Psychopathology Flashcards
1
Q
Psychopathology
A
Scientific study of psychological disorders
2
Q
Social norms
A
Unwritten standards of acceptable behaviour that are set by the social group
3
Q
Strength of Social norms
A
- Does distinguish between desirable and undesirable abnormal behaviour
- Takes into account the effect that the behaviour has on other people.
- Behaviour is identified as abnormal if it breaks the rules put in place by society
4
Q
Weakness of Social norms
A
- It allows society to isolate groups of people that don’t fit into social norms- e.g autistic people
5
Q
Cultural relativism
A
A behaviour is only expressed in a particular culture
6
Q
Abnormality
A
Not able to cope with the demands of daily life
7
Q
Failure to Function Adequately
A
Distress to the individual and/ or distress to the people around them
8
Q
Strength of Failure to Function Adequately
A
- Takes into account the personal experience of the patient, the patient can then get the correct help they need
9
Q
Weakness of Failure to Function Adequately
A
- The scale of the Global Assessment of Functioning is subjective.
10
Q
Global Assessment of Functioning
A
- Used to rate how serious a mental illness may be
11
Q
Strength of Global Assessment of Functioning
A
- It’s standardised, all doctors know what it means
- It can measure Failure to Function Adequately if individual is in distress about going to school or work- abnormal
12
Q
Weakness of Global Assessment of Functioning
A
- Can be subjective- 2 different doctors can assign different results- unreliable
- Results can fluctuate- unreliable
13
Q
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
A
Abnormal behaviour should be defined by the absence of particular ideal characteristics
14
Q
Strength of Deviation from Ideal mental health
A
- Focuses on desirable rather than undesirable behaviours therefore any therapy based on it would focus on positive behaviour change
15
Q
Weakness of Deviation from Ideal mental health
A
- If most people lack some of Jahoda’s criteria, they are not a good measure of abnormality.
16
Q
Physical illness
A
Defined by the absence of these signs of physical health
17
Q
Individualist cultures
A
Success of the individual
18
Q
Collectivist cultures
A
Success of the group (traditional, family)
19
Q
Mental health
A
How common a behaviour is
20
Q
Statistical Infrequency
A
Idea that common or frequent behaviours are ‘normal’ and rare behaviours are ‘abnormal’
21
Q
Strengths of Statistical Infrequency
A
Practical and useful way of identifying whether symptoms should be classified as abnormal
22
Q
Weakness of Statistical Infrequency
A
Definition does not distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviours.
23
Q
Jahoda’s criteria for Ideal Mental Health (6)
A
- Self attitudes = High self esteem + strong sense of identity
- Personal growth and self- actualisation = Extent to which an individual develops their full capabilities
- Integration = Being able to cope with stressful situations
- Autonomy = Being independent + self- regulating
- Having an accurate perception of reality
- Mastery of the environment = Ability to have relationships, function at work, adjust to new situations and solve problems
24
Q
Positive Psychology
A
Focuses on how humans strive to become better
25
Self- actualisation
Striving to be the best person you can be
26
Integrated
Means you have the resourses to cope with stressful situations
27
Autonomy
Making your own, independent decisions
28
Self- fulfilling prophecy
Most likely to act a specific way after a diagnosis
29
Two process model
- Phobias are acquired via Classical Conditioning.
Before Conditioning:
- Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
- Unconditioned Response (UCR) = fear
During Conditioning:
- Neutral Stimulus (NS) + Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) = fear (UCR)
After conditioning:
Controlled Stimulus (CS) = fear (Conditioned Response- CR)
30
Operant Conditioning
Learning occurs when we are rewarded for a behaviour
31
Strength of Operant Conditioning
Good application for therapy- **extinguish** the fear response through exposure and preventing avoidance behaviours
32
Weakness of Operant Conditioning
Biological preparedness- we do not develop phobias of all stimuli we have negative experiences with. Some phobias have an **evolutionary advantage** and so a biological preparedness would have been *inherited*
33
Phobias (6)
Maintained via **operant conditioning**
Being around the phobia makes us **anxious and fearful**
We **run away/ avoid** the phobia (e.g spiders)
**Fear/ anxiety is removed**
**Avoidance behaviour** has been **rewarded** and will be **repeated**
We **never learn** that the phobia will **not hurt us**
34
Extinction
Conditioned stimulus presented without the unconditioned stimulus
35
Reinforcement
Encourages behaviour- different things for different people
36
Positive reinforcement
Add a reinforcer- something nice- e.g give chocolate
37
Negative reinforcement
Take something horrible away e.g not doing chores
38
Punishment
When a behaviour results in unpleasant consequences we are less likely to repeat the behaviour
39
Positive punishment
Adding something horrible- e.g detention
40
Negative punishment
Taking away something nice- e.g turning wifi off
41
Systematic Desensitisation
Gradual exposure- patient is taught relaxation techniques
42
How does systematic desensitisation work? (5)
1. Patient **TAUGHT deep relaxation techniques**
2. **Desensitisation hierarchy is developed**
3. Patient **gradually** works through each **anxiety-evoking event** whilst **engaging** in the **relaxation *response***
4. Once the patient has **mastered remaining relaxed** at **one step in the hierarchy**, they can move onto the **next step**
5. Patient eventually **masters the feared situation**
43
Strength of Systematic Desensitisation
More ethical than Flooding as they give the patient time to **relax** and start the treatment when the patient is **ready**
44
Weakness of Systematic Desensitisation
Takes longer than Flooding as it takes a couple of sessions as it is a gradual exposure
45
Flooding
Immediate exposure to the frightening stimulus. May take two to three hours, only 1 session needed. Prevention to avoidance
46
How does flooding work?
Avoidance behaviours are prevented.
- Eventually the person learns that the **conditioned stimulus** does **not** lead to an **unpleasant consequence**
- The conditioned stimulus **no longer produces** a conditioned response.
47
Strengths of flooding
- Effectiveness- SD and Flooding have been found to be more successful in treating a range of anxiety disorders.
- Quick and require less effort than some cognitive therapies.
- Cost effective
48
Weakness of SD and Flooding
- Generalisability- Only effective for some phobias- phobias with an underlying evolutionary component may be harder to treat.
49
Ellis' ABC model
A- refers to the activating event
B- refers to the belief which may be rational or irrational
C- consequence (irrational beliefs) leads to unhealthy emotions- (e.g sadness and irrational behaviours)
50
Mustabatory thinking
Thinking that certain ideas must be true for an individual to be happy
51
Becks negative triad
Cognitive biases: Focusing on negatives rather than positives
Negative self- schemes- Use schemas to interpret the world, if we have a negative self- schema we interpret all information about ourselves in a negative way
52
Ellis' Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT)
D- Disputing **irrational thoughts and beliefs**
E- Effects of disputing and effective attitude to life
F- Feelings (emotions) that are produced.
53
Logical disputing
Self- defeating beliefs do not follow logically from the information available- (E.G IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED GOOD GRADES ALL YEAR WHY WILL YOU FAIL YOUR EXAMS?)
54
Empirical disputing
Self- defeating beliefs may not be consistent with reality, collect evidence- (E.G WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE THAT YOUR PARENTS WILL KILL YOU IF YOU FAIL YOUR EXAMS)
55
Pragmatic disputing
Emphasises the lack of usefulness of self- defeating beliefs, the thoughts are stopping you from achieving goals- (E.G WHAT GOOD IS IT DOING TO BE THINKING IN THIS WAY)
56
How to challenge irrational beliefs?
- Boost self- esteem
- Test irrational beliefs
- Put new rational beliefs into practice
- Ask a friend out for coffee
57
How to challenge behavioural activation?
- Many depressed people stop going out/ become inactive
- Patients are required to become more active
- Engage in pleasurable activities
- Deal with cognitive obstacles
58
What is the aim of Beck's cognitive therapy- which links to the negative triad?
- Identify automatic negative thoughts about the world, self and future
- Challenge these thoughts
- Test the reality of **negative beliefs**- set yourself daily challenges
59
Strength of Beck's cognitive therapy
CBT= effective. Ellis claims a 90% success rate with an average of 27 sessions.
March found that CBT was just as effective as antidepressant.
60
Weakness of Beck's cognitive therapy
CBT requires cognitive effort and isn't suitable for everyone.
61
Outline 1 neural explanation of OCD in a "normal" brain (4)
## Footnote
Obsessions- intrusive thoughts
Compulsions- repetitive behaviours
1. Orbitofrontal cortex generates worries
2. Sends a worry signal to the Thalamus- which acts on the worry
3. Then creates a worry circuit and sends the worry back to the orbitofrontal cortex if the worry can't be acted upon
4. Caudate nucleus filters/ buffers the irrelevant worries
62
Outline 1 neural explanation of OCD in an "OCD" brain (3)
1. Orbitofrontal cortex generates worries but is overactive and produces obsessions
2. Sends a worry signal to Thalamus and acts on worries but is overactive and produces compulsions
3. Caudate nucleus filters/ buffers irrelevant worries but is underactive and all worries are passed to Thalamus
63
Weakness of Neural Explanation of OCD
- Abnormal brain functioning may be **cause** of OCD or it could be an **effect** of **developing OCD**
- OCD could be **acquired psychologically** and **lead** to **abnormal brain functioning**
- Treating OCD with psychological therapies normalises brain activity
64
Concordance rate studies
Compare identical twins to non- identical tiwns
65
Monozygotic twins (MZ)
100% geneticallly identical
1 egg and 1 sperm fertilised egg split into 2
66
Dizygotic twins (DZ)
50% the same genetically
2 eggs and 2 sperms
67
What should the concordance rate be if something is entirely genetic
MZ twins have 100% concordance
DZ twins 50% concordance
68
What should the concordance rate be if something is due to the environment
Concordance rates should be the same for MZ and DZ twins
69
If there is a higher concordance rate in MZ twins what does that mean?
Means something is genetic. Suggests a genetic component as the concordance rate for MZ twins is higher than for DZ twins.
BUT
Not entirely genetic, environment must play a part as there is not 100% concordance for MZ twins and 50% for DZ twins
70
Genetic explanations
- OCD tends to run in **families**
- **Close relatives** of OCD sufferers are **9 times** **more likely to be diagnosed with OCD** but **NOT** necessarily going to **inherit same OCD**
- Variation of **COMT gene** (low activity), that you **inherit** from your **parents**, can lead to **high levels of dopamine**, and this can cause the **basal ganglia** in your brain to be **overactive**, which can be **linked to OCD**.
71
What does Dopamine do to you?
Makes you feel good
72
What does Serotonin do to you?
Calms us down- turns neurones off
73
Strength of SSRIs
| (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
## Footnote
Serotonin- a **chemical** that **carries messages** BETWEEN **nerve cells** in the **brain** and **throughout your body**.
**Increase availability** of **serotonin** and are **effective** in **treating OCD**
74
Strength of Drug Treatment
Effectiveness:
Soomno reviewed **17 studies** that **compared SSRIs to placebos** in the treatment of OCD. **Better outcomes for SSRIs**. SSRIs **reduce** symptom **severity** and **improve quality of life**.
75
Weakness of Drug Treatment
Serious side- effects.
**1 in 100** people become **aggressive** and experience **heart- related problems**. People have a **reduced** quality of life so they may **stop taking drugs** so the **drugs cease to be effective**
76
# ***
How do SSRIs work? (5)
- **Serotonin** is **released** BY **neurones** in the **brain**.
- It is **released** by **presynaptic neurones** and **travels** across **synapse**.
- **Neurotransmitter** **chemically conveys** the **SIGNAL** from the **presynaptic neurone** to the **postsynaptic neurone**
- It is reabsorbed by the presynaptic neurone where it is broken down and reused.
- By preventing the reabsorption and breakdown, SSRIs effectively increase levels of serotonin in the synapse and stimulate the postsynaptic neurone.
77
Behavioural characteristics of OCD
1. Compulsions are repetitive
2. Compulsions reduce anxiety
3. Avoidance
78
Cognitive characteristics of OCD
1. Obsessive thoughts
2. Cognitive coping strategies
3. Insight into excessive anxiety
79
Emotional characteristics of OCD
1. Anxiety and distress
2. Accompanying depression
3. Guilt and disgust
80
Behavioural characteristics of Phobias
1. Panic
2. Avoidance
3. Endurance
81
Cognitive characteristics of Phobias
1. Selective attention to the phobic stimulus
2. Irrational beliefs
3. Cognitive distortions
82
Emotional characteristics of Phobias
1. Anxiety
2. Fear
3. Emotional response is unreasonable
83
Behavioural characteristics of Depression
1. Activity levels
2. Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
3. Aggression
84
Cognitive characteristics of Depression
1. Poor concentration
2. Attending to and dwelling on the negatives
3. Absolutist thinking
85
Emotional characteristics of Depression
1. Lowered mood
2. Anger
3. Lowered self- esteem
