Psychopathology Flashcards
Psychopathology
The scientific study of psychological disorders
Abnormality
How health professional decide whether someone is ‘normal’ or mentally ill however there is no single definition
Statistical Infrequency
A person’s trait thinking or behaviour would be considered an indication of abnormality if it was found to be numerically rare/uncommon
Numerically Rare
Any individual who falls outside the normal distribution is regarded as numerically rare and are considered to be abnormal
Failure to Function Adequately
People with psychological disorders often experience considerable suffering and general inability to cope with their everyday activities.
What were David Rosenhan and Martin Seligman’s proposed signs that could be used to determine when someone is not coping?
- When a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules e.g eye contact
- When a person experiences severe personal distress.
- When a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or others
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
Comes from a humanistic approach. It is a very different way to look at normality and and abnormality is to ignore the issue of what makes someone abnormal but instead think about what makes anyone normal.
What did Marie Jahoda suggest are the signs which show we are in good mental health?
- No symptoms of distress
- We are rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
- We self actualise
- We can cope with stress 5. We have a realistic view of the world
- We have good self esteem and lack of guilt
- We are independent of other people
8.We can successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure
Two process model
Mowrer proposed this model to explain phobias. It argues that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning to acquire a phobia
A phobia is acquired through the association of something that we initially have no fear of with something that already triggers a fear response.
Operant conditioning to maintain a phobia
Mowrer suggested that whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus, we successfully escape the fear and anxiety that we would have suffered if we remained there. This reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour and so the phobia is maintained as avoidance is more likely to happen again in the future.
What 2 ways can you use to treat phobias?
Flooding and Systematic desensitisation
Flooding
Form of behavioural therapy used to treat phobias and other anxiety disorders. A client is immediately exposed to an extreme situation until the anxiety reaction is extinguished.
Systematic Desensitisation
A behavioural therapy designed to reduce a response to a stimulus. It works off learning to relax in the presence of the stimulus.
3 Processes of systematic desensitisation
- anxiety hierarchy
- Relaxation
- Exposure
What are the 2 cognitive explanations for depression?
Ellis’s ABC model and Becks negative Triad
Ellis’s ABC Model
Albert Ellis proposed that good mental health is the result of rational thinking, defined as thinking in ways that allow people to be happy and free of pain.
A= activation event. This says that irrational thoughts are triggered by external events.
B=beliefs. These beliefs include ‘Musturbation’ which is the belief that we must always succeed and perfect, ‘I-cant-stand-it-itis’ which is the belief that it is a major disaster when things go wrong and ‘utopianism’ which is the belief that life is always meant to be fair.
C=consequences. When an activation event triggers irrational beliefs there are emotional and behavioural consequences.
Beck’s Negative Triad
Suggests a cognitive approach to explaining why some are more vulnerable to depression than others. There are 3 parts to this cognitive vulnerability.
