Psychopathology Flashcards
Identify what abnormality is caused by or ‘down to’
• Flawed biology (biological approach)
• Incorrect learning (behaviourist approach)
• Defective thought processes (cognitive approach)
• Originates from problems of mind and personality (psychodynamic approach)
Why is abnormality so difficult to define
Psychologist can’t agree on the causes of abnormalities and mental disorders
Identify the four definitions of abnormalities
• Deviation from social norms
• Failure to function adequately
• Deviation from ideal mental health
• Statistical infrequency
Define deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality
Every society sets norms or unwritten rules for acceptable behaviour. Many of these ‘rules’ are learnt in childhood through socialisation. Behaviour deviating from these social norms is considered abnormal
Outline the basis of deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality
• Takes into account the desirability of behaviour, drawing a clear line between desirable and undesirable behaviour, labelling individuals behaving undesirably as social deviants
• Behaviour isn’t often universally abnormal and depends on the situation, age, time period and culture. Normality also depends on the degree to which the norm is deviated from and the importance of the norm to society
• Eg. Homosexuality wasn’t removed from the DSM until 1973 and ICD of mental disorders until 1992, yet is completely normal in modern Western society
Define failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality
Abnormality can be judged in terms of not being able to cope with everyday life (failure to function adequately). Such people don’t experience a ‘normal’ range of emotions or participate in a ‘normal’ range of behaviours
Outline the basis of failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality
• Functioning is going about everyday life, such as eating regularly, being active and having control of your life
• Functioning is considered abnormal if it disrupts everyday life and causes great distress and dysfunction, to the individual or to others, as the individual may not be distressed at all in the case of some mental health disorders
• Eg. Schizophrenics generally lack awareness that anything’s wrong but their behaviour may be very distressing to others such as positive symptoms like hallucinations involving the individual being persecuted
Outline research key to failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality
Rosenman and Seligman (1989) identified personal dysfunction has seven features, the more an individual has the more abnormal they are said to be:
• Personal distress
• Maladaptive behaviour
• Unpredictability
• Irrationality
• Observer discomfort (displaying behaviour causing discomfort to others)
• Violation of moral standards (displaying behaviour violating social norms)
• Unconventionality (displaying atypical behaviour)
Outline the GAF scale
• The global assessment of functioning (GAF) is used to rate severity of mental illness on how much symptoms affect day-to-day life on a scale from 0-100, a higher score indicates a better handling of daily activities. It’s broken into 10 sections known as Anchor points
• The GAF was based on a scale first used in 1962, being updated over time but the DSM eventually dropped it in 2013 for a scale designed by the WHO
• It’s based on many things such as interviews and questionnaires, medical records, information from doctors or relatives and police or court records
Define deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality
Perceives abnormality in a similar way to how physical health is assessed, by looking for signs of absence of wellbeing in terms of mental rather than physical health. Ideal mental health is a set of behaviours, which combined produce a healthy state of mind, movement away from these qualities is considered abnormal
Outline the basis of deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality
• Jahoda (1958) identified a set of characteristics required for ‘normal health’, describing six criteria an individual should exhibit in order to be normal:
- Positive attitude toward oneself (having self respect and positive self concept)
- Self-actualisation
- Autonomy (being self reliant and not dependant on others, giving a sense of control)
- Resisting stress (having effective strategies to being able to cope with everyday anxiety provoking situations)
- Accurate perception of reality
- Environmental mastery
Define statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality
Looks at behaviours through statistics, measuring which behaviours are statistically normal and abnormal. Statistics are gathered as a measure, in this case they measure behaviour and rare behaviours are considered statistically abnormal
Outline the basis of statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality
• Behaviours that are rare are dependant on normal distribution, most people will be around the mean (average) of the normal distribution with rare behaviours further away, either above or below the mean
• Eg. Schizophrenia is seen in 1 in 100 people, making it statistically rare
How many people in England report experiencing a common mental health problem in any given week
1 in 6
How many people have
1. Self harmed
2. Had suicidal thoughts
3. Made suicide attempts
In England in 2016
- 7.3/100
- 20.6/100
- 6.7/100
