This week’s post is about a technique used as part of cognitive behavioural therapy for people with depression. As you probably know already, symptoms of depression include low mood, low self-esteem, feelings of anxiety and helplessness, and having low motivation and interest in activities which they previously enjoyed. Behavioural activation focuses on the ‘B’ of … Read more
This week’s post is the second in a 2 part series about phobias, and will focus on different types of treatment, and what works. If you haven’t already, read part 1 (see here) for more information on types of phobias and possible causes. If you’r a regular reading of my blog, you may remember that … Read more
Hi everyone, this week’s post will be the first of two – all about phobias. This first post will cover causes and types of phobias, and the next on will talk more about treatments. And, as no post about phobias is complete without a quick phobia quiz – what do you think these phobias are? … Read more
It’s not unusual for people to say they’re ‘a bit OCD’ when they check they’ve locked the front door, or that they turned appliances off before they go on holiday. However, there is an important distinction between these behaviours and OCD, which can cause significant disruption to sufferer’s lives. OCD is a psychological disorder which … Read more
Hey, I hope you’ve enjoyed my last few posts about developmental psychology, here is the last one in this mini-series: Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is an umbrella term for a developmental disorder which can be split into 3 different subtypes: inattention, hyperactivity, or combined (this is the most common form). In total, around 2-5% … Read more
Hi everyone, I hope you liked my last post on how children develop a theory of mind – this post follows on, and talks about children with autism (if you haven’t read that post, find it here. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which has a prevalence of 60 per 10,000 children under 8 in the … Read more
Sorry for the delay in writing this post – I had a bit of a break for finals and moving back home, but here I am with something I found interesting during revision: How can you tell if a treatment works? At first glance, it might seem like this question can be easily answered, but … Read more
This week in the UK is Mental Health Awareness Week, so today’s post will be a bit different – what are the main issues about treating mental illness in our society, and how can access to therapy be improved? Firstly: not enough money is being spent to improve access to mental health services in the UK. Fact. … Read more
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT is one of the most well known types of psychological therapy.. But how does it work, and why is it so effective? CBT was developed from the 1950’s, and came to prominence in the 1980’s. It was based on form of Behavioural Therapy, usually used to treat people with phobias. … Read more
Okay, so there hasn’t been a post in a while, no thanks to my dissertation – an 8,000 word essay on “Is there a neuro-cognitive basis of body dysmorphia in anorexia nervosa”. While I doubt many people would actually want to read the whole thing, this is a fascinating topic, so this post will be … Read more