5: Psychopathology Extras Flashcards

1
Q

Social norms

A

something that is standard, usual or typical of a group

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2
Q

give a strength of statistical infrequency (statistical deviation)

A

Real life applications – it can be useful to identify whether people differ from the normal and how far they differ from this so we can find out how severe certain things are e.g. IQ or symptoms of illness/mental illness

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3
Q

give two weaknesses of statistical infrequency (statistical deviation)

A
  1. not everyone unusual benefits from a label – sometimes the presence of a label can have a negative impact on someone. They might have been living perfectly fine before the label was given, but since it has disrupted their lifestyle and how other people perceive them.
  2. unusual characteristics can be positive – just because some people differ from social norms, does not mean the behaviour requires treatment. Therefore the concept of deviation from social norms should never be used alone to make a diagnosis.
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4
Q

what five things must be considered before reaching a judgement as to whether someone has deviated from social norms?

A

culture, situation and context, age, gender, historical context.

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5
Q

give three weaknesses of deviation from social norms

A
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6
Q

give a strength of deviation from social norms

A

Practical applications – diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder

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7
Q

What are the seven parts to the criteria for failure to function adequately?

A
  1. suffering
  2. Maladaptiveness.
  3. Irrational.
  4. Observer discomfort.
  5. Vividness and unconventionality of behaviour.
  6. Violation of moral codes.
  7. unpredictability.
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8
Q

what is suffering (in relation to failure to function)?

A

The patient themselves suffer as a result of their condition (e.g. depression) or may inflict suffering on others

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9
Q

what is maladaptiveness (in relation to failure to function)?

A

Behaviour prevents the person reaching desired goals

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10
Q

What is meant by the term irrational (in relation to failure to function)?

A

Behaviour seems to defy logical sense

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11
Q

What is observer discomfort (in relation to failure to function)?

A

Behaviour makes those around feel uncomfortable e.g. swearing

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12
Q

what is vividness and unconventionality of behaviour (in relation to failure to function)?

A

Others find the behaviour odd e.g. all over tattoos

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13
Q

what is violation of moral codes (in relation to failure to function)?

A

Not behaving in accordance with societies norms, e.g. public nudity

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14
Q

what is unpredictability (in relation to failure to function)?

A

Behaviour is unexpected or unpredictable

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15
Q

give one strength of failure function adequately

A

It acknowledges the patient’s experience – it attempts to include the subjective experience of the individual which acknowledges the importance of the patient

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16
Q

give two weaknesses of failure to function

A
  1. It can be hard to say when someone is really failing to function and when they are just deviating from social norms – not everyone leads the same lifestyle but that does not mean they are abnormal. This concept ignores free will.
  2. subjective judgements – this concept introduces the element of bias as it is not objective. Someone has to judge whether a patient is distressed or distressing and this judgement is subjective.
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17
Q

What is the criteria for deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  1. we have no symptoms or distress.
  2. We are rational and perceive ourselves accurately.
  3. We self-actualise.
  4. We can cope with stress.
  5. We have a realistic view of the world.
  6. We have good self-esteem and lack guilt.
  7. We are independent of other people.
  8. we can successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure.
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18
Q

give one strength of deviation from ideal mental health

A

It is a comprehensive definition – the broad range of factors makes it a good way of thinking about mental health

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19
Q

give two weaknesses of deviation from ideal mental health

A
  1. Cultural relativism – lots of the criteria are specific to individualistic cultures and therefore cannot be applied to other cultures.
  2. It sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health – no one can take off everything in this criteria but that does not mean everyone is abnormal.
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20
Q

name three behavioural characteristics of phobias

A

Panic, avoidance, endurance

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21
Q

Name three emotional characteristics of phobias

A

Anxiety, fear, emotional responses are unreasonable

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22
Q

name three cognitive characteristics of phobias

A

Selective attention to phobic stimulus, irrational beliefs, cognitive distortions

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23
Q

give three behavioural characteristics of depression

A

Activity levels, disruption to sleep and eating behaviour, aggression and self harm

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24
Q

give three emotional characteristics of depression

A

Lowered mood, anger, lowered self-esteem

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25
Q

give three cognitive characteristics of depression

A

Poor concentration, attending to and dwelling on the negative, absolutist thinking

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26
Q

Give three behavioural characteristics of OCD

A

compulsions are repetitive, compulsion reduce anxiety, avoidance

27
Q

give three emotional characteristics of OCD

A

Anxiety and distress, accompanying depression, guilt and disgust

28
Q

give three cognitive characteristics of OCD

A

obsessive thoughts, cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions, insight to excessive anxiety

29
Q

Describe the two process model of phobia acquisition

A

Mowrer suggested that people gain their fear through classical conditioning and this fear is maintained through operant conditioning.

30
Q

give one strength of the two process model of fear acquisition

A

Can be used in therapy – it explains how phobias can be maintained over time and can be used in therapies. When a patient is prevented from avoiding their phobic stimulus, the behaviour ceases to be reinforced and so it declines.

31
Q

give two weaknesses of the two process model of fear acquisition

A
  1. Alternative explanation for avoidance behaviour – not complex enough, only suggests that avoidance is for anxiety reduction not for positive feelings of safety.
  2. Ignores cognitive aspect of phobias – this is a reductionist theory so it’s not a full explanation
32
Q

Name the two behavioural treatments of phobias

A

Systematic desensitisation and flooding

33
Q

give three strength of systematic desensitisation

A
  1. evidence for it being effective – Gilroy treated patients with a fear of spiders using systematic desensitisation. This showed that systematic desensitisation is helpful in reducing the anxiety in spider phobia and that the effects are long lasting.
  2. it is suitable for a diverse range of patience – people with learning difficulties may struggle with flooding but due to the gradual nature of systematic desensitisation it is better suited to these people.
  3. It is acceptable to patients – low refusal rates show that people prefer this technique to flooding because the sufferers feel more in control.
34
Q

what is extinction in terms of flooding?

A

The disappearance of a learned response when stimuli stop being paired (classical conditioning) or no reinforcement occurs (operant conditioning)

35
Q

what is an anxiety hierarchy?

A

A list of situations in ascending order of anxiety

36
Q

Give one strength of flooding

A

it is cost-effective – it is less time-consuming and cheaper than systematic desensitisation due to it being less sessions

37
Q

give Three weaknesses of flooding

A
  1. It is less effective for some types of phobia – certain phobias are too complex and irrational beliefs need challenging. Therefore, flooding is too simple and not effective for certain phobias e.g. social phobias.
  2. The treatment is traumatic for patient – due to the traumatic nature of the therapy, some patients may not be willing to complete it. This means that the patient may not be cured of their phobia and money and time is wasted.
  3. Symptoms substitution – when one phobia disappears another may appear in its place therefore not all symptoms will disappear.
38
Q

What is cognitive vulnerability?

A

mental factors that make us more or less prone to depression

39
Q

What did Beck suggest are the three parts to cognitive vulnerability?

A

Faulty information processing, negative self schemas, the negative triad

40
Q

what is fault information processing?

A

A type of thinking that can lead individuals to pay more attention to the negative aspects of situations and ignore the positive. It can be difficult for individuals to be able to break out of this pattern of negative thinking.

41
Q

what are negative self schemas?

A

A self schema is the package of information we have about ourselves. If we have a negative self schema, we interpret all information about ourselves in a negative way.

42
Q

Key study – Weismann and Beck (negative self-schemas)

A

aim: to investigate the thought processes of depressed people to establish if they make use of negative schemas
Method: thought processes were measured using the dysfunctional attitude scale (DAS). Participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire by ticking whether they agreed or disagree with a set of statements. For example, “people will probably think less of me if I make a mistake”.
Result: they found that depressed participants made more negative assessments than non-depressed people. When given some therapy to challenge and change their negative schemas there was an improvement in their self ratings.
Conclusion: depression involves the use of negative schemas

43
Q

What is the negative triad?

A

The idea that people with depression become trapped in a cycle of negative thoughts. They have a tendency to view themselves, the world and the future in pessimistic ways. These three elements are called the negative triad.

44
Q

give two strength of Beck’s cognitive theory

A
  1. It has good supporting evidence – lots of evidence and studies were done that supported this theory e.g. Grazioli and Terry’s pregnancy study
  2. It has practical application in CBT – CBT looks to challenge these negative schemas and therefore proves their existence.
45
Q

give one weakness of Beck’s cognitive theory

A

It does not explain all aspect of depression – this theory cannot explain Cotard syndrome and hallucinations

46
Q

what is Ellis’s version of CBT?

A

rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT). REBT extends the ABC model to an ABCDE model (D stands for dispute and E stands for effect).

47
Q

give one strength of Ellis’s cognitive explanation for depression

A

it has practical applications in CBT – CBT/REBT uses this theory to help people with depression. Ellis‘s ideas of irrational negative beliefs are used in this therapy and therefore prove the irrational beliefs have some role in depression.

48
Q

give two weaknesses of Ellis‘s cognitive explanation of depression

A
  1. A partial explanation – this does not apply to every person with depression because it only explains reactive depression and not endogenous depression.
  2. it does not explain all aspects of depression – it cannot explain all symptoms of depression, for example, why some patients suffer hallucinations and delusions.
49
Q

what is reactive depression?

A

Depression that follows an activating event

50
Q

what is CBT?

A

CBT is a cognitive approach to treating depression. It aims to tackle the persons thought processes and address the negative or faulty thoughts. One method used in CBT is a dysfunctional thought diary where the patient has to pay attention to any automatic negative thoughts and write them down. Another method used in CBT is challenging dysfunctional thoughts where the client is taught how to challenge dysfunctional automatic thoughts outside of therapy by asking themselves questions in order to replace the negative thoughts with positive constructive ones. Within CBT, the patient is often set homework to investigate the reality of their negative beliefs in the way that a scientist would. This is sometimes referred to as the “patient as a scientist”.

51
Q

what is A in Ellis’s ABCDE model?

A

Activating event

52
Q

what is B in Ellis‘s ABCDE model?

A

Beliefs about event

53
Q

what is C in Ellis‘s ABCDE model?

A

Consequences

54
Q

What is D in Ellis’s ABCDE model?

A

Disputations to challenge the irrational beliefs

55
Q

What is E in Ellis’s ABCDE model?

A

Effective new beliefs to replace the irrational ones

56
Q

what is disputing in REBT?

A

When the therapist challenges and encourages the patient to think of alternative explanations or possibilities

57
Q

what are the three types of disputing in REBT?

A

Empirical disputing, logical disputing, pragmatic disputing

58
Q

what is empirical disputing?

A

Disputing whether there is actual evidence to support their negative belief

59
Q

what is logical disputing?

A

Involves disputing whether the negative thought logically follows from the facts

60
Q

What is pragmatic disputing?

A

involves disputing how the negative thought is going to help the person

61
Q

What is behavioural activation as part of REBT?

A

where the client is encouraged to become more active and take part in pleasurable activities. Ellis strongly believed in the importance of unconditional positive regard. This involved convincing the client of their own self-worth and encouraging them to love themselves.

62
Q

give one strength of REBT

A

It is effective – it is proven that this can be effective and it can be used alongside other drugs

63
Q

give three weaknesses of CBT and REBT

A
  1. CBT may not work for the most severe cases – for CBT to be effective the patient must be willing to participate and engage in therapy. In severe cases the patient may not be motivated so CBT will not work for them.
  2. Success may be due to the therapist–patient relationship – the patient may become dependent on their therapist and will not be able to stop session sessions. Contrasting me, if the relationship between the patient and therapist is not good, the CBT will not work.
  3. Some patients want to explore their past – CBT focuses on the present and the future so would not allow the patient to focus on what they want to focus on.
64
Q

what is utopianism?

A

where you believe everything in life is meant to be fair but it is not