- We will start by learning the psychological problems meaning.
- Then moving on to look at psychological problems examples which will cover young people and psychological problems in old age.
- Drawing from these examples, we will uncover the effects of psychological problems.
- The psychological problems we will focus on in this explanation are depression, addiction and schizophrenia.
- To learn about the current research understanding of psychological problems, we will cover research by Caspi et al. (2003) and Young (2007).
- Finally, we will examine the issues and debates raised when investigating psychological problems.
Psychology research investigates variables that researchers consider may cause psychological problems, freepik.com/rawpixel.com.
Psychological Problems Meaning
Psychological problems is an umbrella term used to describe many aspects of mental illnesses; this ranges from the effects of mental illnesses, characteristics, theories, and interventions of mental illnesses to issues and debates raised when understanding and investigating mental illnesses.
Psychological Problem Examples
There are many ways in which mental illnesses and psychological problems can affect the quality of one's life. These problems affect individuals, their families and society.
Effects of psychological problems
How we see mental illnesses differs from person to person and is also affected by cultural differences. What one country views as a sign of mental illness may be a standard practice in another, within reason. With the modernisation of society, people have experienced more challenges, such as isolation and pressure from social media.
The psychological problems individuals may experience include difficulties coping and doing usual tasks, reductions in their quality of life, impaired relationships and being outcasted by society.
As mental illnesses vary in nature, they can have different societal effects. For example, the rise of drug addictions can cause more accidents, increasing the burden on the state, crime rates, and healthcare providers. Depression, however, often results in less people working, a different pressure on the state, and more people struggling to cope with the demands of daily life.
To lessen the adverse effects of mental illnesses, we need to remove the stigma surrounding them in society which may encourage people to get help sooner rather than later.
Young people and psychological problems
The effects of young people and psychological problems differ from those of the older generation. Some difficulties that they may face are:
- Delinquency
- Bullying/social isolation
- Difficulties expressing and receiving help
Some common mental illnesses typically affecting young people are anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Psychological problems in old age
Some examples of psychological problems in old age are:
- Feelings of increased burden
- Financial difficulties
- Social isolation
- Reduced quality of life
Some common mental illnesses more common in old age are Alzheimer's disease and depression.
The effects of young people and psychological problems in old age have some similarities and differences.
Mental Illnesses
When it comes to diagnosing, understanding and treating mental illnesses, there are several factors that healthcare practitioners need to consider. For instance, two main diagnostic manuals are used, usually determined by where the patient is treated:
- The DSM is used in the US, and the ICD is used in almost every country.
In theory, this sounds great as there are resources available in many countries; however, the issue is that the two manuals differ in terms of symptoms and symptom duration of mental illnesses. So how can we determine which one if either of these are valid? And how do we create a consensus on mental illness and the best way to treat it, when one manual states a person has depression, and another states that they, in fact, have anxiety?
Consistency is key in treating and diagnosing illnesses.
Depression
Depression is an affective disorder, which means that it affects our emotional state. Depression is an umbrella term used to describe many types of depression, such as clinical depression, major depressive disorder, unipolar depression, and bipolar depression.
Although there are multiple forms of depression, they are all characterised by persistent low moods. The difference between them is the intensity of illnesses and additional symptoms.
For instance, bipolar depression is characterised by stark shifts from highs to lows in mood. In contrast, a characterising symptom of unipolar depression is a loss of interest in activities that used to be found pleasurable.
The term depression is probably one of the most overly-cited mental illnesses. Often people say that they feel depressed after a bad day. Although they may feel sad or upset, they are likely not dealing with depression, as the DSM and ICD report that the symptoms should for longer than a few days or weeks.
Similar to depression, sadness is characterised by low mood; the difference between the two is that sadness is not as persistent.
Let's take a look at a brief overview of theories, approaches and treatments for depression.
- Biological theories such as the monoamine theory of depression suggest that a reduction of monoamines, such as serotonin leads to the onset of depression. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that relay information from neuron to neuron, and serotonin is often thought of as the happy messenger. Lower levels of it have been associated with low moods, the prominent symptom of depression.
- Psychological explanations suggest that negative schemas and attributions can contribute to depression, suggesting that our experiences, the way we think, and faulty cognitive processes can cause depression.
- Cognitive behaviour therapy to treat depression has been created. These interventions aim to change maladaptive to adaptive cognitive thoughts to boost functioning and reduce symptoms. In addition, patients are taught coping strategies to prevent future relapse.
- Antidepressants are another form of popular treatment used to treat depression. These drugs typically work by blocking the serotonin reuptake, meaning a higher abundance of the neurotransmitter in the synapse.
Addiction
Addiction is when someone cannot refrain from using a substance or doing particular activities despite the negative implications and is characterised by tolerance and withdrawal symptoms
When someone has an accident and it results in a serious injury, the pain can be hard to manage. Doctors will often prescribe painkillers to help ease the pain. Painkillers, especially when they are strong, such as Codeine, an opioid, have addictive. Opioids include drugs such as heroin and morphine, and can often become addictive if taken for too long. The person with pain may take painkillers to ease their pain for a few weeks, but become addicted if not carefully monitored, and struggle to operate normally without the painkillers afterwards.
Not all painkillers are addictive. Those you can buy over the counter are largely not addictive, the stronger painkillers a doctor can prescribe can be addictive, however, and require responsible use. Always follow instructions given by professionals,
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the diagnostic manual used in most countries, proposes three main criteria that are required to be present for the diagnosis of an addiction.
- An impulse to use substances/partake in activities despite knowing the consequences of doing so.
- Difficulties in not abusing/over-using what the individual is addicted to.
- They prioritise using substances or doing activities they are addicted to over other commitments.
Let's take a look at a brief overview of theories, approaches and treatments for addiction.
- As with many theories of psychological problems, different approaches have varying accounts for explaining addiction.
- Biological psychologists argue that addiction is hereditary, whereas social psychologists say that factors such as peer influence may be more significant contributors to addiction.
- Some common addiction interventions used are aversion therapy which applies principles of classical conditioning to treat addiction and self-management programmes which are interventions designed to make individuals responsible for their recovery.
Individuals addicted to alcohol cannot stop drinking even if they know the detrimental effects of doing so, freepik.com/vectorjuice.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that impairs thoughts, feelings and behaviour, characterised by psychosis. The symptoms of the illness are characterised into two sub-groups: positive and negative.
Positive symptoms can be thought of as a symptom that adds to the individual experience, such as hallucinations, and negative symptoms are experiences taking something away from the individual, such as difficulties with movements; also known as catatonic movements.
Let's take a look at a brief overview of theories, approaches and treatments for schizophrenia.
- Biological explanations of schizophrenia have linked mental illness to genetics, irregular dopamine levels in particular brain pathways, and irregular brain structures and activity. For instance, increased activity in the frontal lobe is responsible for higher cognitive processes such as memory, controlling impulses and motor function in schizophrenia patients.
- The psychological explanations spark some controversy as they suggest that schizophrenia may be caused by conflicting messages that we receive from important figures such as our parents. The theory is known as the double-bind theory of schizophrenia. Family dysfunctions and cognitive distortions are possible explanations for schizophrenia.
- The social drift theory, a psychological explanation, has also been proposed, which explains the effects and maintenance of the mental illness rather than focusing on the onset like many other theories.
- Common treatments of schizophrenia include the use of antipsychotics and CBT.
Research on psychological problems
Let's take a look at some research examples that have been carried out to investigate psychological problems.
Caspi et al. (2003)
Caspi et al. investigated whether different variations of the serotonin gene and stressful life events could predict the onset of depression. The study used a birth cohort register to carry out a longitudinal quasi-experiment.
The study found that participants who inherited the serotonin gene's short variation and experienced both stressful life events and childhood maltreatment were more likely to develop depression than those who inherited two long alleles of the serotonin gene.
The Caspi et al. (2003) study supports the biopsychosocial model of mental illnesses.
The biopsychosocial model suggests that people are born with a genetic vulnerability to specific mental illnesses inherited from their parents. If the person is pressured with enough environmental stressors, it will trigger the onset of the mental illness.
Therefore, the study supports both the nature and nurture aspects of the debate and can be considered holistic as it investigates how numerous factors can contribute to the onset of depression.
Young (2007)
Young (2007) investigated whether CBT could be used as an effective intervention to treat internet addiction. The study recruited 114 participants. Each participant underwent an online CBT course.
The study revealed that over time, with CBT, participants reported improvements in their condition. The pattern did not significantly reduce even six months after completing the CBT course. The study's results suggest that CBT is an effective treatment for online addictions.
Psychological problems issues and debates
There are several issues raised when investigating the nature of psychological problems, such as:
- Nature versus nurture - what's more important when investigating psychological problems, our genetic make-up or our environment? Or are these of equal importance? These are common issues that are raised and studied in psychology. Caspi et al. (2003) showed how these factors could predict depression.
- Reductionism versus holism - this debate sparks some debate about whether it is safe to assume one factor can explain psychological problems or if multiple factors should be considered. The biopsychosocial model is an example of an approach that can be regarded as holistic.
- Free will versus determinism - do we have control of ourselves and our psychological problems? If we had no control, it would be safe to assume that active interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy would be ineffective. However, this is not the case. But to what extent do we have control?
- Ethical issues - when researching psychological problems, researchers need to ensure that they are not causing harm to participants. This includes not impeding their treatment. As we mentioned at the start, there are severe effects of psychological problems, so researchers should try their hardest not to worsen this for participants.
Psychological problems - Key takeaways
- Psychological problems is an umbrella term used to describe many aspects of mental illnesses; this ranges from the effects of mental illnesses, characteristics, theories, and interventions of mental illnesses, to issues and debates raised when understanding and investigating mental illnesses.
- The effects of young people and psychological problems and psychological problems in old age have some similarities and differences.
- Differing approaches to explain and treat varying mental illnesses such as depression, addiction and schizophrenia have been proposed.
- Studying psychological problems has sparked much debate concerning issues such as what is more important, our nature or how we are nurtured, ethical issues or do we have free will or is a fate already written for us?
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Frequently Asked Questions about Psychological Problems
What are physiological problems?
Physiological problems are physical symptoms that occur as a result of a medical condition.
What are types of psychological problems?
Psychological problems is an umbrella term used to describe many aspects of mental illnesses; this ranges from the effects of mental illnesses, characteristics, theories, and interventions of mental illnesses, to issues and debates raised when understanding and investigating mental illnesses.
What is the most common psychological problem in adolescence?
Some common mental illnesses typically affecting young people are anxiety, depression, eating disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
What are psychological problems symptoms?
Mental illnesses differ in nature, and so have differing symptoms.
Depression, for instance, is characterised by persistent low mood states, feelings of sadness, guilt, and hopelessness, and lack of motivation. Anxiety is characterised by restlessness, persistent worrying, increased heart rate and difficulty breathing, amongst other symptoms.
How do you solve psychological problems?
Psychological problems can be treated with medication or various forms of therapy, such as cognitive behavioural or family therapy.
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