Disorders

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What is an anxiety disorder?
They give a continuous feeling of fear or anxiety which is disabling and can impose on daily functioning. If faced with a threat out bodies react with a series of reactions; some people's reactions become exaggerates and uncontrollable.
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What is a phobia?
A definite and persistent fear of a particular object or situation. The feared stimulus provokes an immediate response. 3 main types: specific phobias, social phobias and agoraphobia (fear of public places)
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How is phobia classified in the DSM?
Marked and persistent fear that is excessive, person recognises fear is excessive, exposure provokes immediate response, phobic situation is avoided, phobia lasted longer than 6 months in under 18s.
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How is phobia classified in the ICD?
Psychological symptoms must be primary manifestos of anxiety, not secondary to other symptoms. Anxiety restricted to presence of phobia.
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What is an affective disorder?
Main characteristic is disabling moods; fundamental mood is changed, usually to depression but sometimes elation. Sufferers cannot function properly due to seriousness of their mood swings or depth of depression.
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What is depression?
Depression is more than just 'feeling down', common symptoms include reduced concentration, lack of self esteem, pessimism.
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How is depression classified in the DSM?
5 or more of: insomnia most nights, fidgeting/lethargy, lack of concentration, tiredness, recurrent thoughts of death, feeling worthless/guilty
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How is depression classified in the ICD?
depressed mood, loss of interest, reduced energy/marked tiredness after little activity, reduced appetite, ideas of self harm, reduced self esteem
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What is a psychotic disorder?
Psychosis is the general term used for disorders that involve a loss of contact with reality; leading to withdrawal from the outside world as the person becomes more confused.
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What is schizophrenia?
A disorder with both positive and negative symptoms. Positive=things you gain, e.g. delusions or hallucinations. Negative=things you lose, e.g. motivation or ability to feel pleasure
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How is schizophrenia classified in the DSM?
2+ of: hallucinations, delusions, disorganised speech/behaviour, negative symptoms. Plus: social occupational disorder, at least 6 months duration and no other explanation found.
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How is schizophrenia classified in the ICD?
thought echo, thought insertion or withdrawal and broadcasting; persistent delusions and hallucinations, catatonic behaviour, negative symptoms
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How could operant conditioning explain phobia?
Provides possible explanation for the acquisition and reinforcement of phobias because if rewarded for being fearful, this could perpetuate the behaviour, making it so entrenched the reaction becomes automatic and unreasonable.
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How could the social learning theory explain phobias?
SLT =imitatating a role model; if they witness someone showing a phobia, they learn to also have this phobia through observation. Bandura and Rosenthal showed humans developed fear of a buzzer if they witnessed someone showing pain when it sounded.
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How could classical conditioning explain phobia?
Develop fear response of an object if it is paired with an unpleasant stimuli.
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What study shows the behavioural explanation of phobia?
Watson and Raynor
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What was the aim of Watson and Raynor's study?
to see if it is possible to induce a fear of a previously unfeared item through classical conditioning
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What was the sample of Watson and Raynor's study?
One boy: Little Albert, 11 moths old
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What was the method of Watson and Raynor's study?
Paired presentation of a rat (found to produce no fear response) with a steel bar being hit (which Albert was scared of). 5 sessions over 2 months.
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What were the findings of Watson and Raynor's study?
After 5 paired presentations, Albert reacted to the rat alone by crying and trying to crawl away. A month later, fear reaction was still there. Also managed to transfer fear of rat onto similar objects, e.g. rabbit, santa claus mask, fur coat.
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What did Watson and Raynor conclude?
It is possible to condition a fear response by classical conditioning.
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Is the cognitive approach concerned with phobias?
Less specifically concerned with phobias and more with generalised anxiety disorders. Beck's study into generalised fears does discuss whether his patients are suffering from phobias but they tended not to meet the DSM criteria for phobia.
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What is the study that is used to explain phobias cognitively?
DiNardo
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What did DiNardo look at?
Looked at generalised anxiety disorders (GAD) &if the faulty cognition of 'excessive worry' is linked to anxiety. The cognition is faulty as it is excessive. Being worried about something threatening is normal; worry out of proportion to threat=GAD.
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What was the aim of DiNardo's study?
To assess whether "excessive worry" is a symptom of GAD.
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What was the sample of DiNardo's study?
Patients attending 1 of 3 clinics in the USA.
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What was the method of DiNardo's study?
IMD of patients with or without diagnoses of GAD (quasi). 2 different interviews and a 5-point rating scale for symptoms, e.g. sweating, insomnia and excessive worry. Freq of excessive worry analysed and percentage of day P said they displayed it.
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What were the findings of DiNardo's study?
Significantly more GAD Ps reported excessive worry than non-patients, and more Ps without GAD reported no excessive worry. GAD=59.1% of day, non-GAD=41.7% of the day.
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What was the conclusion of DiNardo's study?
Excessive worry, caused by faulty cognitions, found more in GAD patients and it's absense can be used to rule out a diagnosis of GAD. This therefore suggests that cognitions can cause phobias by causing excessive worry about an object/situation.
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How does the biological approach explain behaviour?
Biological preparedness to acquire some phobias more readily than others as we do not have inherited tendency to fear unharmful objects. Simplified evolutionary theory suggests behaviours aiding survival evolve as people with it survive to pass it on
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What study is used to show the biological explanation of phobia?
Ohman et al
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What was the aim of Ohman et al?
To see if phobias of snakes are more easily conditioned than fears of faces or houses, showing biological preparedness to fear harmful objects.
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What was the sample of Ohman et al?
64 volunteers, all psychology students
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What was the method of Ohman et al?
IMD with 3 groups: Snakes (32), Houses (16) or Faces (16). Pictures of objects presented to Ps in slideshow, shock sent after pictures of the category object they are in. Fear measured by the Galvanic Skin Response.
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What were the findings of Ohman et al?
Snake group had conductance of 0.062, whereas control group had average of 0.037. Higher conductance means more sweat which suggests a higher fear response.
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What was the conclusion of Ohman et al?
Ps more likely to show fear of snakes than houses/faces, supporting the evolutionary theory that we have a biological preparedness to fear harmful objects more than unharmful objects.
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How does the behavioural perspective think phobias should be treated?
Perspective would suggest treatment should consist of unlearning behaviours. For phobias this would involve classical conditioning (pairing 2 stimuli together to result in conditioned response of 'no fear').
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What is systematic desensitisation?
A therapy based on classical conditioning whereby a phobia would be gradually reduced by firstly making a hierarchy of fear, then learning relaxation, and then using this to go through the hierarchy to overcome fears.
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What study is used to show how phobias can be treated behaviourally?
McGrath
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What was the aim of McGrath?
to treat a girl's specific noise phobia using systematic desensitisation.
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What was the sample of McGrath?
One girl: Lucy - 9 years old. Fear of loud noises, e.g. balloons.
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What was the method of McGrath?
Made hierarchy of Lucy's fears, 2. Learnt relaxation, 3. Worked through hierarchy. Lucy had hypothetical fear thermometer to rate her fear from 1-10 of each object before and after.
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What were the findings of McGrath's study?
Balloons: 7/10-3/10, let one burst in her hands. Party poppers: 9/10-3/10, popped one when held by therapist. Cap guns: 8/10-5/10, let one be fired in the room.
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What did McGrath conclude?
Noise phobias are amenable by systematic desensitisation. Important factors are participants control and use of inhibitors of the fear response
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How does the biological approach think phobias should be treated?
Assumes all behaviour has a biological fundamental cause and therefore treatment should be based on this. Biological is often the first treatment as diagnosis given by medical practitioner and medical approach supports use of drug therapy.
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What study is used to show how phobias can be treated biologically?
Leibowitz
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What was the aim of Leibowitz?
to see if the drug phenelzine can help treat social phobia
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What was the sample of Leibowitz's study?
80 patients meeting the DSM criteria for social phobia.
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What was the method of Leibowitz's study?
IMD with 4 groups: 1) Phenelzine 2) Phenelzine placebo 3) Atenolol 4) Atenolol placebo; tested using several tests e.g. Hamilton rating scale for anxiety. It was a double-blind experiment.
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What were the findings of the Leibowitz study?
Significant differences noted between the phenelzine group and control, with better scores on tests. No difference between the Atenolol group and control.
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What did Leibowitz conclude?
Phenelzine, but not atenolol, is effective in treating social phobia; showing drug therapy, and therefore the biological approach, can help treat phobias.
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How does the cognitive approach treat phobias?
Assumes phobia is caused by irrational thinking and so treatment should focus on restructuring these faulty cognitions.
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What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
Combines cognitive & behavioural techniques. From cognitive view, aims to restructure irrational cognitions that lead to phobic reactions, e.g. Ost and Westling, used to reduce panic attacks brought on by faulty interpretations of body symptoms
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What study is used to show how the cognitive approach can treat phobias?
Ost and Westling
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What was the aim of Ost and Westling?
to compare CBT with applied relaxation as therapies for panic disorders
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What was the sample of Ost and Westling?
38 with DSM diagnosis of panic disorder
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What was the method of Ost and Westling?
Longitudinal study (12 weeks) - assigned either to CBT or relaxation. Ps tested before using a variety of questionnaires, also kept diary of date & situation of every attack. 1 year follow up.
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What wre the results of Ost and Westling?
CBT- 74% panic free after 12 weeks, 89% after 1 year. Relaxation- 65% after 12 weeks, 82% after 1 year.
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What was the conclusion of Ost and Westling?
Both CBT and relaxation are effective, but it is hard to rule out cognitive changes in relaxation group even though they were not studied in research.
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What is a phobia?

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A definite and persistent fear of a particular object or situation. The feared stimulus provokes an immediate response. 3 main types: specific phobias, social phobias and agoraphobia (fear of public places)

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How is phobia classified in the DSM?

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How is phobia classified in the ICD?

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What is an affective disorder?

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