Paper 2 – Abnormal Psychology

(Teuting)- Depression and serotonin study Participants were asked to provide a urine sample; the findings concluded that there were significantly lower serotonin levels in patients diagnosed with depression. (Kendler) et.al - Twin Study Aim: Whether genetics can affect bulimia or anxiety disorders Method: 2000 women with twins Result: Genetics may have an effect of bulimia (MZ twins have higher concordance rate) (Strober) - First degree relatives of women are 10 times more likely to develop the disorder (Delgado & Moreno)- Measuring levels of noradrenaline and serotonin in patients suffering from depression. Method: brain scans to check levels Result: Abnormal Levels of noradrenaline and serotonin in patients with depression

have a form of irrational dear as the central disturbance

characterized by dysfunctional moods

characterized bye eating patterns which lead to insufficient or excessive intake of food.

why people suffer from a given disorder

lasts for more than 30 days and develops in response to a specific stressor. SYMPTOMS: it is characterized by --> intrusive memories --> emotional withdrawal --> heightened autonomic arousal which may result in insomnia --> hyper-vigilance or loss of control over anger and aggressive behavior PREVALENCE: PTSD has a reliance rate of 1-3 percent and an estimated lifetime prevalence of 5% in men and 10% in women. (Davidson et al) & (Breslau et al) estimate that PTSD affects 15-24% of individuals who are exposed to traumatic events. SYMPTOMS: --> after an individual has been suffering for over two weeks --> bad mood, loss of interest and pleasure --> insomnia --> appetite disturbances --> loss of energy --> suicidal thoughts --> difficulty concentrating. PREVALENCE: This disorder is relatively common, affecting around 15% of people at some point in their life.(Charney & Weismann) (Levav) Found the prevalence rate to be above average in Jewish males - and there is no difference in prevalence between jewish males and jewish females

total number of cases in a given population

(Alloy et. Al) Whether cognitive patterns can affect ones thinking (Beck et al) Cognitive distortion theory of depression (Wessman & Beck) assessed the thought processes of depressed people to establish of they were using negative schemas. (Selligman) Learned Helplessness dog study

(Lewinsohn) Diathesis stress model, which are events from the environment- claims that depression may be an inherited predisposition and the events of the environment. Studied children over a 12 months period, found that those who had prior negative attributions towards the start of the study were more likely to develop chronic depression. (Vulnerability model) (Brown & Harris) - Social origins of depression in women Women that were admitted to hospital treatment for depression, 82% of which had experienced traumatic/life changing events. (Prince)- Depression in Africa and Asia- this study shows that there were no evident patients that showed symptoms of depression in Africa and Asia, which came to conclude that depression rose with the westernization in colonial cultures. (Sanders & Bazalgette) The influence of media and dolls towards children (body image)

(Jahoda) Mental Health Criteria (Rosenhan) Being sane in insane places + Rosenhan's follow up study (Seligman & Rosenhan) Criteria of abnormality

(Jahoda) Mental Health criteria (Rosenhan & Seligman) 7 criteria of abnormality (Gross) Misuse is diagnosis (Szasz) Myth of Mental Illnes

(Rosenhan) classic study Outlines the concerns about reliability in diagnosis in psychiatric illness. (Beck et al.) (Di Nardo) studied the Reliability of DSM-III for anxiety disorders (Lipton & Simon) highlights lack of validity

the consistency of a research study or measuring test

logically or factually sound, measures what is claimed to measure e.g. an intelligence test must measure intelligence

(Scheff) Self- fulfilling prophecy (Sacco) Racial/Ethnic (Rosenhan) Confirmation bias (Cohen) (Rack) Culture bound syndromes

Depressed people think depressed thoughts, which is assumed to be the cognitive basis. (Ellis) proposed cognitive style theory, suggesting that psychological disturbances often come from irrational and illogical thinking. people draw false conclusions , which then lead them to the feelings of anger anxiety or depression. (Beck) theory of depression based on cognitive distortions and biases in information processing. negative cognitive schemas are activated by stressful events, the depressed person tends to overreact. this has to do with the way a person appraises situations (Brewin et al) Intrusive memories ar the ones that come to consciousness seemingly at random. they are triggered by sounds, sights or smells related to the traumatic event. Brewin argues that these come as cue - dependent memory, where stimuli similar to the original traumatic event may trigger sensory and emotional aspects of the memory, thus causing panic. (Sutker et al) Development PTSD is associated with a tendency to take personal responsibility for failures and to cope with stress by focusing on the emotion rather than the problem. Sutker found that gulf war veterans that felt a sense of purpose and commitment to the military had less chances of suffering from PTSD.

Evidence that changes in the level of certain neurotransmitters and hormones can precipitate a depressive episode. It could also be that depression is triggered from prior negative events in life such as a divorce or death of a loved one. The serotonin hypothesis is only one of the theories of depression that suggests that the cause of psychological disorders is due to a chemical imbalance. (Nuremberger and Gershon) reviewed the results of seven twin studies and found that concordance rate for major depressive disorder was consistently higher for monozygotic twins. (Duenwald) Suggests that a short variant of the 5-HTT gene may be associated with a higher risk of depression, this gene plays a role in the serotonin pathways Twin research has shown a possible genetic predisposition for PTSD (Hauff & Vagnum), most biological research focuses on the role of noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter which plays an important role in emotional arousal (Geracioti) found that PTSD patients have higher levels of noradrenaline than the average. Stimulating the adrenal system in PTSD patients induce a panic attack in 70% of patients and flashbacks in 40% of patients.

(Brown & Harris) carried out a study concerning the social origins of depression in worsen. the researcher found that 29 out of 32 women who became depressed has experienced a reverse life event but 78% of those who did experience a severe life event did not become depressed. they discovered that life events which resembled previous experiences were more likely to lead to depression. \"Vulnerability Model of depression\" (Kleinman) showed that in china somatization served as a typical channel of expression and as a basic component of depressive experience. Chinese people rarely complained of being sad and lonely instead they would refer these feelings to the body as the medium of their distress (Marsella) argues that affective symptoms such as loneliness, sadness or isolation are more typical in individualistic cultures. in more social cultures where they have larger and more stable social networks to support the individual and where his/her identity is more linked to the group , somatic symptoms such as headaches are more common. Research states that experiences with oppression and racism are predisposing factors of PTSD. (Silva) Indicated that social learning theory may play a role in PTSD, children may develop PTSD by observing domestic violence (Dyregrov) threat of death was the factor evidencing the strongest influence on intrusive thoughts and avoidance of behavior, which means avoiding situations that can trigger anxiety and panic. Supporting research in bosnia where girls had a higher rate of PTSD than boys because of their fear of rape.

culture: Makino et al. (2004) compared the prevalence of EDs in Western and non-Western countries and found that although the prevalence of EDs seem to be on the rise in non-Western countries, it is still lower than in Western countries The development of EDs in non-Western countries may be because of the perceived social pressure to conform to beauty standards that are primarily Western EDs seem to have become more common among young females post-WWII, where female beauty ideals have gradually become thinner gender: (Fallon and Rozin) AIM: to discover whether there is a gender difference in perception of body image PROCEDURE: - Showed US undergraduate students figures of their own sex and asked them to indicate the ones that looked most like themselves, most like their ideal figure, and the one most attractive to the opposite sex - Also asked men to choose the figure that they found most attractive FINDINGS - Men selected very similar body shapes to their own - Women selected thinner bodies as the \"most attractive\" ones and indicated thinner bodies to be more ideal - The figure that men chose as most attractive was heavier than the ideal female figure that women chose CONCLUSION - Women believed men prefer thinner women than they actually do - There is a gender difference in perception of body image, hence they are more susceptible to eating disorders gender: (Brown and Harris) - Social factors in depression Men seem to be less likely to report feelings of depression Women are twice as likely to suffer sexual abuse, and this pattern of victimisation is often maintained in adulthood culture: (Prince) - Depression in Africa and Asia - Study claims that there are no signs of depression in Africa and Asia - Reported that depression rose with westernisation

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterised by an extreme fear of weight gain. Sufferers often binge-eat before attempting to compensate for amount of food they have eaten by trying to lose weight via purging (induced vomiting, ingestion of laxatives) and exercising in excess. Physical and behavioural symptoms may include acid reflux / intestinal problems, mouth ulcers, and sensitive teeth (due to vomiting) and a warped sense of their own body (body dysmorphia).

Depression is an affective disorder characterised by prolonged feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and guilt, and often has physical and behavioural symptoms as well, including weight loss or gain, disruptions to sleeping patterns and appetite, withdrawal, frequent negative thoughts etc.