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Psychological problems
infoWhy this? Psychological Problems integrates biological, cognitive, and behavioural explanations, making it one of the most synoptic topics in the course. It allows students to apply all prior knowledge to understand mental health conditions, treatments, and debates around effectiveness and ethics.
scheduleWhy now? This topic is taught last as it is the most synoptic and conceptually demanding, requiring students to integrate biological, cognitive and behavioural explanations using well‑developed evaluative skills and emotional maturity.
neurologyYou need to know
- Characteristics of mental health
- How the incidence of significant mental health problems changes over time
- The effects of significant mental health problems of individuals and society
- Differences between unipolar and bipolar depression and sadness
- The use of International Classification of Diseases in diagnosing unipolar depression
- Biological explanation (influence of nature): imbalance of neurotransmitters
- Psychological explanation (influence of nurture): negative schemas and attributions
- Interventions or therapies for depression: antidepressant medications and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
- Wiles' study of the effectiveness of CBT.
- The differences between addiction/dependence and substance misuse/abuse.
- The use of International Classification of Diseases in diagnosing addiction (dependence syndrome).
- Biological explanations (influence of nature): hereditary factors/genetic vulnerability. Kaj's twin study of alcohol abuse.
- Psychological explanation (influence of nurture): Peer influence.
- Interventions or therapies for addiction: aversion therapy, self-management programmes
rocket_launchYou must be able to
- Demonstrate understanding of the characteristics and impact of mental health problems, explaining how they affect individuals and society.
- Apply knowledge of diagnostic criteria and psychological theories to analyse unipolar and bipolar depression as well as addiction.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of various interventions and therapies, including discussing empirical studies such as Wiles' study of CBT.
Revision Quiz
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