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MRS BARNES psychology > Psychopathology > Flashcards

Psychopathology Flashcards

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1
Q

what is psychopathology?

A
  • scientific study of psychological disorders/ mental illnesses
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2
Q

what are the main guides on how to classify disorders?

A

Diagnostic and Statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM)
International Classification of Disorders (ICD)

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3
Q

what are the 4 definitions of abnormality?

A
  • statistical infrequency
  • deviation from social norms
  • failure to function adequately
  • deviation from ideal mental health
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4
Q

what are neurotic disorders?

A

self-aware

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5
Q

what are psychotic disorders?

A

unaware

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6
Q

what is statistical infrequency?

A
  • defines ‘normal’ behaviour in typical values, such as mean, median and mode
  • number based definition
  • shown on a distribution curve, if something is more than 2 standard deviations away from the mean then it is classed as abnormal
  • e.g. average IQ is 100, so anything above 130 and below 70 is classed as abnormal
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7
Q

what are the limitations of statistical infrequency?

A
  • some infrequent behaviours may be desirable (i.e. high IQ) and some frequent behaviours may be undesirable, meaning there is problem with using a numbers based definition
  • subjective cut off on the normal distribution
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8
Q

what are the strengths of statistical infrequency?

A
  • appropriate for some as it gives us an indication (has a good objective starting point/ measure
  • however, needs to be paired with another definition (failure to function adequately)
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9
Q

what is the cultural relativism evaluation of statistical infrequency?

A
  • statistically infrequent behaviours in one culture may be frequent in another
  • eg. hearing voices in one may be associated with schizophrenia, but it may be seen as desirable in another
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10
Q

what does deviation from social norms mean?

A
  • social norms refers to the expected/ usual behaviour in a culture or society
  • socially based explanation
  • deviance from these norms often leads to the individual being isolated/rejected, seen as undesirable and considered abnormal
  • e.g. standing too close to someone or wearing inappropriate dress (for age or situation)
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11
Q

what are the limitations of deviation from social norms?

A
  • does not consider the role of context
  • social norms change over time
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12
Q

what is a strength of deviation from social norms?

A
  • focus is on social norms, which helps society to function
  • enables an individual to consider how their actions affect others
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13
Q

what is the cultural relativism evaluation of deviation from social norms?

A
  • social norms vary .i.e. personal space
  • dangers of being ethnocentric (not considering other cultural values, and judging someone else based on your own cultural values)
  • DSM now makes reference to different cultural behaviours
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14
Q

what is failure to function adequately?

A
  • individuals will experience psychological distress and feel unable to cope with usual everyday situations i.e. unable to go to work
  • usually aware they are suffering but with some mental disorders they may not be aware and will have to rely on others around them to identify it instead
  • measure of adequate functioning can be done using WHODAS, allowing a quantitative measure of functioning to be taken, as individuals are rated and given a score for each criteria
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15
Q

what are the areas considered by WHODAS (world health organisation disability assessment)?

A
  • understanding and communicating
  • getting around
  • self care
  • getting along with people
  • life activities
  • participation in society
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16
Q

what are the limitations of failure to function adequately?

A
  • subjective judgement as it depends on who is making the decision
  • may be functional to the individual, it doesnt distinguish between functional/dysfunctional behaviour
17
Q

what is a strength of failure to function adequately?

A
  • provides an objective measure, so it is a more sensitive definition
18
Q

what is the cultural relativism evaluation of failure of function adequately?

A
  • what is considered dysfunctional in one culture may not be in the other
  • i.e. sleeping in the day may be normal in Mediterranean cultures but could be considered as depression in the UK
  • risks measure of being ethnocentric
19
Q

what is deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  • based on humanistic approach
  • positivist definition (all have the ability to achieve full potential if given the correct conditions
  • looks at characteristics the individual needs to have present to be able to maintain optimal mental health
  • Marie Jahoda (1958) identified 6 categories relating to ideal mental health
20
Q

what are the 6 categories Marie Jahoda (1958) identified relating to ideal mental health?

A
  • self attitude
  • personal growth
  • integration
  • autonomy
  • accurate perception of reality
  • mastery of environment
    (more of these characteristics present, more mentally healthy and when without these, considered vulnerable)
21
Q

what are the limitations of deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  • ideals are unrealistic and hard to achieve by nature
  • involves subjective assessment on Jahoda’s criteria, as it is a matter of opinion and hard to objectively measure
  • difficult to diagnose mental ill-health and physical ill-health in the same way
22
Q

what are the strengths of deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  • positivist approach, meaning it looks at categories that give us good mental health and considers what is needed for it
23
Q

what is the cultural relativism evaluation of deviation from ideal mental health?

A
  • based on western values (individualist cultures), which encourage working for one’s own personal growth towards self-actualisation, whereas collectivist cultures encourage working for the good of the community
  • cultural context may limit this definition to certain cultural groups
24
Q

what are the most common mental disorders?

A
  • phobias
  • obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • depression
25
Q

what are phobias?

A
  • categorised as an anxiety disorder
  • defined as an irrational fear that produces a conscious avoidance of feared stimuli
26
Q

what are the main types of phobias?

A
  • agoraphobia (fear of being trapped in a public place)
  • social phobia (anxiety in social situations e.g. speaking to a group)
  • specific phobia (fear of specific thing e.g. spiders)
27
Q

what is OCD?

A
  • categorised as an anxiety disorder
  • comprised of two main elements: obsessions (persistent thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive behaviours)
28
Q

what is depression?

A
  • categorised as a mood disorder
  • defined as persistent low mood causing distress and impairment of functioning
  • DSM distinguishes between major depression and persistent depressive disorder
29
Q

what are the emotional, cognitive and behavioural characteristics of phobias?

A

E = extreme and persistent fear, anxiety and panic
C = irrational thinking that’s resistant to rational reasoning, with recognition of this irrational fear
B = avoidance, freeze or faint stress responses, interference with normal life

30
Q

what are the emotional, cognitive and behavioural characteristics of OCD?

A

E = distress, awareness that behaviour is excessive
C = recurring, intrusive thoughts which are perceived as inappropriate, uncontrollable thoughts and recognition of this
B = repetitive compulsive behaviours aimed at reducing the activity, not necessarily associated with what they are aimed at (e.g. compulsively avoiding a certain object to avoid something bad happening)

31
Q

what are the emotional, cognitive and behavioural characteristics of depression?

A

E = sadness and feeling empty/ worthless, with a loss of interest in usual activities, and anger towards others or self
C = negative thoughts including worthlessness and guilt, having negative expectations
B = change in activity level (may be increased or decreased), change in sleep patterns (more or less) and change in appetite (more or less)

MRS BARNES psychology (3 decks)

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