PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY - Depression - Flashcards in A Level and IB Psychology

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Created by: Amy
Created on: 10-06-13 20:55

how can an overdeveloped superego lead to depression?

guilt and worthlessness in overdrive; feel terrible about self

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what is repression?

memories and feelings are put into the unconscious but still affects behaviour

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what is regression?

you revert to child like behaviour and re-experience feelings of childhood

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what did freud note had a similarity to symptoms of depression?

grieving when a loved one dies

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what did he then theorise?

depression is a grief response to loss (e.g. lose job)

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what feelings does this evoke?

feelings associated with real or imagined loss of affection from the person on whom the person was most dependent on as a child

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what does this lead us to re-experience?

parts of childhood

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according to freud, what does this explain?

why depressed people are so dependent on others and regress to a child-like state

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what do some studies such as Palosaari and Aro find?

children who have lost a parent are susceptible to depression later in life

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however, what have other studies found, such as Parker?

they have failed to find such susceptibility

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what does Freud also argue can lead to depression?

unresolved and repressed anger towards parents

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what is an example of this?

a person may be unconsciously angry towards a parent that has died for rejecting and abandoning them

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when this is experienced, what happened to the aforementioned anger?

it is evoked and turned inward on the self.

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why is it not turned outward?

this would not be allowed by the superego

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what are the weaknesses of this?

no direct evidence, depressed people actually tend to display hostility to those who are close to them, mixed evidence for a direct connection between early loss and risk of depression in later life; imagined loss can't be observed - cant be tested

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what is another weakness?

unfalsifiable

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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

what is repression?

Back

memories and feelings are put into the unconscious but still affects behaviour

Card 3

Front

what is regression?

Back

Card 4

Front

what did freud note had a similarity to symptoms of depression?

Back

Card 5

Front

what did he then theorise?

Back

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PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY - Depression