OCD & depression

    Cards (16)

    • forms of depression:
      • major depressive disorder
      • persistent depressive disorder
      • disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
      • menstrual depressive disorder
    • behavioural characteristics:
      • activity, lethargic and struggling to relax
      • sleeping, insomnia
      • eating, increased or decreased eating
      • aggression, irritability, aggression or self-harm
      cognitive characteristics:
      • concentration, stray from tasks and a lack of focus
      • focusing on the negative, pessimistic outlook
      • absolutist thinking, bias recalling negative events
      emotional characteristics:
      • low mood, worthless or empty
      • anger, directed at self or others
      • self-esteem, like themselves less
    • Beck's cognitive triad: explaining depression
      • suggests that it is all down to faulty information processing. - selective attention to negatives
      • depressed patients had a negative self-schema (process of information about oneself)
      • cognitive vulnerability, way of thinking that might be more likely to expose someone to depression - almost always lead to depression
    • evaluation of beck's cognitive triad:

      strength:
      • Terry (2000), assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression - found that women who suffered more from cognitive vulnerability were more likely to suffer postnatal depression
      • practical value, forms a basis of CBT as each aspect of the triad can be easily identified
      weakness:
      • cannot explain why some people feel extremely angry if they have depression - some people suffer with hallucinations
    • Ellis' ABC model: suggesting that depression was the result of irrational thoughts.
      • an activating event may be trauma, loss or grief, illness. This event triggers and slowly forms depression as underlying issues
      • the person then has either irrational or rational beliefs
      • finally, they will either face positive or negative consequences dependent on their beliefs
      • they may develop musterbatory thinking, a type of irrational thinking that involves rigid expectation for oneself or others
    • Ellis' ABC model evaluation:

      strengths:
      • application to therapy, used to develop treatments for depression - CBT. - identify thoughts and treat people with depression
      • Bates (1999) found that patients with depression who were given negative automatic thought statements became more depressed - negative thinking leads to depression
      weakness:
      • alternative explanation - biological element
      • does not explain origin of irrational thoughts, unable to determine if these thoughts cause depression or if depression causes these thoughts
    • CBT; cognitive treatment for depression
      • Homework – the patient investigates the reality of their irrational negative beliefs. This can be through keeping a diary, being given a task to complete, or to record evidence.
      • Behavioural action – the patient is encouraged to engage in pleasurable activities. – there are attempts to reduce avolition symptoms (avolition meaning lack of motivation or desire to participate in goal-orientated activities/ behaviours).
      • Unconditional positive regard – the therapist convinces the patient of their value as a human being.
    • evaluation of CBT:

      strengths
      • come in a range of formations - online, face to face, apps, groups, making it mort suitable for patients needs and is adaptable
      • cost-effective
      weakness:
      • requires commitment and motivation to engage with the therapy - problematic with those who have severe depression
      • relies on patients recording their thoughts and feelings - may not be honest and may downplay their thoughts - difficult to verify and may reduce effectiveness of the therapy
    • OCD: an obsessive-compulsive disorder that involves repetitive behaviour and obsessive thoughts
    • OCD
      behavioural characteristics:
      • compulsions, repetition of specific acts to reduce anxiety, handwashing, counting and repeating phrases
      • avoidance - removing yourself from the presence of triggering events to help reduce anxiety
      cognitive characterstics:
      • obsessive thoughts - reoccurring thoughts that are unpleasant towards others or yourself - linked with contamination of their environment
      • cognitive coping strategies - ways of dealing with their obsessions - counting, meditation
      • insight - awareness behaviour is not rational, become very aware of their surroundings
    • OCD
      emotional characteristics:
      • anxiety - repetitive behaviour that can be considered overwhelming
      • depression - low mood and a lack of enjoyment when carrying out small task
      • guilt and disgust - developed irrational thoughts over small issues
    • neural mechanisms: suggesting OCD is linked to the imbalanced levels of serotonin and dopamine.
      • serotonin - contributes to our overall well-being and enjoyment in life, helping the sleep cycle and digestive regulation - controlling our moods
      • dopamine - contributes to our own feelings of pleasure, repetition of behaviours can help the release of dopamine - controlling our pleasure
      low levels of serotonin = linked with OCD because it leads to anxiety, obsessions

      dopamine could possibly be released due to repetitive compulsions
    • PET scans; have showed that people with OCD have an increased amount of anxiety in the orbitofrontal cortex - OFC

      worry circuit: the OFC identifies any worries, sending a worry signal to the caudate nucleus. From here, it filters the worry and determines whether it's a fear or not.
      This needs serotonin to function properly, otherwise the efficiency may affected - without serotonin, the worry passes through and sends it into the thalamus.
      As a result, the thalamus then becomes overwhelmed as it cannot determine whether the worry is a minor or major issue.
    • treating OCD:
      • drug therapy, aiming to increase or decrease levels of neurotransmitters in the brain to either increase or decrease brain activity
    • SSRI's: antidepressant, working to increase levels of serotonin in the synapse.
      • serotonin is released by presynaptic neurons and travels across a synapse
      • the neurotransmitter then chemically conveys the signal to the postsynaptic neuron where it is broken down.
      SSRI's are often used alongside CBT to treat OCD because they help to reduce a person's emotional symptoms - allowing a more engaging and cooperative CBT session
    • evaluation of SSRI's:
      strength:
      • Soomro (2009) reviewed 17 studies that used SSRI's and compared them to placebos. -found that all 17 studies showed better outcomes for treatment when using SSRI'S.
      • cost-effective and non-disruptive to people's lives.
      weakness:
      • potential negative side effects, indigestion, blurred vision and damage to sex drive - reduced quality of life
    See similar decks