Each mental disorder is broken down into: emotional, behavioural and cognitive characteristics.
Emotional: the emptions felt as a result of the disorder.
Behavioural: how the disorder affects behaviour.
Cognitive: how the disorder affects the way in which you process information, including thought processes and thinking patterns
Mental Disorders
Phobias
A phobia is specific for objects or situations.
Examples include agoraphobia and social anxiety.
| Behavioural | Panic, avoidance or endurance of the phobic stimulus. |
|---|---|
| Emotional | Unreasonable anxiety and fear. |
| Cognitive | Selective attention towards the phobic stimulus coinciding irrational believes and distortions. |
Depression
| Behavioural | Changes to usual activity levels, sleep and eating patterns. Possibly aggression. |
|---|---|
| Emotional | Lowered mood, anger and decline in self-esteem. |
| Cognitive | Poor concentration, bias towards seeing the negative, absolutist thinking. |
Possible Symptoms
- Depressed mood
- Lack of interest or pleasure in all activities
- Significant weight loss or weight gain
- Insomnia
- Psychomotor agitation
- Loss of energy
- Feelings of worthlessness
- Diminished ability to think or concentrate
- Recurrent thoughts of death
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
Characterised by either obsessive thought, compulsive behaviours or both.
| Behavioural | Includes compulsions to repeat behaviours, usually to reduce anxiety and avoidance of situations. |
|---|---|
| Emotional | Main characteristic is anxiety, often accompanied by depression and guilt. |
| Cognitive | Recurrent obsessive thoughts, accompanied by rituals with the obsession and insight into excessive anxiety. |
Exam Question
Example exam questions may be as such:
Outline emotional/behavioural/cognitive characteristics of Phobias/OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)/Depression. (3 marks)