Need To Know Psychopathology Flashcards
Ellis abc model
- assumes depression is due to irrational thinking
- Not events that cause depression but the way we think about them
A - activating event is interpreted by the individual using
his beliefs- (B) this leads to consequences (C)
Becks negative triad
- believed depressed people feel depressed because they have a negative view (schemas) of world
- negative schemas lead cognitive biases which in turn lead to depression
- 3 key elements in a persons belief system (triad):
- negative view of the self
- negative view of the world
- Negative view of the future
Symptoms from the dsm
1- depressed mood most of day, nearly every day, by self report
2 - disinterest or displeasure all/ almost all, activités most of day
3- significant weight loss/weight gain eg change of more than 5% of body weight in month
4- insomnia/Hypersomnia nearly every day
5- agitation or retardation nearly every day
6- fatigue/loss of energy nearly every day
7- feelings of worthlessness or excessive/ inappropriate guilt which may be delusional nearly every day
8- diminished ability to think/ concentrate/ indecisiveness nearly every day
9- recurrent thoughts of suicidal ideation without a specific plan or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.
Mood disorder
-psychological disorder characterised by disturbances in mood
Types of mood disorders
- Bipolar
- depressive
Definitions of Abnormality
- Statistical Infrequency
- Deviation from Social Norms
- Deviation from ideal mental health
- failure to function adequately
Definitions of Abnormality-
Statistical Infrequency A01 with example
- person’s trait, thinking or behavior is classified as abnormal if it is rare or statistically unusual.
- E.g. individual who has an IQ below or above average level of IQ in society is abnormal.
Definitions of Abnormality Deviation from Social Norms
AO1
- suggests we define mental illness by looking at absence of signs of physical health
- person’s thinking or behavior is classified as abnormal if it violates rules about what’s expected or acceptable behavior in a particular social group.
- behaviour may be incomprehensible to others or make others feel threatened or uncomfortable
Definitions of Abnormality Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
AO1 of the 6 criteria PRAAMS jahoda
- Positive self-concept
- Resistance to stress
- Autonomy
- Accurate perception of reality
- Mastery of environment
- Self actualisation
Definitions of Abnormality Failure to Function Adequately
AO1 with example
- refers to abnormality that prevent person from carrying out a range of behaviors that society expects from them like:
- getting out of bed each day, holding down a job,etc.
- eg schizophrenia -person can have disturbing hallucinations which can lead to bizarre behaviour; experience distress and can be irrational and unpredictable around other people
Biological Approach to OCD - Characteristics of OCD Cognitive, emotional and behavioural
- Cognitive characteristics
- obsessive thoughts (obsessions)
- Emotional characteristics
- anxiety and distress caused by obsessions, which consist of persistent thoughts
- Behavioural characteristics
- compulsions (e.g. excessive hand washing).
Genetic Explanations of ocd COMT and SERT
- SERT gene is Serotonin transporter
- mutation causes increase in transporter proteins at neuron’s membrane
- increase in reuptake of serotonin into neuron which decreases level of serotonin in synapse.
- COMT gene regulates function of dopamine
- causes decrease in COMT activity and therefore a higher level of dopamine.
Neural mechanisms
- regions of brain structures like neurons and neurotransmitters
- involved in sending messages through nervous system
Neural Explanations of OCD PFC (pre frontal cortex)
- PFC involved in decision making and regulation of primitive aspects of our behavior
- over active PFC, causing exaggerated control of primal impulses
- if you have OCD, your PFC is over activated which means obsessions and compulsions continue
an imbalance of serotonin and dopamine in patients with ocd
- Reduced serotonin and excessive dopamine may cause OCD.
- OCD patients have low levels of serotonin
- Dopamine is abnormally high in individuals with OCD.
- High levels of dopamine thought to influence concentration
- explains why OCD individuals experience an inability to stop focussing on obsessive thoughts and repetitive behaviors.
Outline how SD might be used to treat a phobia
- relaxation training
- anxiety hierarchy
- gradual exposure to anxiety hierarchy
Outline how flooding might be used to treat a phobia
- immediate/direct/ full exposure
- prevention of avoidance
- until they are calm/anxiety has receded/ fear is extinguished
Why is SD more effective to treat phobias than flooding
- SD allows people to make progress in small steps in own time scale so client in control
- SD generally has low attrition rates/high completion rates because gradual process of therapy allows respite- relaxation is pleasant
- SD may be more successful for certain individuals eg children, people with health conditions
- SD less traumatic leading to more people completing treatment and suitable for wider range of clients
Definitions of Abnormality Failure to Function Adequately rosenhan and seligman seven features of abnormality
- suffering
- maladaptiveness
- vividness and unconventionality
- unpredictablity and loss of control
- irrationally/ incomprehensibility
- causes observer discomfort
- violates moral/social standards
Definitions of Abnormality Failure to Function Adequately evaluation strength
- attempts to include subjective experience of individual
- may not be an entirely satisfactory approach because it’s difficult to assess distress
- definition acknowledges the experience of the patient is others
Definitions of Abnormality Failure to Function Adequately evaluation
Weakness
- someone has to judge whether a patient is distressed or distressing
- some patients say they’re distressed but may be judged as not suffering
Definitions of Abnormality Deviation from Ideal Mental Health example
- depression illustrates definition
- sufferers generally have low self esteem ie a negative struggle to make decisions
- ie not autonomous and experience high levels of stress concerning their low mood condition
Definitions of Abnormality Deviation from Ideal Mental Health evaluation strength
- comprehensive definition
- covers broad range of criteria for mental health
- probably covers most reasons someone would seek help from mental health services or be referred for help
Definitions of Abnormality Deviation from Ideal Mental Health evaluation weakness
- unrealistically high standard for mental health
- accused of having over demanding criteria very few people attain
- all jahodas criteria for mental health probably none of us achieve all of them at the same time or keep them up for very long
Definitions of Abnormality-
Statistical Infrequency evaluation strength - real life application
- real life application in diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder
- place for statistical deviation in thinking about what are normal and abnormal behaviours and characteristics statistical deviation is
- useful part of clinical assessment
Definitions of Abnormality-
Statistical Infrequency weakness
Not everyone unusual benefits from a label
- if someone is living happy fulfilled life there’s no benefit to them being labelled as abnormal regardless of how unusual they are
- someone with low iq but who wasn’t distressed, quite capable of working etc would simply not need a diagnosis of intellectual disability
- If person was ‘labelled’ as abnormal might have negative effect on way others view them and way they view selves
Definitions of Abnormality Deviation from Social Norms example
- antisocial personality disorder or psychopathy
- person is impulsive and often agressive, pleasing only themselves
- one symptom is absence of pro social internal standards and failure to conform to lawful or culturally ethical behaviour