Abnormal Psychology: Major Depression and Specific Phobia

Depression is a medical illness that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depression can cause physical symptoms, too.
Also called major depression, major depressive disorder and clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave. Depression can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and depression may make you feel as if life isn't worth living. Depression is a chronic illness that usually requires long-term treatment, like diabetes or high blood pressure. But don't get discouraged. Most people with depression feel better with medication, psychological counseling or other treatment.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th Ed; DSM-IV) is the book used by qualified mental health professionals to make a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The following is a summary of the required symptom makeup to be used as a guide. However, it is important to know that only a qualified professional who also relies on clinical judgment can make an accurate diagnosis.

A. At least 6 months of "excessive anxiety and worry" about a variety of events and situations. Generally, "excessive" can be interpreted as more than would be expected for a particular situation or event. Most people become anxious over certain things, but the intensity of the anxiety typically corresponds to the situation.

B. There is significant difficulty in controlling the anxiety and worry. If someone has a very difficult struggle to regain control, relax, or cope with the anxiety and worry, then this requirement is met.

C. The presence for most days over the previous six months of 3 or more (only 1 for children) of the following symptoms:

1. Feeling wound-up, tense, or restless
2. Easily becoming fatigued or worn-out
3. Concentration problems
4. Irritability
5. Significant tension in muscles
6. Difficulty with sleep

D. The symptoms are not part of another mental disorder.

E. The symptoms cause "clinically significant distress" or problems functioning in daily life. "Clinically significant" is the part that relies on the perspective of the treatment provider. Some people can have many of the aforementioned symptoms and cope with them well enough to maintain a high level of functioning.

F. The condition is not due to a substance or medical issue


(Source American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th Ed., Text Revision). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.)



A specific phobia can be any kind of anxiety disorder that amounts to an unreasonable or irrational fear related to exposure to specific objects or situations. As a result, the affected persons tend to actively avoid direct contact with the objects or situations and, in severe cases, any mention or depiction of them.
The fear or anxiety may be triggered both by the presence and the anticipation of the specific object or situation. A person who encounters that of which they are phobic will often show signs of fear or express discomfort. In some cases it can result in a panic attack. In most cases of adults, this kind of phobia is consciously recognized by the person; still, anxiety and avoidance are difficult to control and may significantly impair person's functioning and even physical health.

 

 

Psychology Treatments

 









Lobotomy is a neurosurgical procedure also known as a leukotomy or leucotomy. It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain. By the late 1970s the practice of lobotomy had generally decreased and stopped, but some countries continued to use other forms of other psycho surgery. In 2001 there were, for example, 70 operations in Belgium, about 15 in the UK and about 15 a year at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, while France had carried out operations on about 5 patients a year in the early 1980s. Walter Freeman, an American physician, with his colleague James Watts, performed his first lobotomy operation in 1936.  He was so satisfied with the results that he went on to do many thousands more, and in fact began a propaganda campaign to promote its use.  He is also famous for inventing what is called ice pick lobotomy.  Between 1939 and 1951, over 18,000 lobotomies were performed in the US, and many more in other countries.  It was often used on convicts, and in Japan it was recommended for use on “difficult” children.  There are still western countries that permit the use of the lobotomy, although its use has decreased dramatically worldwide.


 Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure in which electric currents are passed through the brain, deliberately triggering a brief seizure. Electroconvulsive therapy seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can immediately reverse symptoms of certain mental illnesses. It often works when other treatments are unsuccessful.
Much of the stigma attached to electroconvulsive therapy is based on early treatments in which high doses of electricity were administered without anesthesia, leading to memory loss, fractured bones and other serious side effects.
Electroconvulsive therapy is much safer today. Although electroconvulsive therapy still causes some side effects, it now uses electrical currents given in a controlled setting to achieve the most benefit with the fewest possible risks.

Lithium carbonate is indicated in the treatment of manic episodes of manic-depressive illness. Maintenance therapy prevents or diminishes the intensity of subsequent episodes in those manic-depressive patients with a history of mania.
Typical symptoms of mania include pressure of speech, motor hyperactivity, reduced need for sleep, flight of ideas, grandiosity, elation, poor judgment, aggressiveness, and possibly hostility. When given to a patient experiencing a manic episode, lithium carbonate may produce a normalization of symptomatology within 1 to 3 weeks.

Aaron Beck

Who is Aaron Beck?
Explain his Cognitive Triad Theory
Describe Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a treatment for depression
Include 3 relevant pictures


Aaron Beck is an American psychiatrist who is best known for pioneering the use of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). He revolutionized psychotherapy in general by applying science and replicable data to create more efficient therapeutic techniques.Aaron Beck's  cognitive traid theory is a traid theory of types of negative thought present in depression. The traids form part of his Cognitive Theory of Depression
"The traids involve negative thoughts about"

1. The self (i.e., self is worthless)
2. The world/environment (i.e., world is unfair), and
3. The future (i.e., future is hopeless).

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck's_cognitive_triad)

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a common type of mental health counseling, which can be a very helpful tool in treating mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is generally short-term and focused on helping clients deal with a very specific problem. During the course of treatment, people learn how to identify and change destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have negative influences on behavior. The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to teach patients that while they cannot control every aspect of the world around them, they can take control of how they interpret and deal with things in their environment.

There are a number of different approaches to CBT that are regularly used by mental health professionals. These types include:

• Rational Emotive Therapy
• Cognitive Therapy
• Multimodal Therapy  

  (Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychotherapy/a/cbt.htm)