Psychological problems

• Nature


  Refers to the biological factors that can influence a persons' behavior and these are generally in place even before we are born.
• Nurture


  Refers to the environmental factors that can influence a persons' behavior mostly after they are born.
• Symptoms of Substance Addiction

  A feeling that the person needs to take the substance.

  Ignoring evidence that the use of the substance is harmful to them

  Stopping or reducing is difficult
• Symptoms of Behavioral Addiction

  They need to do the activity regularly

  They ignore arguments that the activity is unhealthy or damaging

  Reducing activity is very difficult
• Features of Addiction


  Denial

  Lack of patience

  Impulsive behavior

  Inability to deal with stress
• Incidence of Addiction


  The change in the definition of addiction which makes it difficult to estimate the true number of people with addiction

  Many people may not realize they have an addiction or may not seek help
• How addiction affects individuals

  Ignore their family

  Daily life(work,school,etc)

  Spend money on drugs instead

  Don't look after themselves

  Low quality of life/health
• How addiction affects society

  Impact on workplace

  Health problems which means time taken away from work

  Lack of self-care (not completing work)

  Companies pay to cover the workload of individual

  Cost of healthcare services

  Criminal behavior

  Emotional & physical costs for victims
• The role of genes in explaining addiction

  The DDR2 gene has been shown to be related to developing addiction. Many different addictions have been linked to a variation of this gene, known as A1. This gene is thought to affect the way the brain reacts to pleasurable activities so that a person needs to do something more often to get a normal 'buzz' from it.
• Dorit Carmelli et al. (1992)


  Identical twins - if one was a smoker there was a higher chance of the other one smoking then if the twins were not identical
• Donald Goodwin et al. (1973)


  Adopted children who had at least one biological parent with alcohol addiction were highly likely to show signs of alcohol addiction themselves
• Cadoret et al. (1987)


  Adopted children who shared a biological link with someone with alcohol problems were most likely to have problems with alcohol themselves

  Alcohol misuse in the adoptive family, then the adoptee had a greater risk of developing an addiction to alcohol.
• Diana Marinez et al. (2004)


  Heavy users of cocaine were most likely to have a particular version of a dopamine receptor gene
• Strengths of the biological explanation of addiction

  There is a lot of scientific evidence to support the genetic explanation for addiction

  Twin studies and adoption studies act as a control for possible factors that could explain addiction
• Weaknesses of the biological explanation of addiction

  The genetic explanation is reductionist because it fails to take social factors into account

  Research has not been able to find a single gene that explains where addiction comes from. This makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing the addiction.
• Explain the principles of stimulus and response learning

  Stimulus-Response theory is a concept in psychology that refers to the belief that behavior manifests as a result of the interplay between stimulus and response. In other words, behavior cannot exist without a stimulus of some sort, at least from perspective.
• Apply classical conditioning to explain addicition


  Classical conditioning states that behavior is learned through associations, so when two or more things happen at around the same time our mind 'links' them together. these two things automatically connected to one another, so in the future, when we experience one of these things, the other will be automatically triggered.

  This could explain why people first become addicted to something. If a substance or activity is associated with positive feelings in some way, the person learns to associate it with a positive feeling.
• Explain the principles of operant conditioning

  Behavior is repeated when they lead to positive consequences.

  Positively reinforced behavior increases the chances of doing it again.

  Negative reinforcement/consequences to our behavior, that behavior is avoided.

  If the thing they are addicted to makes them feel good, it reinforces the behavior and makes them do it again.
• Apply operant conditioning to explain addiction


  This could explain why people continue with behavior they are addicted to even when they are told it is not good for them. If the thing they are addicted to makes them feel good, it reinforces the behavior and makes them want to do it again.
• The main principles of social learning theory

  Behavior is learned as a result of observing other people - role models - and modeling their behavior.

  May copy someone they look up to with an addiction. E.g. imitating a parent who is smoking.
• Apply social learning theory to explain addiction


  If someone looks up to a close family member, a friend or even a celebrity who has an addiction of some sort they may go on to copy this themselves.

  They might be more inclined to try it if they have been exposed to this behavior at home for a long time.
• Symptoms of depression


  Feeling suicidal/ attempting suicide

  Partying long hours

  Not enjoying activities they used to like

  Poor sleep/ finding it difficult to sleep and waking early even when still tired.

  Wanting to know about other's businesses

  Extreme tiredness

  Poor appetite or an increase in normal appetite

  Lack of self-esteem

  Feeling guilt, shame and blaming themselves for problems

  Working very long hours

  Acting nervous/ feeling like general behavior has slowed down more than usual
• Mild episode


  4 symptoms displayed

  A patient might find their symptoms upsetting but they will probably be able to carry on with most day-to-day activities.
• Moderate episode


  5 or 6 symptoms displayed

  A patient might have serious problems doing day-to-day activities such as going to work or to school
• Severe episode


  7 or more symptoms plus general feelings of worthlessness

  A patient may have suicidal thoughts or engage in self-harm to cope with their feelings.
• Explain the diagnosis of depression has changed over time

  'Modern living' is more stressful and includes many risk factors for depressions, such as sleep deprivation, poor diet and increased social isolation.

  There is a feeling that more people are diagnosed with depression nowadays than in the past.

  One age group where a large increase in diagnosis has been seen is in teenagers and young adults.

  This could suggest that modern life for this age group is particularly stressful.

  Some research has even linked high levels of social media usage to higher risk of depression in young American participants.
• How depression affects individuals


  Increased risk of suicide

  10-15% will commit suicide

  Family and friends
• How depression affects society

  Time missed from work

  Cost of treatment
• Features of depression


  In 2014/2015, 9.9 million days of work were missed because of stress and depression.(The Health and Safety Excecutive)

  Figures from 2007 estimate that depression costs the NHS £1.7 billion in one year alone.
• Explain the role of genes in explaining depression

  Depression is carried in our DNA, passed on from parents and more likely to run in the family.

  Genetic predisposition is the tendency to become depressed as a result of their genes.

  Diathesis stress mode explains how people have a gene but is only triggered by a stressful event.

  Gene + Trigger = Depression
• Explain the role of genes in explaining depression

  Twin studies

  If one monozygotic twin became depressed, there was a 46% chance that their co-twin would also develop depression.

  If a dizygotic twin became depressed, there is only a 20% chance that the other twin could also develop depression

  This shows that depression might be genetic because the monozygotic twins, who share more genes than the dizygotic twin pairs, were at greater risk of becoming depressed if on of them was diagnosed.
• Explain the strengths of the biological explanation of depression

  If we can explain depression by looking at the genes people might inherit, we can take away the stigma of being diagnosed with depression. This means society might be more accepting of people with mental health disorders such as depression.

  Lots of research evidence supports the idea that some people are more prone to depression than others.
• Explain the limitations of the biological explanation of depression

  The genetic theory of depression is very deterministic because it assumes that if you have certain genes you are likely to become depressed, and you have no way to change that. However, some people argue that this is not the case and instead believe you have a certain amount of free will to choose whether or not to 'let yourself' become depressed.

  Some people argue that the genetic explanation of depression is reductionist because it falls to take into account other factors that can explain why someone may develop depression.
• Describe the aims of Caspi et al. (2003)


  To investigate why stressful life evens lead to depression for some people but not others.
• Describe the procedure of Caspi et al. (2003)

  847 participants were divided into three groups based on the version of the 5-HTT gene they had.

  Group 1: two copies of the short gene (17% of the participants)

  Group 2: one copy of the short gene and on long version (51% of the participants)

  Group 3: two copies of the long gene (31% of the participants)

  Stressful life events between the age of 21 and 26 were recorded for all participants.

  2 questionnaires: one about stressful life events and the other on the level of depression.
• Describe the results of Caspi et al. (2003)


  Participants with at least one short gene who had experienced stressful life events were most likely to show symptoms of depression. Those with two of the short genes were most likely to be diagnosed with depression.
• Describe the conclusion of Caspi et al. (2003)

  There is an interaction between life events and genetics in the development of depression.
• Evaluate the strengths of Caspi et al. (2003)

  847 participants, which is a very large sample. Generalized results.

  The information from this study could be useful for doctors as it tells them that someone with depression could have different causes for their symptoms.
• Evaluate the weaknesses of Caspi et al. (2003)

  The researchers thought there was a chance that some people were naturally more likely to put themselves in situations where stressful life events might happen.

  The evidence from the questionnaires is self-reported data, which might not be reliable. Some people might magnify their symptoms of depression, while others might not want to 'make a big deal' of them.
• Explain the cognitive explanation for depression (Ellis's ABC model)