depression

+No side-effects unlike drug treatment

-Robinson: CBT doesn’t beat placebo

-Needs patient commitment and good relationship with therapist (Bryan)

Characteristics of OCD

• Hour per day, interfere with functioning.

• Emotional: anxiety

• Behavioural: Repetitive behaviours, repetitive mental acts

• Cognitive: Insistent unwanted thoughts, person tries to suppress thoughts, actions temporarily relieve anxiety

Biological explanation of OCD

Genetic explanation: candidate gene 5-HTT, twin studies

Chemical explanation: low serotonin, high dopamine serotonin is associated with being calm. Dopamine associated with arousal

Brain explanation: Neural pathway from orbitofrontal cortex to caudate nucleus to thalamus and then to nervous system. This pathway analyses danger. Damage to the caudate nucleus causes the anxiety and the compulsions.

Biological Explanation of OCD Evaluation

+Miguel concordance rate for MZ twins 2x higher than DZ twins

-Concordance rates not 100% therefore diathesis-stress explanation is better

+SSRI drugs are effective

-BUT chemical levels might be result of OCD not the cause of it

+PET scans show caudate nucleus damage

-Damage might result from OCD not be the cause of it

Drug treatment of OCD

SSRI: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, they increase serotonin by blocking reuptake in the synapse

BZ: Benzodiazepines, they stimulate the production of GABA which calms the body and prevents agitation

Drug treatment of OCD Evaluation

+Research support: Soomro meta-analysis drugs beat placebos

-Side-effects: Ferguson found suicide risk doubles

-Treats the symptoms not the cause, so relapse rates are high