psychopathology Flashcards
marie jahoda criteria for normal mental health?
Self- acculisation Environmental mastery accurate perception Resistance to stress Autonomy Positive self attitude
definition of devation from social norm
failure to comply with sociteal norms which is shared standards of acceptable behaviour by groups
Strengths of deviation from social norms
Do have an instinct about someones behaviour if it indicates a psychological issue so it has face value
Weakness of deviation from social norms
It is time and culture dependent
No clear line of when behaviour is abnormal
What is deviation from ideal mental health
Ignores what makes people abnormal focuses on normal marie jahoda
Strengths of deviation from ideal mental health
- Positive approach to mental health, focuses on what is desirable
- Useful for identifying when someone needs help
definition of faliure to function adequately
Looks at a persons ability to deal with everyday life, focuses on the behaviour of someone eg can they hold a job
Rosenham and seligman suggested which behaviour? Failure to function
1989 Unpredictability Uncoventiaonality Maladaptiveness Violation of ideal standards Observer discomfort irrationality Personal distress
What is GAF
Global assessment of functioning, part of DSM iv-tr and used by mental health clinicans to rate the social pyschological functioning of afults
The definition of statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality
A persons thinking or begaviour is classified as abnormal if it is statistically unusual or rare
strengths of statistical infrequency
Good real life application- clear guidelines for identifying behaviour as normal offers an objective for catergorising which can be helpful for clincians
Weakness of statisical infrequency
- doesnt consider the desirability of behaviours eg IQ
- some behaviour is abnormal even though they are frequent e.g depression old ppl
Definition of a phobia
Persistant and unreasonable fear of a particular object activity or situation
Different catergories of phobia
Specific phobias
Social phobias
Agoraphobia
behaviour, cognitive and emotional of phobias
Behaviour- panic leading to avoidance
Emotional- anxiety
cognitive- irrational process of info
Behavioural approach in regards to phobias
Phobias are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning- 2 process model monrer 1960
Strengths of behavioural of phobias
Can explain the acquiring and maintenance of phobias which have been associated with an event
Weaknesses of behavioural approach to phobias
- doesnt account for the way some phobias are more frequent than others in the population and no evidence they’re associated with events
- good theory needs to also include biological reasons and evolution
What is systemic desensitisation?
Wolpe 1958- uses the idea of reciprocal inhibition (impossible to hold 2 emotions) and if behaviour can be learned it can be unlearned.
Steps of systemic desensitisation
1- training client to relax
2- constructing a hierarchy of fear
3- gradual exposure of each part of the hierachy
Strengths of systematic desensitisation
Its effective with specific phobias
Gives the paitent a sense of control
Less traumatic and more clients chose it
Weakness of systemic desensitised
Less effective with agoraphobia
Long sessions 6-8
What is flooding?
Involves overwhelming the individuals senses learns the phobic stimulus is harmless
Positives of flooding
Cost effective
Quick
Negatives of flooding
Unpleasant expierence
Feel out of control
Less effective for social phobias
Traumatic and many refuse to start or complete treatment
definition of depression
Is an affective mood disorder characterised bu low mood and energy levels can effect thought behaviour and well-being
Behavioural of depression
Disruption to sleep and eating
Agression and self harm
Emotional depression
Lowered mood, anger, lowered self esteem
Cognitive depression
Poor concentration
Attending to the negative
Absolutist thinking
Cognitive outlook on depression
Depression is a disorder of thought rather than mood, faulty cognitions cause abnormal behaviour
What did beck propose?
An individual has negative automatic thoughts in response to difficult situations based on a set of negative self schema feed into cognitive triad
Cognitive triad
Negative thoughts about self
Negative thoughts about world
Negative thoughts about the future
Faulty cogitions lead to…
cognitive biases
minimisation- tendency to underplay a positivr effect
Magnification- tendency to exaggerate significance of an event
Personalisation-
What did Ellis propose?
Proposed that mood disorders can be explained by itrational thought processes
Whats the ABC model?
Ellis 1962
Action occurs
the person has beliefs about it
These beliefs impact on the consequence
Triad negative evaluation
Doesnt explain all the aspects of depression- complex system cant be explained
Traid positive
Good supporting evidence- evidence has supported that it is to do with faulty processing negative schemas
-practical application in CBT it can be challenged
Triad negative
Doesnt explain all aspects of depression- feel mulitple different emotions suffers may get hallucinations
ABC postive
Practical application in therapy CBT
ABC negative
Offers a partial explanation- not all depression arises due to a obvious case
Doesnt explain all aspects of depression- hallucinations
Salkovski cognitive
1992 found negative thinking higher in depression suffers
What is CBT?
Most commonly used psychological treatment helps people change how they think by challenging negative thoughts and encouraging behavioural activation
Ellis’ REBT
Activating event
Beliefs
Consequences
Disputing irrational beliefs
Expected effective behaviour
Negatives of CBT
May not work for severe cases, clients may not be motivated enough
- sucess could just be due to client therapist relationship
- over emphasis on cognition minimisng the importance of the circumstance and environment
- its long treatment
Definition of OCD
classified as a serious anxiety disordr where a person expirences frequeng intrusive and unwelcome obessional thoughts often followed by repetitive compulsions
Behaviour of OCD
avoidance, Compulsions
Emotional of OCD
Depressed or other negative emotions
Cognitives of OCD
Obsessive thoughts + intrusions
Biological approach to OCD
believe there is a gentic aspect to the disorder, biochemical imbalance in the brain
Nestadl At AL
2000 OCD of 14 twin studies 54/80 concordance for MZ twins
Candidate genes? for OCD
Sapap3- controls planning
SERT- regulates serotonin
COMT- regulates dopamine
Evaluation of genetic explanation of OCD
Evidence suggests genetics play a part, twin studies.
Candidate genes- but only increase by a fraction
Can be triggered by environment after having candidate genes
Neural explanation for OCD
- certain brain circuits may be abnormal
- abnormal levels of certain transmitters
Parts of the brain effected by OCD
Basal ganglia-repeative motor behaviour
Orbital frontal cortex- decision making and worrying
Thalamus- cleaning and checking
What is serotonin?
Neurotransmitter used to regulate mood if there are low levels of serotonin then normal transmission of mood info doesnt take place affecting mood
evaluation of neural explanation for OCD
- advances in tech have meant that researchers have been able to investigate specific areas of the brain.
- the repetitive acts may be explained bh the structural abnornality of the basal but doesnt account for the obessive thoughts.
- no system has been found that is always in OCD
- not everyone with OCD has impaired basal and not everyone with an impaired basal has OCD
drugs involved in treatment for OCD
ssri- used to tackle the symptoms of OCD Precents the re uptake of serotonin
Trycylics- anti- depressant block the uptake of neurotransmitters
Anti-anxiety drugs- benzodiazepines increases GABA a neurotransmitter quitens the neural system
Beta blockers- reduce activation of the cardiovascular system
what did Keller research?
Keller et al found that recovery rates when just drugs 55% compared to CBT 52% and 85% when used together for depression.
what did Feng et al find?
-Feng et al 2007, OCD.
- found mice lacking the gene showed high levels of anxiety and pulled out their fur when given sapap3 protein however the symptoms disappeared, hard to relate to humans as different physiology.
What did Cromer find?
-Cromer 2007 found that over half the OCD patients in their sample had a traumatic event in the past and OCD was more severe in those with more than one trauma this means that it may not just be fully genetic.
negative evaluation of failure to function adequately
*Cultural relativism – what is considered adequate in one culture might not be so in another.
*FFA might not be linked to abnormality but to other factors. Failure to keep a job may be due to the economic situation not to psychopathology.
*FFA is context dependent; not eating can be seen as failing to function adequately but prisoners on hunger strikes making a protest can be seen in a different light.
what did Beck believe about cognitive approach to depression?
-cognitive bias, depressed people focus on the negative, catastrophing thinking the worst of everything.
-negative self-schemas, interpret info about themselves in a negative way.
-triad, self future and world.
what did Mcgarth study?
-SD is 75% effective when treating phobias
what did Choy find?
-both SD and flooding are effective with flooding more so.
