Psychopathology Flashcards
Definitions of abnormality
Statistical Infrequency
Deviation from social norms
Failure to function adequately
Deviation from ideal mental health
Statistical infrequency evaluation
fails to distinguish between desirable & undesirable behaviours
Deviation from social norms evaluation
Fails to consider the importance of context
Social norms can change with time
Complicated by cultural differences
Social deviancy isn’t necessarily a bad thing
Failure to function adequately - SMUVICOD
Suffering
Maladaptiveness
Unpredictable + loss of control
Vividness
Irrational
Causes Observer Discomfort
Failure to function adequately evaluation
Behaviour which appears dysfunctional may actuallly be functional for that person
Many people engage in maladaptive behaviour which is considered normal
Sometimes it is normal to struggle
Deviation from ideal mental health evaluation
Criteria too ideal
Assumes physical and mental disorders are the same
Uses perceptions of what is desirable rather than what is not
Phobias - emotional symptoms
anxiety
Phobias - cognitive symptoms
selective attention to phobic stimmulus
Hard to divert attention
Phobias - Behavioural symptoms
B - Panic, avoidance, endurance
Depression - Emotional symptoms
low mood
anger
low self-esteem
Depression - Cognitive symptoms
Poor concentration
Dwelling on the negative
Absolutust thinking
Depression - Behavioural symptoms
Activity levels
Abnormal Sleep + eating behaviour
Aggression + self harm
OCD emotional symptoms
Anxiety
Depression
Guilt + disgust
OCD cognitive symptoms
Obsessive thoughts
Coping mechanism
Insight into execessive anxiety
OCD behavioural symptoms
Compulsions, avoidance
Assumptions of the behaviourist approach
‘tabula rasa’ - blank slate
observable behaviour
animal studies
lab experients
How are phobias explained?
learnt through classical conditioning
Maintained through operant conditioning
Phobias - little Albert
9 month old Albert
present rat with loud bang
Albert developed fear of rats
Little Albert - evaluation
Application - exposure therapy
No cognitive aspects
Link between trauma and phobias - weak
Systematic desensitisation
reduces phobia through classical conditioning
Anxiety hierarchy
Relies on a clients ability to image a situation
Flooding
Immediate exposure to phobic stimulus
Client achieves relaxation due to exhaustion from response
Cognitive Approach Assumptions
Mediational processes
Models
Inference
Schema
Mental processes can be studied scientifically
Machine reductionism evaluation
Overly simplistic
Ignores emotion
Allows us to scientifically study
Musturbatory thinking
Source of irrational beliefs
Absolutist thinking
Ellis’ ABC
Activating event
Belief - irrational
Consequence emotion
Beck’s 123
- Negative Self Schema
- Faulty Information Processing
- The cognitive triad
The cognitive Triad
Thought, Emotion, Behaviour
CBT
- Behavioural action
- Thought catching
- Client as scientist
length of CBT
20 sessions over 16 weeks
REBT
Empirical argument - evidence
Logical argument - thought -> fact
Pragmatic display - Usefulness of self-debilitating belief
2 genes involved in OCD
SERT
COMT
Role of orbito-frontal cortex in OCD
Irrational thought
Thalamus - OCD
detects threat
basil ganglia - OCD
movement
caudate nucleus - OCD
suppresses unwanted thought
How do SSRIs work?
block serotonin reuptake in the synapse
Brain Injury to which area may cause someone to develop OCD symptoms?
Basil Ganglia
