Psychopathologhy Flashcards
Define statistical infrequency
Behaviour that is statistically infrequent or very rarely seen in the general population
Define failure to function adequately
Behaviour that means that the person is unable to engage or cope with the activities in normal day to day life
Define deviation from ideal mental health
When someone does not meet a set of criteria for mental well being e.g. Being unable to make their own decisions or having low self-esteem
Define deviation from social norms
Behaviour that is seen as socially unacceptable or undesirable within society
Advantages and disadvantages of statistical infrequent
:) it’s very valuable as it enables us to see how common conditions are
:) very objective
:( does not distinguish between infrequent characteristics that are desirable from those that are undesirable
:( fails to take into account the severity of someone’s condition or the impact it does have on their life
Advantages and disadvantages of deviation from social norms
:( can result in a form of social control and even persecution
:( may result in ethnocentric biases if psychiatrists do not understand a patients culture
:) can protect society from behaviour that is unacceptable and offensive
:) behaviour that is odd can often be one of the signs that brings someone’s mental illness to the attention of others
Advantages and disadvantages of the failure to function adequately
:( many people with mental disorders are functioning quite well
:( people may not be functioning adequately but this does not always mean they have a mental disorder
:) most people seek treatment only when this mental condition is affecting their day to day life
:) allows the severity of abnormal behaviour to be assessed by establishing the extent to which the persons life is affected using a scale like the GAF
Advantages and disadvantages of deviation from ideal mental health
:( it would categorise almost everyone as being mentally ill because no one meets all 6 of the criteria
:( difficult to objectively assess people on all six criteria
:) give an outline what individuals and societies should be aiming for in terms of maximising people’s well being
What is autonomy
Feeling that you have control of your own future and being able to do what you want and make your own decisions freely
Define a phobia
A persistent, intense and irrational fear of certain situations or objects
The fear is out of proportion to the danger posed
The person goes to great lengths to avoid the object or situation that they are afraid of
What are the three main type of phobia
Specific- spiders
Social- fear of embarrassment/ humiliation in a public or social situation
Agoraphobia- persistent fear of certain environments
What are behaviour symptoms of a phobia
The person will go to great lengths to avoid the phobic situation or to escape from it as soon as possible.
If the person cannot avoid the situation then behaviour signs of the fear may be seen eg shaking, crying, screaming
What are the cognitive symptoms of a phobia
The person may show distorted thinking about the phobic stimulus
The person is aware that their fear is irrational
Define depression (unipolar)
The two core symptoms of depression are depressed mood most or all of the day and diminished interest in or pleasure in activities
The person must experience at least 5 key symptoms of depression every day for st least two weeks before a diagnosis of depression would be considered
What is bipolar depression
The person has periods of weeks where they experience depressed mood with symptoms already described
But they also have phases of mania where the person may show symptoms such as an excessively high or elated mood
What are the behaviour symptoms of depression
Lack energy and are very inactive
Sleep problems
Changes in appetite
What are the emotion symptoms of depression
Low mood
Irritability- when depressed some people will be more angry then normal
What are the cognitive symptoms of OCD
Repetitive and intrusive thoughts and images
Realisation that the thoughts are irrational and self generated
What are the behavioural symptoms of OCD
Time spent on it can have serious effects on a persons ability to work/ have relationships
Avoidance- the person may go to great lengths to avoid things that may trigger their obsessional thinking
What is Mowrers tow-process model
Acquiring a phobia
Learn to associate the phobic object due to a frightening experience
Classical conditioning
Learns to avoid or escape from the object
Fears reduces when they get away from it
Operant conditioning
Reduction in fear reinforces their avoidance
What is generalisation of a phobia
Fear will start to generalise to other objects similar to the one that created the fear
The person who choked on a button may start to have a fear of other small objects
What is observational learning of phobias
People may learn to be afraid indirectly by witnessing someone else experiencing intense fear
Children may acquire a fear of spiders if they witness a parent being terrified
Called vicarious learning
What is systematic desensitisation
Before exposing the patient to their phobia they are trained in relaxation techniques
1) trained in deep muscle relaxation
2) draw up a fear hierarchy
3) get into relaxed state
4) asked to imagine the first step of their hierarchy
5) move to next step- real life exposure
Evaluation of systematic desensitisation
:) acceptable to patients
:) easier to explain- more appropriate than flooding for children
:( time consuming
What is flooding
Going to the top of someone’s fear hierarchy and exposing them to the thing that they are most afraid of for a prolonged period of time
Evaluation of flooding
:) can be a rapid and effective treatment
:; ethical issues are raised- very distressing
What is necks cognitive triad
Self
World
Future
What us cognitive behaviour therapy and what’s its main aim
Focuses on the problems that the patient has in the here and now
The main aim is to change dysfunctional thinking
How long does CBT for depression last
5-20 sessions
How would people identify the distorted thinking
Thought diary
What are the two important steps in CBT
Identify the distorted thinking
Challenge the distorted thinking
What are the two steps in challenging dysfunctional thinking
Socratic questioning
Collaborative empiricism
What is Socratic questioning
Therapist asks the patient a series of questions to help the patient discover new ways of thinking
Therapist asks questions to guide the patient to thinking about whether being hard on hers,et is really helpful
What is collaborative empiricism
Patients are encouraged to view their beliefs as hypothesis to be systematically tested by gathering evidence
They work together to test the beliefs in a scientific way
What is OCD cause by
Neural Abnormalities in the brain
May be partly cause by genes
Assumed to be a illness which can be treated using medical methods
What are the key areas of the brain involved in these circuits
Basal ganglia
Or into- frontal cortex
What are neurotransmitters
Chemicals in the brain that allow messages to be sent between brain cells across the synapse
What is polygenic
Linked to many genres and not just a single gene
Up to 230
What is MZ and dz
MZ- identical twins- share 100% of Dna
Dz- non-identical twins- share 50% of dna
Less likely to have OCD - dz twins
What is an example of a SSRI and a typical dose
Fluoxetine
20mg a day
What is a typical length of treatment
3-4 months
At the end of the course of treatment the medication is usually stopped gradually to prevent any withdrawal symptoms
Who can prescribe the SSRI and what effect do SSRI have on the brain
GP/ psychiatrist
Reduce re-uptake of serotonin back into pre-synapse
Serotonin stays in the gap for longer
Serotonin increased
What are the side effects
Irritability Sleep disturbances Headaches Reduce sex drive Suicidal thinking
Appropriateness of biological treatments for OCD
:)Although it rarely cures OCD, even a small reduction in symptoms can reduce persons distress
:) relatively cost effective- taken easily
:( side effects are unpleasant
:( fluoxetine is not good for young children
Define OCD
An anxiety disorder in which the person experiences persistent intrusive thoughts that they find extremely unpleasant and upsetting
What’s Ellis cognitive model of depression
Depression is not just the result of unpleasant events but depends on the persons beliefs
Negative thing in - likely to feel depressed
A- adverse event
B- beliefs
C- consequences
What’s necks cognitive approach to depression
Negative schemea- extreme negative thinking
Cognitive errors-
Biased memories
More likely to suffer from depression
Tend to develop in childhood
Can also lay dormant and become activated if there is a triggering event later in life
What are the key sy,toms of OCD
Obsessions- intrusive thoughts that the person finds extremely unpleasant
Compulsions- repetitive, irresistible urge to perform a behaviour
What is the evidence for abnormalities in activity in the basal ganglia
Brain scanning studies- Paul a sue
OCD like symptoms
What are the emotional symptoms of s phobia
Experience intense fear or feelings of panic
The fear is excessive and out of proportion to the danger posed
What are the cognitive symptoms of depression
Distorted negative thinking
Thoughts of death
Poor concentration
Emotional symptoms of OCD
Intense anxiety
Feeling of panic when the intrusive though occur if prevented from carrying out compulsive behaviour
The person May Feel guilt and disgust At the thoughts that they are having
Behavioural explanation of phobias
Argues that phobias the fear and avoidance behaviours in phobias are learned as a result of s frightening experience
Unlearned through behavioural therapy
What is a behavioural treatment for phobias
Exposure to fear d object in order to unlearn the association between the phobic stimulus and fear
Gradual weakening of a conditioned response
Person needs to encounter the thing that they are afraid of with no unpleasant event
Prevented from escaping or trying to avoid the object in any way
What are the six factors from ideal mental health
Positive attitudes towards yourself Accurate perception of reality Resistance to stress Autonomy Mastery of the environment Self- actualisation
What are cognitive errors and examples
Catastrophising someone always assumes something will happen
Applying a negative filter - ignite positive
What is the appropriateness of CBT for depression
:) straightforward and appears sensible
:) time limited- not time consuming
:( not suitable for patients with severe depression
:( sometimes patients have realistically very difficult lives and altering thinking may be impossible
