psychopathology Flashcards
statistical infrequency
someone is considered abnormal if they exhibit statistically uncommon/rare behaviours
✔️ very objective
- leaves no room for subjective judgement
✖️ doesnt distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviours
- statistically rare behaviours can be desirable
eg v high IQ
- so can’t be used alone to make a diagnosis
deviation from social norms
someone is considered abnormal if they violate unwritten social rules or behave in a way that is different to how they are expected to behave within a society
✔ gives culturally specific definition
- takes into account cultural context
eg homosexuality considered to be abnormal in some countries
✘ culturally relative
- can’t be used across cultures
eg hearing voices is socially acceptable in some cultures
failure to function adequately
someone is considered abnormal if they are unable to cope w the demands of everyday living
eg holding down a job, maintaining relationships, basic nutrition + hygiene
✘ ”adequately” is a subjective term
- people w mental disorders often believe they are functioning adequately
deviation from ideal mental health
abnormality defined by absence of particular ideal characteristics
list of criteria proposed by jahoda for ideal mental health
eg positive view of oneself, being resistant to stress
✔ positive & holistic
- focuses on positive + desirable behaviour instead of negative
- considers whole person
✘ highly unrealistic
- v few people would actually be able to fulfil all the criteria
- most people would be considered abnormal
phobias
behavioural:
- avoidance
- panic
emotional:
- excessive + unreasonable fear & anxiety
cognitive:
- irrational beliefs
- selective attention to phobic stimulus
phobias
2-process model
- phobia acquired via CC where an UCS elicits a fear response, creating an association between a NS and the fear response, turning it into a CS
- phobia is then maintained via OC where avoidance behaviour is negatively reinforced
- fear also generalises to other similar stimuli
2-process model
ao3
✔ application in therapy
- if prevented from practicing avoidance behaviour, phobic behaviour will also decline
✘ incomplete explanation
- there are aspects that require further explanation
eg biological preparedness = idea that we are born w an innate tendency to fear some things more than others (eg snakes, the dark) as a result of our evolutionary past
- shows that there is more to phobias than simple conditioning
treating phobias
systematic desensitisation
based on classical conditioning, counterconditioning and reciprocal inhibition
- aims to gradually reduce anxiety via counterconditioning
- phobic stimulus is paired w relaxation techniques so this becomes the new CR
- reciprocal inhibition states that it’s impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time so relaxation prevents fear
- work their way up an anxiety hierarchy gradually
systematic desensitisation
ao3
✔ suitable for wider/diverse range of patients
- alternatives (eg flooding/cbt) are not as well-suited to some individuals
- patients w learning difficulties may find it hard to comprehend what’s happening during flooding or to engage w cognitive therapies
- therefore SD is most appropriet
✔ widely preferred
- doesn’t cause same degree as trauma (as flooding)
- includes elements that some patients may find pleasant (eg talking w a therapist)
- reflected in low refusal + attrition rates
✘ time consuming
- takes many sessions
- requires commitment
- people may give up
- making it ineffective
treating phobias
flooding
- involves immediate exposure to phobic stimulus w no gradual build up
- until anxiety fully subsides and fear is extinguished
- takes away option of avoidance behaviour + exhausts their fear response (extinction)
flooding
ao3
✘ highly traumatic
- patients often unwilling to see it through to the end
- means treatment is ineffective
- time and money wasted
ocd
behavioural:
- compulsions
- avoidance
emotional:
- distress + anxiety
- guilt + disgust
cognitive:
- awareness of irrationality
- obsessive thoughts
ocd
genetic explanation
- candidate genes have been identified which create a vulnerability to ocd
- eg serotonin gene implicated in transmission of serotonin across synapses
- serotonin = NT w role in regulating mood
- taylor (2013) found evidence for up to 230 genes involved in ocd
- means ocd polygenic
genetic explanation
ao3
✘ too many genes involved
- difficult to pin them all down
- unlikely to be useful as it provides v little predictive value
✔ good supporting evidence
- research into twin studies: 68% of MZ twins shared OCD as opposed to 31% of DZ twins
- strongly suggests a genetic influence
✘ environmental risk factors
- involved in triggering / increasing risk of developing OCD
- cromer et al found over half of ocd patients in their sample had experienced a traumatic event in their past
- ocd was found to be more severe in those w 1/more traumas
- diathesis-stress model
ocd
neural explanation
- NTs are responsible for relaying info from neurone to neurone
- so low levels of serotonin will prevent normal transmission of mood-relevant info + consequently lower a person’s mood
- frontal lobes are responsible for logical thinking + decision making - dysfunction in these are associated w certain cases of ocd, eg hoarding disorder
- left parahippocampal gyrus is associated w processing unpleasant emotions + functions abnormally in ocd
