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
neural explanation
ao3
✔ supporting evidence
- in form of antidepressants
- work purely on serotonin systems
- v effective in reducing ocd symptoms
✘ however, this link w serotonin may not be unique to ocd
- since many people who have ocd, also have depression
- this may be the cause of disruption to the serotonin system
- no clarity
treating ocd
drug therapy
SSRIs
- aim to increase levels of serotonin in brain
- antidepressants that prevent breakdown/reabsorption of serotonin, increasing its levels in the synapse so it continues to stimulate the postSN
- compensates for whatever’s wrong w the serotonin sytem in ocd
- often used alongside CBT to treat ocd
- drugs reduce patient’s emotional symptoms so can engage more effectively w CBT
drug therapy
ao3
✔ effective at tackling symptoms
- soomro et al reviewed 17 studies comparing effects of SSRIs to placebos
- found all 17 studies showed significantly better results for SSRIs
- also proved to be more effective when paired w CBT
✔ cost-effective + non-disruptive
- hm
✘ side effects
- people may stop taking them so reduces effectiveness
- also don’t work for everyone
depression
behavioural:
- loss in energy / low activity levels
- disruption to sleep + eating habits
emotional:
- low mood
- anger
cognitive:
- poor concentration
- absolutist thinking
depression
becks negative triad
- suggests that faulty info processing make people more vulnerable to depression
- ie thinking in a flawed way
- focus on negative aspects of situation + ignore positives
- have negative self-schema - interpret all info about themselves in a negative way
- negative triad: negative views of oneself, the future + the world
negative triad
ao3
practical application in CBT
- components of negative triad can be easily identified + challenged in CBT
depression
ellis’s abc model
- proposed that depression occurs when an activating event triggers an irrational belief which in turn produces a consequent
Activating event:
- negative external events that may trigger an irrational belief
- eg failing an important test, ending a relationship
Beliefs:
- which are irrational
- eg musturbation - must always succeed / achieve perfection, utopianism - life should always be fair
Consequence:
- can be emotional + behavioural - trigger depression
abc model
ao3
practical application
- has led to successful CBT
- challenging irrational beliefs can reduce a person’s depression
- supported by research evidence - Lipsky et al
partial explanation
- depression can also arise w/o an obvious cause
- meaning Ellis’s theory only applies to some kinds
treating depression
CBT
- px + therapist work together to clarify px’s problems + identify negative + irrational thought + aim to challenge these
- encouraged to test realisty of their irrational beliefs
REBT
- extension of ABC model to ABCDE model
- Dispute (irrational beliefs)
- Effect
CBT
ao3
effective
- March et al compared effects of CBT to antidepressants + combination of the 2
- CBT emerged to be just as effective as medication
- good case for making CBT the first choice of treatment in the NHS
may not work for more sever cases
- px unable to motivate themself to engage w hard cognitive work required for CBT
- can’t be used as sole treatment for all cases of depression
