Alternatives To The Medical Model Flashcards
Szasz beliefs
- mental illness isn’t real, it either comes from a physical cause or is just a personality trait
- the medical model has been validated by the government and entrenched in law to protect the patient ‘from himself and others’
- The medical model is inhumane, and we should look more at the socio-economic and psychoanalytic explanations more
- psychiatrists should not even deprive people of the freedom to take their own lives
Assumption of behaviourist explanation of mental illness
Dysfunctional behaviour is learned in the same way as any other behaviour through the processes of classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning theory. Is a result of nurture.
How can classical / operant / social learning theory explain mental illness
SLT - imitating adults who show symptoms
Operant - person has fear of lifts, unpleasant fear is removed when they take the stairs
Classical - someone with agoraphobia may associate being outside with humiliation
Watson and Rayner research
Little Albert
Previously had no response to white rat, but when associated with a loud noise the fear was transferred to the white rat and then other objects like a Father Christmas beard
Strengths of behavioural explanation
+ research generally replicable
+ classical and std look at the cause
+ less socially sensitive as it gives more control
+ evidence by Watson and Rayner’s little Albert
- reductionist to only focus on nurture
- samples can be unrepresentative
- under this explanation, biological treatments like SSRIs may not work
Assumption of cognitive area
Assumes mental disorders are a result of faulty thought processes such as cognitive biases and negative self-schemes (ideas about the world)
Albert Ellis research
Some people with depression or anxieties may set high and unrealistic goals that make them feel like failures
They are over concerned with other peoples opinions
“I must get all A+”
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Talking therapy which aims to change the faulty thought processes in the present rather than focusing on the past
This therapy teaches patients how to identify distorted cognitions to help distinguish between their own thoughts and realities
Hoffman found it effective for treating depression
Beck’s negative cognitive triad
Aaron Beck
Identifies 3 main thoughts that someone with depression may have
Self, world and future
What might faulty thinking include
Arbitrary inferences - drawing negative conclusions based on insufficient evidence (“my boyfriend hasn’t texted me back, he must be cheating”)
Selective abstraction - focussing on negative aspects (“my day was shit I dropped my sandwich”)
Overgeneralisation - drawing sweeping conclusions based on a single incident (“they didn’t laugh at my joke they must hate me”)
Catastrophising - exaggerating a minor setback (“I might fail this test so I’ll be homeless and jobless forever”)
Black and white thinking - seeing everything as success or failure, no in between (“my friend is perfect and I am worthless”)
Strengths and weaknesses of cognitive area
+ useful - cbt
+ most people can benefit from cbt
- not falsifiable as cognition is difficult to measure
- can be subjective
- reductionist, ignore biology
- not a quick fix
Psychodynamic explanation assumption
Assumes mental disorders are a results of inner conflict of the mind and childhood experiences
Parts of personality
ID - pleasure, impulsive, selfish. Present from birth.
Ego - decision making and reality, reasons between the two
Superego - moralistic and imposes guilt
How can psychodynamic explanation explain schizophrenia and depression
Schizophrenia - a weak ego that can’t contain the ID may cause the individual to return to a child-like state and lose touch of reality
Depression - if the ego gives in to the ID, we can feel guilt from the super ego
Psychodynamic defence mechanisms
Denial - refusing to accept a traumatic event can cause anxiety and depression
Repression - suppressing a thought so it remains in the subconscious can result in phobias and other mental health issues later
Techniques used in psychotherapy
Free association - involves getting patients to talk out loud about the given topic
Dream analysis - Freud believed dreams are representative of real desires
Psychotherapy strengths and weaknesses
+ more holistic than other explanations
+ deterministic but therefore predictable
+ can explain adult behaviour as a result of childhood experience
- not scientific as not falsifiable
- treatment is not a quick fix and doesn’t work for all disorders
- not easy to access unconscious
What is flooding
Exposing a patient to their worst fear. At first anxiety is heightened but then goes down and stops patient avoiding it. Unethical as it can evoke anxiety
What is systematic desensitisation
Patient and therapist make a fear hierarchy where they rank patients fears
Patient is taught relaxation techniques
Once patient feels comfortable with each stage, they move on to the next
Studied by McGrath
What is aversion therapy
Based on classical conditioning
Makes patient associate behaviour with negative result
E.g. shock therapy
What is a token economy
Based on operant conditioning to increase good behaviour and decrease bad. Patient in hospital rewards items that can be exchanged for rewards.
Strengths and weaknesses of systematic desensitisation
+ can be effective in reducing agoraphobia symptoms
+ no withdrawal symptoms
+ no side effects
+ patient consents
- expensive and time consuming
- may not be effective
- reductionist, may need other treatments too
