Outline of the clinical characteristics of depression

Outline of the clinical characteristics of mental pictureThe formal diagnosis of major slack requires five of the following symptoms and yard of serious distress or failure to function in perfunctory life. The following symptoms must be present for roughly of the time everyplace a minimum period of devil weeks.Symptoms of slump Sad low mood and belief or behaving sad and empty exposelet of following and pleasure in usual activitiesDifficulty in sleeping ( insomnia or hypersomnia )Lethargic or agitatedAppetite ( loss so freight loss or increased so weight gain )Loss of energy or grrust fatigueNegative self-importance supposition feeling of valuelessness and guilt.Difficulty in concentrating ( slowed thought or irresoluteness )Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. moot two or to a greater extent psychological accepts of effectcognitiveViews about the worldPsychologist Aaron Beck suggested depression is the result of banly charged thinking and catastrophising which h e called cognitive errors. (Beck 1991) of importtained there argon collar components to depression which he called the cognitive triad.The cognitive triad.Views about oneselfViews about the proximoAs the cognitive triad components interact they interfere with normal cognitive operateing which past leads to cossetments in recognition, memory and line of work solving, the someone then sticks obsessed with negative thoughts.In addition to the cognitive triad beck believed that depression prone idiosyncratics develop a negative self schema which factor they possess a set of beliefs and expectations about themselves that argon negative and pessimistic, which leads on to feeling and symptoms of depression. Negative self schemas brush aside be acquired in puerility as a result of a traumatic level(p)t much(prenominal) as the death of a p atomic number 18nt or sibling, p atomic number 18ntal rejection, bulling at home or school for physical exertion. People with negative se lf schemas become prone to reservation logical errors in their thinking and they tend to focalisation selectively on certain aspects of a situation while ignoring every bit relevant information this is called cognitive tortures. An slip of a cognitive distortion is someone believing that someone is whispering about them and they automatically get hold of it must be bad, ignoring the fact they could be whispering something good. Cognitive distortions take on the following Arbitrary interference drawing conclusions on the basis of commensurate or irrelevant exhibit for face thinking you are worthless because a show you were going too was give the bouncecelled.Selective abstraction cogitate on a iodine aspect of a situation and ignoring some others for example you feel responsible for your netball team losing a game even though your just one player on the team.Over generalisation making a sweeping conclusion on the basis of a single event. Failing an exam, this content you will fail all exams and that you are stupid. hyperbole and minimisation exaggerating or underplaying the signifi preservet of an event for example you scratch the blushing mushroom work on your car and therefore see yourself as a terrible driver.Personalisation This is attributing the negative feelings of others to yourself for example your friend enters the room looking mental unsoundness you believe you must mother upset her.Beck also suggested that that there individual differences that determine the suit of event that can trigger depression for example sociotrapic mortalalities base their self esteem on the approval of others where as an autonomous somebody would react badly to their independence being challenged.The cognitive hypothesis is one of the most influential models that apologise negative thought processes. It explains that our stirred reaction seems to come from how we interpret and predict the world around us. The important problem with the cognitive ap proach to depression is that the possibility is correlational, and that the argument is a circular one. Does depression cause negative thinking, or does negative thinking cause depression? Also it is a theory which is wakeless to interrogation and search plenty seeking help for depression already have negative emotions and so it is non practicable to access their cognitive process prior to the onset of the dis coordinate.Secondly when participants are foot raceed in research they are lots already on drugs to manage the depression which could bear upon the result of the study. Finally thoughts are subjective experiences that are hard to test and measure which make proving the theory irresponsiblely difficult. A positive of the cognitive approach to depression is that it has many useful applications and has contributed to our understanding of human phenomenon and it has compound well with other approaches.The psychodynamic business relationship of the causes of depression The psychodynamic approach to understanding depression focuses on how the unconscious motives drive our behaviours and experiences. Freud chronicle of depression lies in the aboriginal relationships with are parents, he noned that there is a similarity between grieving for a loved one and the symptoms of depression.Freud described depression as an excessive and irrational grief which occurs as a reaction to a loss, this loss evokes feelings associated with real or imagined affection from the person on whom the person was most pendents as a child. Both actual and symbolic losings lead us to re experience parts of our childhood, thus people with depression become clingy, dependant and can even regress to a child like state.Evaluate psychodynamic therapy in the treatment of depressionIn support of the psychodynamic theory people with depression do show dependant like behaviours as they often feel that they cannot manage everyday activities and blaspheme heavily on others. In suppor t of Freud theory on depression and understanding depression from the psychodynamic approach is Harlows research on privation conducted on rhesus monkeys garbled from their mothers at birth, using surrogate mothers, a wire mother and a cloth mother he demonstrated that a mothers love was essential for a persons mental health. The experiment showed that infant monkeys separated from their mothers displayed signs of depression.In support of the psychodynamic approach to depression and frauds theories this approach is idiographic and so focuses on the individual. This means that the individuals problems are taken into account and they are not just diagnosed on the bias of others. A negative point on the psychodynamic theory is there is little experimental evidence for Frauds theories as most of his work was base upon case studies, this makes the approach highly subjective and un-testable as his finding were often biased to fit his theories, mho to this frauds theory is often charac terised as unscientific as it is difficult to observe and measure concepts much(prenominal) as actual and symbolic losses and regression. Also the case studies apply to test Freuds psychodynamic theory were mainly middle aged, upper class, Austrian women. This means that his findings cannot be generalised to the wider population.This is also a problem as he developed his ideas on childhood from adults talking retrospectively of their pasts which is a problem because people recall information differently and memory and feelings fade.The ethical implications of psychodynamic therapyguiding therapy- due to the unconscious cause of the psychological problems and the resistance patients put up to the unconscious truths, the patient must trust the therapists description and instructions. However analytic thinking does occur under voluntary conditions.Psychoanalysis can be sort of anxiety provoking as it can reveal disturbing repress experiences. It is a humane form of treatment as it does not convict or judge the patient, who is not responsible for their problems.Outline the clinical characteristics of schizophrenic psychosisThere are positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenic psychosis Positive symptoms are things additional to expected behaviour and include delusions, hallucinations, agitation and talkativeness.Negative symptoms which are things missing from expected behaviour, negative symptoms include a lack of indigence , social withdrawal , flattened affect, cognitive disturbances, poor personal hygienics and poor speech.Other characteristics of schizophrenia include-Auditory or visual hallucinations tied(p) emotionsDelusionsDisorganised speechCatatonic or disorganised behaviourGive two or more psychological explanations of schizophreniaCognitive explanation for schizophreniaCognitive explanations for schizophrenia acknowledge the role of biological factors much(prenominal) as genetic causes and a change of brain activity for the cause of ini tial sensory experiences of schizophrenia. However further features of the infirmity appear as the individual attempts to understand them. The cognitive approach also suggests that schizophrenia is characterised by profound thought disturbance, this could be d declare to cognitive defects which can impair areas such as perception and memory. This could form cognitive biases and explain misconceptions and the instruction schizophrenia sufferers interpret there world. Schizophrenics normally first discover symptoms of voices and antidromic sensory experiences , this normally leads them to a friend or family member to verify the experience when the experience is not confirmed this can lead to rejection of support. This leads to a belief that people around them are hiding the truth and the person with schizophrenia believes they are being manipulated and persecuted. This shows the basis of schizophrenia is biology establish however other symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions are formed after the failure to not except there reality these of which are cognitive. In support of the cognitive approach to schizophrenia Firth (1979) proposes that disruption to an attention puree mechanism could result in the thought disturbances of schizophrenia, as the sufferer is overladen with sensory information. Studies on continuous performance and eye tracking t carrys forecast schizophrenics do show more attentional problems than non schizophrenics. This means that perhaps minify short term memory capacity could account for some schizophrenics cognitive distractibility.Hemsley (1993) suggested schizophrenics cannot distinguish between information that is already stored and new incoming information. As a result, schizophrenics are subject to sensory overload and do not know which aspect of a situation to attended to and which to ignore.One force of the cognitive explanation when describing schizophrenia is that there is further support for this theory provided by M yer-Lindenberg ( 2002) they found a link between poor works memory ( which is typical of schizophrenics ) and reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex. what is more Schielke (2002) studied a patient who developed continuous auditory hallucinations as a consequence of an abscess in the dorsal pons. This suggests that there is wider academic credibility for the link between biological and cognitive factors causing schizophrenia. A second strength of the cognitive explanation of schizophrenia is that it takes on board the raising approach to the development of schizophrenia. For example it suggests that schizophrenic behaviour is the cause of environmental factors such as cognitive factors. A weakness of the cognitive explanation is that there are problems with cause and effect.Cognitive approaches do not explain the causes of cognitive defects -where they come from in the first place. Is it the cognitive defects which cause schizophrenia behaviour or is it the schizophrenia that c auses cognitive defects. A second weakness of the cognitive model is that it is reductionist the approach does not consider other factors such as genes. This suggests that the cognitive approach over simplifies the explanation of schizophrenia.The behavioural explanation of schizophrenia.The behavioural explanation suggests that schizophrenia is a consequence of haywire learning children who do not receive small amounts of reinforcement previous(predicate) in their lives will put monstrousr attention into irrelevant environmental cues, for example Taking attention to the sound of a word quite than its actual meaning. This behaviour will eventually appear weird or strange to others so will generally be avoided. Strange behaviours may be rewarded by attention and sympathy and so they are reinforced. This can continue until the behaviour becomes so strange that the person is then label as schizophrenic. Eventually the behaviour and psychological state deteriorates into a psychoti c person state.Evaluate cognitive behavioural therapies in the treatment of schizophrenia in terms of its strengths and weaknesses.The misinterpretation of events in the world is common in schizophrenia. apply cognitive therapy with schizophrenia requires the psychologist to accept that the cognitive distortions and disorganized thinking of schizophrenia are produced, at least in part, by a biological problem that will not cease simply because the correct interpretation of reality is explained to the client. Cognitive therapy can only be successful if the psychologist accepts the clients perception of reality, and determines how to use this misperception to assist the client in correctly managing life problems. The ending is to help the client use information from the world (other people, perceptions of events, etc.) to make accommodative coping decisions. The treatment goal, for the cognitive therapist, is not to be cured _or_ healed schizophrenia, but to repair the clients ab ility to manage life problems, to function independently, and to be free of extreme distress and other psychological symptoms.AdvantagesIt directly challenges the problem and attempts a cure of the under lying symptoms.It gives the person some control over their own illness.Research has shown cognitive behavioural therapy can be as potent as medicationDue to its highly structured nature cognitive behavioural therapy can be provided in a number of formats such as soft ware and self help books.DisadvantagesIn align to benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy you need to ensure you give a considerable amount of commitment which people with schizophrenia can lack.It could be argued that because cognitive behavioural therapy only addresses current problems it does not address fundamental causes of the condition.Discuss the ethics of cognitive behavioural therapyDirective therapy due to the environmental determinism of behavioural problems, patients need to be re programmed with ada ptive behaviour.Stressful can be painful and disturbing e.g. swamp and aversion therapyHumane special maladaptive behaviours are targeted the whole person is not labelled.Outline the characteristics of anorexiaRefusal to bear on body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height.Intense fear of gaining weight randomness in the right smart in which ones body weight or spring is experienced, denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.Absents of three unbowed periods.Socially withdrawnRefusal to eat despite hungerGive two or more psychological explanations of alimentation upsetsCognitive explanation of anorexiaCognitive psychologist has suggested that irrational attitudes and beliefs and distorted perception are involved in take in disorders. These beliefs normally equal unrealistic ideals or perception of body human body or irrational attitudes towards eating habits and dieting. For example the disinhibition hypothesis once a diet has been broken one might as well get away it completely by bingeing.Cognitive researchers have also proposed that suffers of anorexia are seeking to assert control over their life to an excessive idealistic extent. Bemis- Vitousek and Orimoto (1993) pointed out the kind of faulty cognitions that are typical in people with anorexia.For example a common cognition is that dieting is a means of self control, but at the same time most people with anorexia are aware they are out of control because they cant stop dieting, even when it is threatening there life. These are faulty cognitions and maladaptive ways of thinking.The main problem with the cognitive explanation is that the theory is correlational and the argument is a circular one does negative thinking cause the eating disorder or does the eating disorder cause the negative thinking. Secondly the thoughts that are related to having an eating disorder are subjective experiences that are hard to test and measure, Also people seeking help fo r an eating disorder are already have negative emotions so it is not possible to test their cognitive processes prior to the onset of the disorder.Psychodynamic explanation of anorexiaOne beguile of the psychodynamic model of anorexia proposes that anorexia reflects an unconscious desire by a girl to checkout pre-pubescent. Over dependence on parents may result in the juvenile fearing sexual maturity and independence. Bruch (1974) regarded anorectics as being in a struggle for control and their own identity, the pursuit of thinness was seen as a unfavourable part of such a struggle. Bruch considered that there were two main characteristics of parents that make the development of anorexia more likely in their children. Firstly an over concern with food and secondly family relationships that did not assist the child in underdeveloped their own sense of identity particularly important was considered to be girls feeling that their needs were secondary to their mothers.The psychody namic approach in relation to eating disorders is idiographic and so it focuses on the individual. This means the individuals problems are taken into account and they are not just diagnosed on the basis of others. There is little evidence for Freuds theories on eating disorders it is all based on feeling quite an than hard evidence. All his case studies were a mainly middle aged, Austrian woman which means his findings cannot be generalised to the wider population. However Freuds idea that the anorexics refusal to eat was an unconscious denial of the adult role and they wished to remain a child. The quantify of onset in anorexia and the loss of menstruation supports this idea.Evaluate behavioural therapy in the treatment of eating disorders.Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common type of treatment for eating disorders. This branch of psychotherapy aims to help break large problems or situations into smaller more manageable parts and treats eating disorders in this same way. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a branch of psychotherapy that is based on the idea that all thoughts (cognition) and actions (behaviors) are related.This may not unendingly be clear, so CBT aims to help individuals break down problems or situations into more manageable parts and examine the ways in which thoughts, emotions and actions were related in each other. Cognitive behavioral therapy allows individuals to examine the relationships between their thoughts, feelings and actions and in doing so allows individuals to understand that if they change the way that they think and feel, they will change the way that they act. For individuals suffering from eating disorders, understanding the relationships between thoughts, emotions and actions is highly important. Once these relationships are understood, the individual suffering from an eating disorder can replace the negative thoughts and emotions which have led to abnormal food and eating behaviors and with more positive thoughts a nd emotions that will lead back towards a healthy lifestyle. However, in order for these relationships to be clear, it may take several weeks of tracking thoughts, feelings and food and eating behaviors before the individual will accept this proof. Often therapists will ask individuals to keep a journal or food diary in order to more accurately record their thoughts, feelings and actions towards food and eating during a given period of time.Discuss the ethics of behavioural therapyBehavioural therapy can induce a high level of anxiety which could be considered unethical Directive therapy due to the environmental determinism of behavioural problems patients need to be re programmed with adaptive behaviour.Stressful can be painful and disturbing e.g. flooding and aversion therapyHumane specific maladaptive behaviours are targeted the whole person is not labelled.