Psychopathology Flashcards
Defitions of abnormality
Statistical deviation
Deviations from social norms
Failure to function adequately
Deviations from ideal mental health
Statistical deviation
Characteristics that can be reliably measured,
Normal distribution, average score
Below or above is known as abnormal
2 standard deviations
Deviation from social norms
A person behaves in a way that is different to what we expect
Breach social norms
Stat deviation evuals
Real life apps - diagnosing, all experts will say the same, clinical assessments
Unusual characteristics can be desirable - IQ scores over 130, few people having that trait doesn’t make it undesirable, doesn’t require treatment. Limitation bc stat dev would never be used alone to make a diagnosis
Not everyone benefits from a label - happy fulfilled life no need for label. Low IQ but capable of living. May effect how they or others view them
Dev from social norms evuals
Cultural relativism - social norms vary drastically, hearing voices is normal in some cultures, but a sign of mental issues in some,
Can lead to human rights abuses - systematic abuse of human rights. Historical examples nymphomania. Maintain control of minority ethnic groups and women
Failure to function adequately
Can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life
Standard level of nutrition or hygiene
Chat hold down a job or relationships
Deviation from ideal mental health
Jahoda suggested this criteria :
No symptoms of distress
Rational and perceives ourselves actually
Self actualise
Cope with stress
Realistic view of the world
Good self esteem and lack guilt
Independent of other people
Successfully work, love and enjoy leisure
Failure to func adequately evuals
Patients perspective - attempts to include patients subjective exp, acknowledges all have different exps
Subjective judgements - someone has to judge, different experts may say different things
Dev from social norms evuals
Cultural relativism - specific to the west, emphasis on individual not family or community, collectivist cultures. Much if the world would see independence as a bad thing
Unrealistically high standard - very few people attain all of Jahoda criteria, makes most people abnormal,
Behavioural characteristics of phobias
Panic in the presence of the stimulus, crying, screaming
Avoidance, go to effort to avoid contact with the stimulus
Endurance, sufferer remains in the presence, experience high levels of anxiety
Emotional characteristics of phobias
Anxiety - unpleasant state of high arousal, prevents relaxation
Unreasonable emotional responses - wildly disproportionate to the danger
Cognitive characteristics of phobias
Selective attention - hard to look away from the stimulus
Irrational beliefs - increases the pressure in the sufferer, social phobias May think they must be the most intelligent
Cognitive distortions - perceptions of the stimulus
Behaivoral characterises of depression
Activity levels - reduced energy, knock on effect on work, education and social life. Opposite effect, psychomotor agitation - struggle to relax e.g. pacing
Disruption to sleep or eating - insomnia/hypersomnia. Increased/ decreased appetite leading to weight gain or loss
Aggression or self harm
Emotional characteristics of depression
Lowered mood - lethargy and sadness
Anger - more negative emotions, lead to aggression or self harm
Lowered self esteem
Cognitive characteristics of depression
Poor concentration - unable to stick to tasks, hard to make decisions, interferes with other things
Dwelling on the negative - ignore positives, bias towards recalling unhappy events
Absolutist thinking - black and white thinking
Behaivoral characteristics of OCD
Compulsions - respective and reduce anxiety
Avoidance
Emotional characteristics of OCD
Anxiety and distress - obsessions and compulsions
Accompanying depression - low mood lack of enjoyment
Guilt and disgust - irrational
Cognitive characteristics of OCD
Obsessive thoughts
Cognitive strategies to deal - manages anxiety but appears abnormal and can distract from everyday tasks
Insight into excessive anxiety - aware they are irrational
Behaivoral approach to explaining phobias Classical
Acquisition by CC
Learning to associate something we have no fear of initially (NS) to something that already triggers a fear response (UCS)
Little Albert
White rat no fear at the start, associated with loud bang
Generalised the fear to other furry objects
Behaivoral approach to explaining phobias operant
Maintenance by OC
Behaivor is negatively reinforced when they avoid the stimulus
Results in a desirable consequence
Behavioural expl evuals
Phobias do not always develop after a trauma - biological, genetically predisposed to have phobias of things, evolutionary past, ancient fears. People do not fear modern objects which may be more dangerous than other things, not a danger in past
Research support for CC - sue et al. asked people with phobias to recall the specific incident. Most people could say when they first got their phobia, some had forgotten. Shows the importance of CC
Incomplete expl - not all people develop phobias after experiencing trauma, e.g. bit by dog. Diathesis stress model, inherit a genetical vulnerability for developing mental disorders that are triggered by life events.
Behaivoral approach to treating phobias
Systematic desensitisation
Flooding
Systematic desensitisation
Gradually reduce phobia anxiety
Counter conditioning - a new response to the stimulus is learned
Impossible to be both afraid and relaxed at the same time, one emotion prevents the others, reciprocal inhibition
Three processes -
1. Anxiety hierarchy - list of situations re,aged to the stimulus that provoke anxiety(picturing a dog to petting a dog)
2. Relaxation - teaches patient how to relax
3. Exposure - over many sessions, moving through each stage of the hierarchy, only moving up when they can fully relax
Flooding
No gradual build up
Only need a few sessions
No option for avoidance, and patient learns the stimulus is harmless
Extinction of learned behaivor - US is encountered without the UCS, the CS no longer produces the CR
In some cases, the patient overcomes the fear because they become exhausted by their own fear response
Ethical issues - it is unpleasant, patients have to give informed consent
