1. Psychological Problems
Symptoms
Main ones:
Lowering of mood
Lack of energy
Lack of motivation
Others:
Suicidal thoughts
Lack of self-esteem
Sleeping/eating problems.
Features
Mild: 4 symptoms
Moderate: 5/6 symptoms
Severe: 7+ symptoms
Symptoms
Behavioural
Need to do activity regularly
Reducing it is very difficult
Substance
Physical withdrawal symptoms
Ignoring evidence that it is harmful to them
Influence
Influence
Individuals
Increased risk of suicide.
Lack of motivation stops them from going to work so may lead to feelings of guilt
Society
Cost of treating patients
Cost of people missing work
Individuals
May ignore family and friends
Spend money they don’t have
Society
Cost of people missing work due to health problems
Cost of healthcare
Increase in crime levels
Features
Opiates are the most common addiction followed by alcohol.
Number of people suffering is difficult to estimate
Internet addiction is not recognised but many young people suffer from it.
DEPRESSION
ADDICTION
Incidence
More people being diagnosed why?
-More people aware of symptoms
-Modern life is more stressful
-Increase in young people could be a consequence of more social media usage
Incidence
Difficult to measure changes in incidence rates-why?
-Definition of addiction is changing e.g now includes behavioural addictions
-Some drugs used to be legal
-Newspaper headlines lie
Psychological Problems
Caspi et al. (2003) Influence of Life Stress on Depression: Moderation by a Polymorphism in the 5-HTT Gene
Background
Lots of evidence has found that stressful life events cause depression but not everyone who experiences stressful life events becomes depressed.
Serotonin=brain chemical involved with depression
Aim
1) Why stressful life events lead to depression in some people but not others
2) Whether stressful life events were more likely to lead to depression in people with a certain variation of the 5-HTT gene.
Procedure
847 participants-members of Dunedin Multidisciplinary health and Development Study and were put into 3 groups:
1-Two copies of short version of gene
2-One copy of short version and one copy of long version
3-Two copies of long version
Completed one questionnaire on life events between 21st-26th birthday and one on symptoms of depression in year before 26th birthday.
Results
30% of participants had no stressful life events
At least one short version + stressful life events=increase of depressive symptoms
Short version=more likely to be develop suicidal thoughts after stressful life events
Two short versions + stressful life events = most likely to report severe depressive symptoms
Conclusion
Supports the idea of the Diathesis-Stress Model
Suggests that both nature and nurture work together
+ Large sample so can generalise the results
+Practical applications e.g if we know what cause depression, doctors can find the most appropriate treatment.
-There is no cause and effect and the results are not clear. It might be that people with the short version put themselves into more stressful situations e.g becoming a paramedic which may make them become depressed.
-Evidence from questionnaire may not be reliable as people may lie.

2. Genetic Explanation of Depression Cognitive Explanation of Depression
Monozygotic Twins (MZ)=100% of same genes
Dizygotic Twins (DZ)=50% of same genes
McGuffin et al. (1996): if 1 MZ twin become depressed then there was a 46% chance that the other one would but if 1 DZ twin became depressed then there was only a 20% chance that the other would become depressed.
People may inherit a genetic predisposition to depression but an environmental factor may need to trigger it-DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL.
Cognitive Explanation of Depression
Drug Therapy as a treatment for Depression
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
-Block the reuptake of serotonin when it is released.
Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors
-Block the reuptake of both serotonin and noradrenaline when it is released
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
-Prevents the enzyme from working that breaks down serotonin and noradrenaline when it has been released
Tricyclics
-Prevents serotonin and noradrenaline from being reabsorbed
The self
The world
The future
Activating Event
Beliefs
Consequences
Beck
Depression can be explained by cognitive triad.
If a person have negative views about the three aspects then they will develop depression.
This negative tried develops from bad experiences.
Ellis
A-Something happens
B-Rational/irrational thoughts associated with event
C-Rational thought=positive consequences
Irrational thought=negative consequences
-Takes away the stigma of having depression
-Lots of research evidence to support explanation
-Can improve symptoms enough so that the patient can access other therapies
-Lots of research to support treatment
-Takes into account both nature and nurture
-Practical applications in therapy e.g CBT
-Deterministic as assumes that if you have certain genes then you WILL become depressed.
-Reductionist as it only looks at one factor
-No cause and effect-unclear if irrational thoughts cause depression or if depression causes irrational thoughts.
-Not all types of depression can be explained by this e.g post-natal
-Can have unpleasant side effects
-Only treat symptoms not cause of depression
Genetic Explanation of Addiction
Carmelli et al. (1992): MZ twins-if one was a smoker there was a high chance the other would be one too.
Martinez et al. (2004): a group of heavy users of cocaine were more likely to have a particular version of a dopamine receptor gene.
The A1 variant of the DRD2 has been linked to gambling and alcohol addictions
Learning Theory of Addiction
Social Learning Theory
We learn addictive behaviour by observing role models partaking in addictive behaviour and imitating them.
Classical Conditioning
We learn addictive behaviour by associating it with something positive so next time they want to feel good they will do the addictive behaviour.
Operant Conditioning
We learn addictive behaviour through reinforcement. If we are rewarded when taking part in addictive behaviour-it will be repeated.
Drug Therapy as a treatment for Addiction
Withdrawal
-Drugs can help patients deal with withdrawal symptoms and actually reduce them
Reducing Cravings
-Medication can reduce cravings by mimicking the effects of the addictive substance
Treating other mental health problems
-Drugs can help treat other mental health problems
Behavioural addiction
Drugs can now help behavioural addictions as well as substance addictions
-Lots of scientific evidence to support explanation
-Can explain why only some people become addicts even though many people try addictive substances.
-Lots of research evidence to support treatment.
-Can improve symptoms enough so that patient can access other therapies.
-Practical applications for treatment as behaviours can be unlearned.
-Practical implications-can help understand why some people relapse (association)
-Reductionist as it does not take social factors into account.
-It is difficult to pinpoint one single gene that explain where addiction comes from.
-Evidence that supports this treatment is mixed
-Giving medication to patients who are already addicted to something could make their problems worse.
-Can’t explain why not everyone becomes addicted
-Ignores role of biological factors