Download Stress and Psychiatric Disorders

Stress and Psychiatric Disorders
Lesson 7
Starter
In a study of stress, the stress and blood pressure of participants were
measured. Data from the study were plotted on the graph below.
1. Outline what the graph seems to show about stress and blood pressure, and
explain difficulties in drawing conclusions from this data. [4 marks]
2. Outline one piece of research which shows a link between stress and
cardiovascular disorders. [2 marks]
1.
Mark Scheme
2. Williams et al (2000) found that individuals with anger problems were more
likely to have a heart attack.
or
Sheps et al (2002) found a link between stress and existing coronary artery
disease.
Learning Objectives
1) To understand the link between stress and
psychiatric disorders.
Success Criteria
• Read through page 9 of your booklet and make
some evaluation notes.
• Watch a video about stress and PTSD.
• Create an essay plan for stress-related illness.
Stress and Psychiatric Disorders
• Depression
▫ Brown and Harris (1978) found that women
suffering from chronic stress were more likely to
develop depression. Working-class women are
more prone to depression than middle-class
women due to having to leave
their children in the care of
others when returning to work.
Stress and Psychiatric Disorders
• Other disorders
▫ Rohlf and Bennett (2005) found that one in ten
workers whose job required then to
euthanise animals experienced
moderate levels of PITS symptoms
(a
form of post traumatic stress
disorder experienced when you
cause trauma).
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• We will now watch a 10 minute video about
PTSD experienced in the 9/11 firefighters
Stress and Psychiatric Disorders
• Diathesis-stress model
▫ A ‘diathesis’ is a biological vulnerability to a
disorder. This vulnerability is determined by
genetic factors of early biological experiences (in
the womb). Stress can have an impact on that
vulnerability and can trigger or
worsen the course of other
disorders. If a person is not able to
cope with the stressful situation,
psychiatric symptoms can develop.
Evaluation of
Stress and Psychiatric Disorders
• Make some notes on page 9 about the evaluation
of stress and psychiatric disorders.
It is difficult to establish a causal link because:
1. It is not possible to see if stress is the cause or
consequence of the disorder.
2. Most studies are retrospective so aren’t reliable.
Prospective studies are rare.
3. Although some have found a relationship
between stress and depression, other
researchers have found a minimal relationship.
Essay Plan
• Plan an answer to the following question:
“To what extent does research support a
link between stress and illness?” [12]