Psychopathology Flashcards
What is statistical infrequency
occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic for example being more depressed or less inteligent than most of the population .
deviation from social norms
concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society .
example ; IQ and intellectual disability disorder
the statistical approach comes into its own when we are dealing with characteristics that can be reliably measured for example intelligence .
-We know that , in any human characteristic , the majority of people’s scores will cluster around the average /
-Further we go , fewer people will attain that score . this is NORMAL DISTRIBUTUION .
What is IDD (intellectual disability disorder )
Used to be known as mental retardation , individuals who score below 70 , unusual or abnormal .
Do people notice deviation from social norm ?
When a person behaves in a way that is different from how we expect people to behave . Defined on what is i norm behaviour , we make a collective judgement as a society about what is right .
How are norms specific to the culture we live in
for example , some behaviour that are universally abnormal , on the basis that they BREACH social norms .
-homosexuality as illegal in 2019 until new laws were made , before sex between men was punishable .
example anti social personality disorder
a person with this is impulsive , aggressive and irresponsible .
-according to the manual used by psychiatrists to diagnose mental disorders DSM-5 .
-One important symptom of antisocial personality disorder is an absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful and culturally normative ethical behaviour .
what are disorders aka
in other words , we are making the social judgement that psychopaths are abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards . Psychopathic behaviour would be considered abnormal in a very wide range of cultures .
EVALUATION - one strength of statistically infrequency
example used intellectual disability disorder
the usefulness of statistical infrequency .
-Statistically infrequency is used in clinical practice , both as part of formal diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of an individual’s symptoms .
-intellectual disability disorder requires an IQ of below 70 .
-an example of statistical infrequency criterion tool s beck repression inventory BDI .
-a score of 30+ is widely interpreted as severe depression
EVALUATION -limitation - unusual characteristics can be positive
one limitation of statistical infrequency is that infrequent characteristics can be positive as well negative .
-you would not think someone as having an high IQ as abnormal .
-Meaning that although statistical infrequency can form part of assessment and diagnostic procedures it is nevermsufficent as the sole basis for defining abnormality .
evaluation extra - benefit verus problems
some unusual people benefit from being classed as abnormal .
For example , somewhere who ahs a very low IQ , and is diagnosed with intellectual disability can then access support services or someone with a very high BDI score is likely to benefit from therapy .
-On the other hand , not all statistically unusual people benefit from labels . Someone with a low IQ who can cope with their chosen lifestyles would not benefit from a label . Their is a SOCIAL STIGMA , attached to such labels .
Evaluation - Real-world application
One strength of deviation from social norms is its usefulness .
-Deviation from social norms is used in clinical practice .
For example , the key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorders , is the failure to conform to culturally normal ethical behaviour (recklessness , aggression violating the rights of others and deceitfulness .)
Evaluation - Real world application
deviation from social norms is used in clinical practice .
-For example , the key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is the failure to conform to culturally normal ethical behaviour (i.e recklessness( aggression , violating the rights of others and deceitfulness .
what are these disorders deviations from social norms ?
such norms also plays a part in the diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder ,w here the term (strange ) is used to hcracterisixcise , the thinking behaviour and appearance of people with the disorder - showing us that deviation from social norms criterion has value in psychiatrist .
EVALUATION - cultural and situational relativism
one limitation of deviation from social norms is the variability between social norms in different cultures and different situations .
-A person from one cultural group may label someone from another group as abnormal using their standards rather than the person’s standards .
-For example , hearing voices , normal in some cultures which is seen as abnormal in the UK .
Cultural and Situational Relativism
Also even with ne cultural context ,m social norms differ from one situation to another . Aggressive and deceitful behaviour in the context of family life is more socially unacceptable than in he context of corporate deal-making .
-This means that it is difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different situations and cultures .
Failure to function adequately
occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day to day living .
deviation from ideal mental health
occurs when someone vdoes not meet a set of criteria for good mental health .
How do we decide if someone is not functioning adequately ?
If they are unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene .
-We might also consider that they are no longer functioning adequately if they cannot hold down a job or maintain relationships around them .
What is the three criteria to someone failing to function adequately .
David Rosenhan and Martin Seligman proposes some additional signs to show that someone is not coping .
-When a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules , for example maintaining eye contact / respecting personal space .
-When a person experiences severe personal distress .
-When a person’s behaviour become irrational or dangerous to themselves or others .
Example ; intellectual disability disorder
on the previous spread we looked at the example of intellectual disability disorder and we saw that before low iq , and individual must be failing to function adequately , BEFORE a diagnosis is given .
Deviation from ideal mental health - what is the alternative way to look at mental health ?
a very different way to look at normality and abnormality is to ignore the issue of what makes someone abnormal but instead think about what makes anyone normal .
then we can identify who deviates from the ideal mental health .
What does ideal mental health look like ?
Marie Jahoda
Suggested we have to meet the following criteria /
-We have no symptoms or distress .
-We are rational and can perceive ourselves accurately .
-We can self-actualise (strive to reach our potential )
-we can cope with stress
-we have a realistic view of the world
*-we have good self-esteem and lack guilt
-we are independent of other people .
-we can successfully work love and enjoy our leisure .
Marie Jahoda
Inevitably , there is some overlap between what we might call deviation between what we might call deviation from ideal mental health and what we might call failure to function adequately .
-so we can think of someone’s inability to keep a job as either a failure to cope with t he help reassures of work or as a deviation from the ideal of successfully working .
Evaluation - represents a threshold for help
One strength of the failure to function criterion is that it represents a sensible threshold for when people need professional help .
-Most of us have symptoms of mental disorder to some degree at some time . In fact , according to the mental health charity mind , around 25% of people in he uK will experience mental health problem in any given year .
Many people press on in the face of fairly severe symptoms .
It tends to be at the point that we cease to function adequately that people seek professional help or are notices and referred for help by others . This criterion means that treatment and services can be targeted to those who need them most .
EVALUATION - discrimination and social control
one limitation of failure to function is that it is easy to label non=standard lifestyle choices as abnormal .
-in practice , it can be very hard to say when someone is really failing to function and when they have simply chosen to deviate from social norms .
EVALUATION - discrimination and social control part 2
not having a job or permanent address might seem like failing to function and for some people it would be .
-However , people with alternative lifestyles choose to live off grid .
-similarly those who favour high-risk leisure activities or unusual spiritual practices could be classed , unreasonably as irrational and perhaps a danger to self .
-This means , that people who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled as abnormal and their freedom of choice may be restircited .
evaluation - failure to function can be normal
There are some circumstances in which most of us fail to cope for a time e.g bereavement it may be unfair to give someone a label that may cause them future problems just because they react to difficult circumstances .
-On the other hand , the failure to function is no less rea just , because the causes clear .
-Also , some people need professional help to adjust to circumstances like bereavement .
EVALUATION - a comprehensive definition
one strength of the ideal mental health criterion is that it is highly comprehensive .
-Jahoda’s concept of ideal mental health includes a range of criteria for distinguishig me
evaluation - may be culuture bound
-one limitation of the ideal mental health criterion is that its different elements are no equally applicable across a range of cultures .
-Some of Jahoda;s crtiera for idel mental health are firmly locted int he context of USA and Western Europe .
-In particualr , the concept of self-actualistion would proably be dismiessed as self induglent in mch of the world .
–Even
evaluatione xtra - extremely high standards
very few of us attin all of jahoda’s crtiera for mental health , and proably none of us achieve all of hem at the same time or keep them up for ber long .
-it can be disherterning to see an impsosibl se of standards to liv eup to .
-on the otehr hands , havign sucha c omprehensieve set of crtieria fo rmental helath to work towrds mgiht be prtical value to someoen wanting to undersand and improve their mental health .
evaluation maybe culture bound - wesern europe
-even western europe ther eis quite a bit of varaition int he lave placed in much of the world .
-even with wesern europe , there is quite a bit of variation int he vlue placed on personal indepndence -e.g high germanly , low in ital .
-furthermore wha defines success ino ur working ,s ocial ,a nd love-lives is verdifferent in dkfferentcultures .
-THIS MEANS , tht it is difficult ot applyt he concept of ideal mental health from on culture to aother .
what is a phobia ?
an irrational fear of an object or situation .
meaning of behaviorual ?
ways in which people act
meaning of emotional ?
related to a person’s feelings or mdood .
meaning of cognitive ?
refers to the process of knwoing , inclduing thinkign , resoning , remembering believing .
there are three ctegoires of phobi and related to anxiety disorder :
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specific phobia
phobia of an object such as an animal or bod aprt , or a situation such as flying or having an injection .
social anxiety (social phobi )
phobia of a social situation such as opublic speaking or using a public toilet .
agoraphobia
phoia of beingo utside or ina public place .
behaviorual charcaterstics of phobia
-the fear resposnes in phoias are the ame as we expereicne for any other fear or vene if the levels of fer is irrarional - out of all proprtion to the phobic stimulus .
an example of a behaviorual charcaterstc - PANIC - explain
-A person with a phobia , may panic in resposne to the presence of the phobic stiulus .
-paic may involve a range of behaviours including crying , creaming , or running away .
–children may react slightl diffeeny for example , by freezzing , ccligning or having a tantrum .
behavioural chracterstics of phobia - voidnce - explailn
unless the person is mking a conscious effort to face thier fear they tend to go to a lot of effort to prevent coming into contact with the phoic timulus , This cn make mskr i hsd to go about daily life .
-for example someone with a ear of publiv toielts may hae to limit the time they spend outisde the home in relation to show long they can lst without a toielt .
-this in turn can intefere with work , eduction and soicl life .
behviorual characterstics of phooias - endurance
the alternative behaviorual reposne to avoidance is endurance . This occus whent he person choose to remian in the presence of the phobic stimuuls .
-For example , a person with arachnohpia , reman in a room wih spider on ceiling and keep eye contact w it .
one emotioanl characeristic of phobias - anxiety
phobias are classed as anxiety disroders . Byd efenition then they invovle an emotioanl reponse of anxiety . s an unpelasnt sta eof high rusal .
-This present a person relaxing and makes it very difficult to experience any postiie emotional . Anxiety can be long term .
emotional chracteristics of phobias - fear
althogh in everyday speech we mmight use the term ‘anxiety’ and ‘fear’ as interchangebaly , they have disnitc meanings .
-FEAR is the immeediate an extremely nplesant respone we extremel unplrasnt resposne we experience when we ecnounte or think about phbc stiumuls .
-it is usuallymore intense but experienced for shore periods han anxiety .
emotional charcatersics of phobia - emotional resposne is unreasonable
the nxiety or fear is much greater than is ‘ normal’ and disportopin to any threat posed .
-for example a person whcih arachnopha will hev a strong emotional reposne to tin sprea - most peole would repsond in a less anxious way even to a pisnous spider .
cognitive characteristics of phobia
-the cognitive element is concerned with the wyas in which peole propcess informaiton .
-people with phobias process information aout phobic stimuli different from toher objects or situations .
one cognitive charcaractertis of phobias = selectie attnetion to the phobic stimulus
if a person can see the phobic stimulus it is hard to look away dfrom it . Keeping our attnetion on something really dageorus is a good thing as it gives us the best chance of reacting wuicklt o threat ,but this is not useful when the fer is irrional .
-A oersin with pgonophobia will struggle to centrate on what theya re doing if there is soemone witha beard in the room .
another congitive characteristics of phobias - irrational beleifs.
a person with a phobia mayy hold unfoudned thorughs in relation to pghoc stimuli - thst can;t be easily explained and dn’t have any basicis inreality
-for example social phobias can ivovle beliefs like i must aleys sound intellgien , this kin of beleifs INCREASE HT EPRESSURE NON THE PERSON TO PERFORM WELL IN SOCIL SITUATIONS .
cogntiviee charcateistics of phobi -cognitie didstortions
the percpetions of a person with a phbia may be inaccurae and unrelaistic . so , for exampel , soemone with mycoohpbia sees mushroom as disgusitng .
What is the dsm ?
these are the numbers of stems for classifying and diagnosisng mental helath probels
-this stnds dor diagnositic statisicla mnual of mental disordr and is punlsihed in america .
what is depression
a mental health disordder characterised by low mood and low energy levels .
the dsmdsm recognisesognises four types of depression .
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first type of depression - major depressive disorder
severe but often short-term depression
second type of ddepression - persistent depressive disorder
long term or recurring depression , inlcuding sutained mjor depression and what used to be called systhmia .
dispurpitive mood dysregulation disorder
childhood temperer tnanturms .
premenustural dysphorc disord
disurption to mood prior to and / o r during mensturation .
behaviour charcatersitics of depression - disprution to sleep eand eting hebaiour
depression is assoicated ,w ith chnges to sleeping heaviour a person may pexperience reduced sleep (inosminia ) , particualrly premture waking , or an increaed need for sleep (hypersonmia ) .
-similr appetitie and eting may increase or decrease leading to weight gain or loss . le[ pnt os that such hebaours are disputed by depression .
behaviorual charactersitics of depression -activity levels
typicll people with dperession have reduced levels of energy , making hte lethrgic . This has a knock-oneffect , with people tending to withdraw from work , education and social lie . In extreme cases this can be so severe
aggresion and self-harm
people with depression are often irritable , nad in some areas they can become verbally or phsicallya ggrssive This can haeve a seiorus knock on effect on a number of apsects of their lfie , For exampe ,, someoen epxperiencing dperession might dispay verbal aggresion by ending relationship or quitting a job .
-depression can alo lead to physcial aggression directed agaisnt the self . This inclues selfharm often int he form of cutting and sucidie attempts .
emotional charactertisics of depression - lowered mood
when we use the wrod de[ressed in everydya life , we are usually dwcribing having LOWRED MOOD , N OTHER WORDS SAD , THER EIS MORE TO clincial depressION THAN THIS ,
-LOWERED MOO DIS STILL A DEINNG EMOTIONAL ELEMENT OF DEPRESSION BUT IS MORE PORNOUNCED THAN IN THE DAILY KIN DOF EXPERIENCE OF DFEELING , LETHARGIC AND SF , epEOPLE WITH DEPRESSION OFTEN DESCRIBE THEMELVES AS WROTHLESS AND EMPTY .
Emotional chrcateristic depression - anger
although people with depressio n tend to experience more negative emotions and fewer positive ones duirng epsiodies of depression , this expereinc eof negtive emotion is not limtied to sadness .
-people with depression also freqnuentl expression anger , soemtimes extrem anger .
-This canbe directed at the sle for others . On occasion such emoitons
emotional charactersiitcs -lowered self esteem
self - esteem is the emotional expeirn eof how muchw e like our seles, people with epresion ten dto have a low self esteem . evena hting themseves
gongitive charactertiscs of depression 0 poor cocnentration
depression is associaited with poor elvels of cocnentration , the uperosn may find themselves unabel to stick witha task as they wusualyw oudl or they mgith amke it hard to mke decisions htey would nromall find straightforward . Poor concentration and poor deiciosn making are liekl to infere with an indivisuals work .
cogntive charactersitcs of depression - attending to and dwelling ont he negative to and dwelling on the negatie
when expereicnign a dperessive epsiode people re inclined to pay more attention engative aspects of ss and ignore the positives in other words , they stend to se a glss as half empty rather than half ufll .
-people with dperession also ahe a bias toeards reclling unahppt events rather than happy ones .
cognitive characteristics of depression - absolutist thinking
-Most situations are not all-good or all-bad , but when a person is depressed , they tend to think in these terms .
-This is sometimes called black and white thinking . This means that when a situation is unfortunate , they tend to see it as an absolute disaster .
What is OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
A condition , characterised by obsessions by and/ or compulsive behaviour .
Obsessions are cognitive whereas compulsions ar ebehavioural .
DSM-5 Categories of OCD THERE ARE five types
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OCD
Characterised by either obsessions (recurring thoughts , images etc) . And/ or compulsions - repetitive behaviours such as hand-washings .)
-Most people with a diagnosis of OCD have both obsessions and compulsions .
Trichotillomania
Compulsive hair pulling .
Hoarding disorder
the compulsive gathering of possessions and the inabilti8y to part with anything , regardless of its value .
excoriation disorder
compulsive skin picking
one behavioural characteristic of OCD - compulsions are repetitive
typically , people with OCD , feel compelled to repeat a behaviour . A common example is hand-washing .
-Other common compulsive repetitions include counting , praying , and tidying / preordering groups pf objects such as CD collections (for those who have them ) or containers in a food cupboard .
another behavioural characteristic of OCD - Compulsions reduce anxiety
Around 10 % of people with oCD , show compulsive behaviour alone - they have no obsessions , just a general sense of irrational anxiety . HOwever , for the vast majority , compulsive behaviours are performed in an attempt to manage the anxiety produced by obsessions .
-For example , compulsive hand-washing is carried out as a response to an obsessive fear of germs . Compulsive checking for example that a door is locked or a gas appliance is switched off is in response to the obsessive thought that it might have been left unsecured .
