Outline the clinical characteristics of one anxiety disorder
Outline the clinical characteristics of one anxiety disorder (10 Marks) Anxiety is an adaptive response, an individual with an anxiety disorder experiences anxiety that is disproportionate to threats that are presented. Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorders. Phobias are an extreme irrational fear of certain situations, objects, people or activities; the level of fear is so great the object or situation is avoided whenever possible. Phobias are classified into three categories, specific phobia, social phobia and agoraphobia. Agoraphobia and social phobia usually interfere with the individuals' daily life, whereas specific phobia generally has less impact. Specific phobias are a fear of specific objects such as animals, the environment, a situation or blood and guts. The prevalence is 4-7% of the population. Specific phobias can be caused from direct experience, observation or from being told to fear the object. The clinical characteristic for this is for the individual with the phobia to avoid the feared object. The anxiety from the situation often results in restlessness, jumpy behaviour; in general the individual finds it difficult to relax and may experience a startled response when presented with the feared stimuli. Social phobias are due to the individual's self-consciousness of their behaviour and a fear of being negatively judged by others in social
Does a Music Therapy Intervention Reduce Anxiety in Patients either before or after invasive procedures taking place?
Appraisal of Research Evidence for Practice. Gail Hartburn Cohort 0201 Adult Tutor- Dave Turnbull Does a Music Therapy Intervention Reduce Anxiety in Patients either before or after invasive procedures taking place? This assignment is based on the importance of research and how it enables nurses to provide the best quality care within the clinical setting with the use of evidence based practice. The literature retrieval process will be discussed with three articles being summarised and critiqued, along with the rationale for the choice of paper. The research articles will be referred to as papers 1, 2 and 3, (Appendix 1) they will critically analyse the methodology, strengths and limitations of each paper. The findings will also be discussed in the conclusion to decide if the articles are suitable for clinical practice. Research is an essential part of nursing with its importance being reflected on the current use of evidence based practice within the clinical setting (Polit and Hungler, 1997). Evidence-based practice means that evidence is used to either support current practice or guide changes in practice with the use of current research (Youngblut et al, 2001) This first came about so that practices would be based on research evidence rather than tradition to provide best practices within the clinical setting (Ingersoll, 2000). Using research evidence as a basis for
At Last - creative writing.
At Last To my knowledge the exact definition of a dream is a, 'fantasy, idea, aspiration, beautiful or ideal person or thing'. However, I believe that a dream is not just an everyday term that we use to pursue a goal or fantasy, it changes people's lives and I believe that without serious dreams there would be no meaning to life. However dreams and memories can destroy a man if they are not altered or manipulated. I awoke to the eerie sounds of the night, except that the sounds of Donanbrook were that of complete silence none of any creature. I seemed to miss that of the squealing pigs of home. I thought about what was to come and how my life would proceed considering what had happened. Would it change a great deal or would it return to normal once the procedures to repair the damage were complete? No such brutality could be justified even for a greater cause. The only thing that saved me from the dreaded insomnia, which I suffered was the border line belief I could seek redemption for my sins in death. I moved down the hole in which was quickly becoming my residence only semi-aware of events around me. I stumbled over some person almost totally oblivious to the wounds which he had, I had no where to go yet I had no time for him and slid on past. My thought was far off in the distance muted by my innermost feelings of hate and anguish. I was vaguely aware of the fact
Outline and evaluate evolutionary explanations for food preferences.
Outline and evaluate evolutionary explanations for food preferences When the world began human kind was primitive and people had to hunt to find food. Therefore the early human diet consisted of deer, berries, nuts and rodent size animals. As the world evolved so did our taste buds which have now been established as sweet, sour, salt, bitter and umami. Each taste bud is essential for the survival of human kind. Salt is necessary in our diets for survival as without it we would dehydrate and die. There is not a large amount of salt within the human diet because it can lead to high blood pressure and other associated health risks. Fessler (2003) assumed salt was so essential that humans are expected to have a uniform preference for salty foods and natural selection would have removed these differences. However, there are differences in salt preference which he explains by references to the fact that high salt intake protects against sudden dehydration. He believed that an adaptive mechanism calculates salt preferences as a function of the risk of dehydration as indicated by past experience of dehydration and maternal salt intake. There has been no key research to support Fessler's theory and so it may not be reliable in explaining why humans incorporate salt in their diet. Salt is also key for animals as high sodium concentrations maintain the body's nerve and muscle activity
Discuss and evaluate the evolutionary explanations of food preferences
Discuss and evaluate the evolutionary explanations of food preferences Evolutionary explanations of food preference explain individual's food choices in based on the diets of our earlier ancestors and also based on cultural transmission which is the spread of skills, technologies and ideas through communication and modelling rather than genes. The role of taste and smell are very important for humans as they can use the senses to differentiate between good and bad foods. When we eat food there are five key tastes receptors that come into play. These are sweet, sour, bitter, salt and umami. These are good for survival because; sweet recognises carbohydrates in food. Carbohydrates are good because they are a good energy source. Sour would help people to realise what foods are bad and therefore prompt them not to eat them. Salt is important for the functioning of cells so it would be important for the body to recognise this. Bitter tastes are usually poisonous so this would protect people from eating poisonous foods. Umami would indicate a good source of protein. These food tastes would have helped humans evolve as they each either protect from eating harmful foods or they recognise foods that need to be eaten. It would be difficult however to identify most of these tastes as food that is prepared today would have several different tastes. Humans have quite a complex diet
Outline and evaluate one or more biological explanations for depression. In your evaluation you should refer to research evidence.
Outline and evaluate one or more biological explanations for depression. In your evaluation you should refer to research evidence. (8 marks + 16 marks) The biological explanations for depression centre on the mood disorder being biologically caused. Genetic factors suggest that you are born with a biological weakness which makes you unable to resist stressors, which consequently leads to depression. This is known as the diathesis stress model. The main piece of research that supports this comes from the Maudsley Hospital twin register, where concordance rates of 46% were found in MZ twins and 20% in DZ twins. This suggest that depression must be passed on through genes if there is a high concordance rate between twins which share the same genetic makeup both having depression. However, biological factors such as the amine hypothesis states that if amines such as serotonin and noradrenalin become unbalanced, they can lead to depression. PET scans support this idea as they show that low levels of serotonin are present in people that are depressed. Other supporting evidence is that drugs such as MAOI's, which work by increasing the available amount of noradrenalin in the brain, were found to be effective in alleviating the symptoms of depression. A problem with this is that it doesn't state whether it is cause or effect. Significant support for the biological explanation
Describe and evaluate the recovery/restoration theory of the function of sleep.
Psychology Essay Describe and evaluate one theory of the function of sleep (24 marks) Recovery/ Restoration is one theory on the functions of sleep. This theory is based on the concept that sleep is needed to save energy and to allow restoration of tissue. Research evidence that supports this theory focuses mostly around physiological benefits of sleep. Alison and Cicchetti (1976) surveyed 39 mammalian species to work out the amount of time spent in slow wave sleep (SWS) and in REM sleep. It was found that body weight (which correlates with metabolic rate) was the best indicator of the amount of SWS needed. Oswald's (1980) findings can relate to this; he found that during SWS growth hormones are released from the pituitary gland, stimulating protein synthesis; which is essential for tissue repair. This can explain why new-borns spend a great deal of time sleeping, due to the fact that REM sleep reflects brain recovery and the few months before and after birth are times of rapid brain growth- babies spend 50-60% of their 'sleep time' in REM sleep. Shapiro et al (1981) studied runners who had taken part in an ultra-marathon. They found that the runners slept for around an hour and a half longer than usual for two nights after the marathon. Also, there was an increase in the amount of time spent in SWS. However, this would suggest that people who do little physical activity
Discuss two biological therapies for depression. You should refer to research evidence in your answer.
Discuss two biological therapies for depression. You should refer to research evidence in your answer. (8 marks + 16 marks) Drugs are the first port of call for individuals suffering from depression and there are three main drug therapies that are used to treat the mood disorder. Monoamine-oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are used for treating depression as they are effective in treating the symptoms of depression but they do cause unwanted side effects that can, in extreme cases, could be life threatening. Individuals that are prescribed MAOIs need to restrict their diets to exclude foods that react adversely with the drug. They are usually prescribed when other medications have proved ineffective for the particular patient. Another type of antidepressant that is used to treat depression is tricyclic antidepressants. They work by raising levels of serotonin and noradrenaline in the brain. The specific effects depend on the mechanisms targeted. They have been shown to be quite effective in alleviating symptoms of depression and have fewer side effects than MAOIs. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are drugs such as fluoxetine hydrochloride (Prozac), were originally though to be free of side effects and were prescribed extensively. In the last few years, doubts were raised about their safety and in particular, there were reports linking Prozac to suicidal behavior.
Stress can be explained as the stimulus in the environment that triggers a stress response. Psychologists call anything that causes someone to act stressed a stressor
.Stress. Stress as a Bodily Response Stress is a Response to Stimuli in the Environment . Stress can be explained as the stimulus in the environment that triggers a stress response. Psychologists call anything that causes someone to act stressed a 'stressor' 2. Stress can be explained as a response to a stimuli 3. 'The response that occurs when we think we can't cope with the pressures in our environment' can lead to stress. HANS SELYE studied this with stressed rats. Hans Selye Explained Stress as a Three Stage Response Hans Selye (1956) found rats became ill when they were given harmless injections. He concluded that all animals & humans react to stressors through a three stage physiological response. This is called General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). . The Alarm Stage - when we perceive a stressor our arousal levels increase this happens so that we are ready to make any physical response. 'Fight or Flight' 2. The Resistance Stage - when exposed to stressor for long time, out bodies adapt to the situation and we can cope in a normal way. However, there would still will a high level of arousal. 3. The Exhaustion Stage - after long time exposure to a stressor our bodies will eventually be unable to continue to cope with the situation. Alarm stage may return (result in distress). Selye called this 'diseases of adaptation'. Commentary * The GAS theory offers a single
Outline and Evaluate the Biological Treatments of OCD
Outline and Evaluate the Biological Treatments of OCD One biological treatment of OCD is Psychosurgery which is a surgical intervention that aims to treat a behaviour for which no pathological cause can be established. The patient must meet certain criteria before they can be considered for this surgery, for example the illness must have persisted for longer than 5 years, all other treatments have been tested and failed to provide relief, and the patient must be between the ages of 26 and 65. The main idea of the procedure is that it attempts to interrupt nerve pathways in areas of the brain implicated in OCD. Probes are inserted through the skull into the cingulated girus, the part of the brain that allows the OFC to talk to the basal ganglia. The probe tips are then heated and the tissue is burned. The operation can also be conducted using external radiation. This procedure is known as a cingulotomy. One strength of this procedure is that research has shown that it is very effective. One supporting study of this is that Baer (1995) reported that a cingulotomy was successful in decreasing anxiety and OCD behaviour. In addition, Dougherty et al (2002) supported this as he suggested that up to 45% of patients had a reduction in OCD symptoms, therefore suggesting a casual cause and effect relationship between psychosurgery and reduction in OCD symptoms, therefore strengthening
