Psychopathology - Depression

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Define depression
A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
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Give three behavioural characteristics of depression
Low activity levels; Disruption to sleep and eating patterns; Aggression and self harm
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Explain the behavioural characteristic low activity levels
Sufferers have reduced levels of energy, making them lethargic, Could lead to sufferers withdrawing from work/education/social life. Severe cases sufferer cannot get out of bed
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What can happen in some cases of depression in relation to energy levels?
Psychomotor agitation
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What is psychomotor agitation?
Agitated individuals struggle to relax and may end up pacing up and down a room
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Explain the behavioural characteristic disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
Sufferers may experience insomnia, premature waking, hypersomnia. Appetite may increase or decrease, leading to weight gain or loss.
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What is insomnia?
Reduced sleep
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What is hypersomnia?
Increased need for sleep
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Explain the behavioural characteristic aggression or self harm
Sufferers are possibly irritable, verbally/physically aggressive. Physical aggression against the self in the form of self-harm/suicide attempts
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Give three emotional characteristics of depression
Lowered mood; Anger; Lowered self-esteem
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Explain the emotional characteristic lowered mood
Lowered mood is a defining emotional element of depression but has more meaning than the daily use of the word. Sufferers describe themselves as worthless and empty
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Explain the emotional characteristic anger
Sufferers may experience anger, sometimes extreme anger. This may be directed at others or the self
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What is self-esteem?
The emotional experience of how much we like ourselves
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Explain the emotional characteristic lowered self-esteem
Sufferers often have reduced self-esteem, meaning they like themselves less than usual
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Give three cognitive characteristics of depression
Poor concentration; Attending to and dwelling on the negative; Absolutist thinking
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Explain the cognitive characteristic poor concentration
Sufferers may find themselves unable to stick with a task they usually would. They may find it hard to make decisions. These factors may interfere with the individuals work
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Explain the cognitive characteristic attending to and dwelling on the negative
Sufferers are inclined to pay more attention to negative aspects and ignore the positives. They also have a bias towards recalling unhappy events rather than happy ones
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Explain the cognitive characteristic absolutist thinking
Sufferers think of situations as all good or all bad when this is often not the case. This is 'black and white thinking'
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Define cognitive approach
'Cognitive' means 'mental processes', so this approach is focused on how our mental processes affect behaviour
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What did Beck do?
Suggested a cognitive approach to explaining why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others. In particular, it is a person's cognitions that create this vulnerability. He suggested there are 3 parts to this vulnerability
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What 3 things did he suggest?
Faulty information processing; Negative self-schemas; The negative triad
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What is faulty information processing?
Attending to the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. Also tending to blow small problems out of proportion and think in 'black and white' terms
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What is a schema?
A 'package' of ideas and information developed through experience
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What is a self-schema?
The package of information we have about ourselves
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What is a negative self-schema?
We interpret all information about ourselves in a negative way
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What is the negative triad?
3 kinds of negative thinking that contribute to becoming depressed: negative views of the world the future and the self. Such negative views lead a person to interpret their experiences in a negative way and so make them more vulnerable to depression
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What did Ellis propose?
Good mental health is the result of rational thinking
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Define rational thinking
Thinking in ways that allow people to be happy and free of pain
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Define irrational thoughts
Not illogical or unrealistic, but any thought that interferes with being happy or free of pain
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What model did Ellis use to explain his theory?
ABC model
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A stands for
Activating event
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B stands for
Beliefs
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C stands for
Consequences
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Explain activating event
Situations in which irrational thoughts are triggered by external events. We get depressed when we experience negative events and these trigger irrational beliefs
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Explain beliefs
Irrational beliefs
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What is musturbation?
The belief that we must always succeed or achieve perfection
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Explain consequences
When an activating event triggers irrational beliefs there are emotional and behavioural consequences
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Give three behavioural characteristics of depression

Back

Low activity levels; Disruption to sleep and eating patterns; Aggression and self harm

Card 3

Front

Explain the behavioural characteristic low activity levels

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What can happen in some cases of depression in relation to energy levels?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What is psychomotor agitation?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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