alternatives to the medical model

Question 1

what ways can behaviour be modelled?

Answer 1

learning behaviours; thinking processes; emotional processes; biological processes

Question 2

what does the behavioural model assume?

Answer 2

abnormal behaviour is the consequence of abnormal learning from the environment. there is no qualitative difference between normal and abnormal behaviour as they are all learned in the same way

Question 3

how does the behavioural model believe behaviour is learned?

Answer 3

classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning theory- what is learned can be unlearned

Question 4

what is learning by assosciation?

Answer 4

when two environmental changes occur together, we learn to associate them- and the response from one may transfer to another

Question 5

how does learning by association affect mental illness?

Answer 5

reactions such as phobias can be learned, e.g., being startled when someone screams at a spider, and we then learn to associate spiders with that fear.

Question 6

what is learning by consequence?

Answer 6

the likelihood of individuals repeating behaviour depends on its consequence

Question 7

how does learning by consequence affect mental illness?

Answer 7

e.g., we feel anxious about an action, so we avoid it. this removes the anxiety and negatively reinforces the behaviour.

Question 8

what is learning by observation?

Answer 8

people observe the behaviour of those around them, and may imitate this behaviour depending on the observed consequences

Question 9

how does learning by observation affect mental illness?

Answer 9

if someone grows up around people with mental illnesses, they may learn to imitate this behaviour

Question 10

what are some behavioural treatments?

Answer 10

systematic desensitisation; aversion therapy; flooding

Question 11

what is systematic desensitisation?

Answer 11

based on classical conditioning, where patients learn to relax and are taken through a hierarchy of increasingly frightening stimuli whilst relaxing.
- mcgrath (1990) found this worked with a ten-year-old girl who had a fear of loud noises and assosciated objects such as balloons and party poppers.

Question 12

what is aversion therapy?

Answer 12

where patients learn to link negative associations to objects

Question 13

what is flooding?

Answer 13

unlearning associations all at once by being exposed to the stimulus

Question 14

benefits of the behavioural explanation

Answer 14

provides a simple, testable explanation that is supported by experimental evidence; hopeful, as it predicts that people can change their behaviour
- shown to be effective with reducing symptoms of schizophrenia. paul and lentz (1977) gave schizoprhenic patients therapy based on social learning theory and operant conditioning -> became twice as likely to be discharged from hospital

Question 15

limitations of the behavioural explanation

Answer 15

criticised as being dehumanising and mechanistic by reducing people to programmed stimulus-response units; cannot explain all psychological disorders; cannot cure conditions such as schizophrenia

Question 16

what does the cognitive model assume?

Answer 16

dysfunctional behaviour is caused by faulty or irrational thoughts, and we interact with the world through our mental representation of it- so inaccurate representations may cause behaviour to become distorted

Question 17

what are irrational beliefs?

Answer 17

where people suffering from anxiety or depression believe they are unloved and nothing good will ever happen

Question 18

what does beck believe?

Answer 18

depressed people have acquired negative schemas in childhood that are activated around new experiences- leads to the expectation of failure

Question 19

what percent of people benefited from beck’s cognitive therapy?

Answer 19

80%; more effective than drug treatment

Question 20

what do cognitive treatments aim to do?

Answer 20

change the faulty cognitions and help the client see how their irrational beliefs are contributing to their illness

Question 21

benefits of the cognitive explanation

Answer 21

focuses on how the individual experiences the world and their feelings and beliefs, rather than other people’s interpretations; hopeful as it assumes that people have the power to change their behaviour

Question 22

limitations of the cognitive explanation

Answer 22

encourages the idea that people are responsible for their own psychological problems- could lead to people being blamed for their own abnormalities; reductionist as it ignores biological causes of abnormality; cause or effect?

Question 23

what does the psychodynamic model assume?

Answer 23

psychological disorders are caused by emotional problems in the unconscious mind, and these can be traced back to early childhood. parent-child relationships are crucial towards mental health

Question 24

what are latent motives?

Answer 24

unconscious forces that drive our behaviour

Question 25

what are manifest motives?

Answer 25

lies to protect us from the truth, as ego defence mechanisms turn latent motives into manifest ones

Question 26

what are the ego defence mechanisms?

Answer 26

reaction formation, displacement, and sublimation

Question 27

what does the psychodynamic model assume psychological disorders are?

Answer 27

defence mechanisms against repressed emotional problems and impulses, and that symptoms have a hidden meaning that can be decoded

Question 28

what do psychodynamic treatments believe?

Answer 28

you have to access unconscious thoughts through free association and dream analysis, which gains access to the latent content

Question 29

benefits of the psychodynamic explanation

Answer 29

apter (1997) assessed suicidal adolescent patients for ego defence mechanisms and found they scored higher on regression and other ego defences, which suggests that regression is involved in psychological abnormality

Question 30

limitations of the psychodynamic explanation

Answer 30

if freud is correct, then psychoanalysis should be an effective treatment, however it was discovered it can negatively impact recovery from OCD by thinking more about intrusive thoughts and obsessions; subjective, qualitative, difficult to replicate, self report, bias; based on case studies so unscientific; not falsifiable

Question 31

what does szasz (2011) believe mental illness is?

Answer 31

a myth, rather than a disease that is scientifically proven

Question 32

what does szasz (2011) see the medical model as?

Answer 32

the only way of dealing with people who behave differently. he looks at a more holistic view of mental illness through understanding society and the process of labelling

Question 33

what does szasz (2011) say about government and mental illness?

Answer 33

that government decides what illnesses exist as they control all regulation and funding

Question 34

how does szasz (2011) feel about mental hospitals?

Answer 34

that they are more like prisons to control people’s behaviour

Question 35

what economic issues does szasz (2011) talk about?

Answer 35

big businesses in pharmaceuticals and treatments for the mentally ill

Question 36

what does szasz (2011) argue that people are deprived of?

Answer 36

the freedom to behave in the way they choose on grounds of having a disease, which has implications for ‘insanity’ as a defence
he believes that people’s actions need to be understood and offered help, rather than being diagnosed under a loose fitting definition.

Question 37

why does szasz (2011) believe the medical model is unacceptable?

Answer 37

there is no identifiable cause of mental illness; denies people freedom through being forced into treatment; subjectivity of diagnosis; dehumanising aspect of the medical model which ignores personal suffering

Question 38

what ethics does szasz’s work cover?

Answer 38

it is socially sensitive and highly controversial, as people could be distressed to hear their illness described as a ‘myth’ if medicine has worked for them; he overstates the case against the medical model and risks a dispute between psychiatry and psychology

Question 39

how useful is szasz’s work?

Answer 39

had a huge impact on psychiatry and psychology, and is influential in movements to empower users of mental health services; his criticism allows us to question the effectiveness, appropriateness and morality of invasive trreatments

Question 40

is szasz’s work unscientific?

Answer 40

yes- he explicity rejects science as an appropriate method for studying and treating mental illness

Question 41

what is cognitive behavioural therapy?

Answer 41

talking therapy combines the strategies of cognitive and behavioural explanations.
- focuses on changing thinking pattern and behaviour.

Question 42

szasz- ethical issues

Answer 42

• free of ethical issues as it does not collect participant data
• views are socially sensitive and highly controversial. distressing for those who have mental health difficulties.
• overstates the case against the medical model. brings the professions of psychiatry and psychology into disrepute

Question 43

szasz- usefulness of research

Answer 43

• had a huge impact on world of psychiatry and psychology
• important that it is well-known, as it makes us question the effectiveness, appropriateness and morality of invasive treatments and consent of those with mental health issues

Question 44

szasz- nature vs nurture/individual vs situational

Answer 44

• rejects hereditary casues, argues mental illness is a social construct/environmental explanation
• mental illness is a product of psychiatrists’ particular views on mental health

Question 45

szasz- reductionism vs holism/psychology as a science

Answer 45

• offers a more holistic view of mental illness
• states that the medical model oversimplifies the human experience.
• unscientific as he rejects science as an appropriate method for studying mental illness