IB Psychology HL - Abnormal - Examine Biomedical, Individual And Group Treatments

• usually uses medications to alter activity of neurotransmitters in the brain

• assumes that biological changes can improve psychological conditions

• assumes that the cause of the problem is biological and therefore the solution should also be biological

• antidepressant drugs are frequently used to treat anorexia and depression

• anorexia because eating disorder patients frequently suffer comorbidity (multiple disorders), often with depression

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

• maintains high serotonin levels and consequently improves mood

• popular because they have relatively few side effects (e.g. headache, nausea, sleeplessness, agitation, and sexual problems)

study: Kirsch et al (2008)

• meta-analysis comparing placebos and SSRIs

• noted that there was virtually no difference in the effects of placebos and SSRIs on moderate depression

• but significant differences were observed between the effects of placebos and SSRIs on severe depression

• concluded that SSRIs are only really effective for severe depression

• when a client meets alone with a therapist and the therapist uses psychological techniques to help the person with their symptoms

• assumes that the cause of the disorder is NOT biological; rather, that it’s purely psychological and simply connected with experience or cognition

• assumes that successful individual therapy will result in full recovery

• linked to Beck€’s cognitive triad (1976) where automatic negative thinking is assumed to cause depression

• aims to change negative thinking patterns (cognitive restructuring)

• aims to identify automatic negative thinking patterns and change them

• sympathetic person discusses past experiences but without any theoretical guidance

• concentrates on helping the client develop and use positive social support networks as well as improve communication skills

• also helps adjust clients’ expectations to be more realistic

IPT vs CPT
Fairburn et al. (1993) on bulimia:
- IPT less effective than CBT post-treatment
- but over time both treatments had the same cumulative effect
- Parker et al. (2006) suggest this is because psychotherapies do not have theoretical basis, so each patient’s experience is subjective

IPT vs biomedical
Parker et al. (2006) on depression:
- IPT alone is not as quick as medication in relieving symptoms, but does provide substantial improvement later on
- found that a primary focus on IPT with some use of medication was the most effective treatment
- possibly because if it was the other way around patients would have expected medication to solve their problems – the main focus on IPT prevents them from being too reliant on medication

CBT vs biomedical
March et al. (2007) on depression:
- divided 300 depressed teenagers into 4 conditions: Prozac only, CBT only, Prozac + CBT, and placebo only
- after 12 weeks the improvements were: eclectic > Prozac > CBT > placebo
- but by 36 weeks all 3 group were approximately on the same level
- but it was noted that the Prozac only group experienced more suicidal thoughts than groups that received CBT
- March et al concluded that an eclectic approach was most effective

• when a therapist works with several clients at the same time, encouraging them to talk to and help each other

• assumes that interpersonal contact with people in a similar situation will improve each individual’s condition

• assumes that when people are surrounded by others with similar emotional experiences, they are more likely to discuss about it

• assumes that discussing in a group helps develop important social skills that clients can use in real life

study: Hyun et al. (2005)

• randomly assigned depressed adolescents at a shelter for runaways to group CBT or no treatment

• found that group CBT significantly alleviated depression

Truax (2001):

• notes that meta-analyses omitted group therapy results involving severely depressed patients

• dissatisfaction with the group might lead to drop-out

• could be counter-productive to treat depressed people by surrounding them with more depressed people