Psychopathology Flashcards
What is meant by deviation from social norms?
- Behaviour goes against expectations of a community or culture, or what most people do
- Social judgements about what’s acceptable
What is an example of deviation from social norms?
Drinking alcohol at breakfast
What is a positive of deviation from social norms?
+ RLA = disorders can be assessed and diagnosed
What are the negatives of deviation from social norms?
- Reductionist = doesn’t consider factors such as distress
- Cultural relativism = what’s normal in one culture, may be abnormal in another
What is meant by deviation from ideal mental health?
- Jahoda produced a criteria for a good mental health -> self attitude, self actualisation, resistance to stress, autonomy and perception of reality
What is an example of deviation from ideal mental health?
Negative self worth and not being able to deal with stress
What is a positive of ideal mental health?
+ Comprehensive definition = includes all reasons why someone may seek help
What are the negatives of ideal mental health?a
- Cultural relativism = self-actualisation specific to Western countries
- Unrealistically high standards = few people achieve most ideas
What is meant by the failure to function adequately?
- Rosenhan and Seligman proposed signs of failing to cope with the demands of everyday life = include personal distress, unpredictability and irrationality
What is an example of failure to function adequately?
Washing hands religiously
What are positives of failure to function adequately?
- Can help to explain mental disorders
- Recognises individuals’ perspectives
What are negatives of failure to function adequately?
- Based on subjective judgements by psychiatrists
- Difficult to distinguish from deviation from social norms - extreme sports could be both
What is meant by deviation from statistical norms?
- Numerically unusual behaviour of characteristic
- Extreme ends of normal distribution curve
What is an example of deviation from statistical norms?
IQ, Height, Weight
What is the positive of deviation from statistical norms?
- Objective and simple to access
What are the negatives of deviation from statistical norms?
- Unusual characteristics can be positive (e.g very high intelligence)
- Ignores individual differences
What are the 4 definitions of abnormality?
- Deviation from social norms
- Deviation from ideal mental health
- failure to function adequately
- Deviation from statistical norms
What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?
- Panic = crying, screaming etc
- Avoidance = difficult to go about daily life
- Endurance = remaining in presence of phobia causes increased anxiety
What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?
- Fear = immediate response, occurs when thinking about phobia
- Anxiety = unpleasant state of high arousal which makes it difficult to be positive
- Unreasonable responses = response to phobia disproportionate to danger of stimulus
What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
- Selective attention = hard to look away from stimulus
- Irrational beliefs = beliefs that are impossible in reality - E.g social phobias
- Cognitive distortions = phobic stimulus likely to be different to people without a phobia
What is the explanation for phobias?
The Two-Process model
Who created the two-process model?
Mowrer (1960)
What is the two-process model based upon?
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning
How does classical conditioning work within the two-process model?
Acquisition by CC: learning to associate a neutral stimulus (not afraid of) with an unconditioned stimulus (already triggers a fear response)
What is an example of classical conditioning explaining phobias?
- Watson and Raines (1920)
- Little Albert Study
NS (rat) = no fear
UCS (loud noise) = UCR (fear)
NS (rat) + UCS (loud noise) = fear
CS (rat) = fear
How does operant conditioning work within the two-process model?
Maintenance of OC: reinforces behaviour characteristics of phobia
- Responses acquired (usually tend to decline over time, so phobias must be maintained)
- Negative reinforcement (avoiding unpleasant situations) leads to desirable consequences (no fear or anxiety), meaning the behaviour is likely to be repeated and so the phobia is maintained
What is an example of the two-process model?
- A person who’s terrified of spiders is likely to run away when they see one
- Escaping the fear acts as a positive reinforcer - increases the likelihood of avoiding spiders in the future (phobia maintained)
- Positive consequence = behaviour likely to be repeated
What are the 2 treatments for phobias?
Flooding and Systematic Desensitation
What is flooding?
Immediate exposure to a very frightening situation
How long does flooding last?
Lasts around 2-3 hours (longer than SD) - sometimes only 1 session is needed to cure a phobia
How does flooding stop phobic responses very quickly?
- Because patients are unable to avoid the phobic stimulus, so they quickly learn that it is harmless
- This process is called extinction – where the CS is encountered without the UCS, resulting in the CS no longer producing the CR
- Patient may achieve relaxation in the presence of the phobic stimulus because they become exhausted by their fear response
What is Systematic Desensitisation?
Reduces phobia through classical conditioning
What are the 3 processes within Systematic Desensitisation?
- Anxiety Hierarchy
- Relaxation
- Exposure
What happens within the Anxiety hierarchy in SD?
Patient and therapist work together to create a list of situation related to phobic stimulus which provokes anxiety - ordered from least to most frightening
What happens within the relaxation concept in SD?
Therapist teaches patients relaxation techniques - drugs like ‘valium’ can be used to relax patients
What happens within the Exposure concept in SD?
Patient is exposed to phobic stimuli in a relaxed state
- Vitro = client imagines exposure
- Vivo = Client is exposed
How long does Systematic Desensitisation last?
It takes place over several sessions, starting at the bottom of the hierarchy to the top = treatment is successful when they can stay relaxed in situations high on the hierarchy
What are the positives of the phobia explanations?
- Research support = The Little Albert case study shows that phobias can be learnt so therefore, Mowrer’s two-process model has validity
- RLA = The two-process model explains why patients need to be exposed to a feared stimulus which has led to the development of treatments, such as flooding and systematic desensitisation
What are the negatives of phobia explanations?
- Incomplete explanation = some phobias exist without an initial traumatising experience so invalidates the two-process model
- The model is reductionist = two-process model does not consider all perspectives so the role of cognition and biology have been ignored in this explanation
What are the positives of SD?
- Suitable for a diverse range of patients = SD most appropriate phobia treatment or perhaps only option e.g special needs people may find flooding hard to understand
- Some prefer SD over flooding = Doesn’t involve immediate trauma
What is a negative of SD?
- SD may not work in real life = Elements of surprise may mean the patients can’t focus on their panic state into a relaxed one
What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?
Activity levels energy levels are reduced and struggle to relax
Disruption of sleep and eating = insomnia or hypersomnia, weight changes
Aggression and self-harm = physical and verbal aggression
What are the emotional characteristics of depression?
Lowered mood = patients feel worthless
Anger = can be directed towards self or others
Lowered self-esteem = hating themselves
What are the cognitive characteristics of depression?
Poor concentration = find it hard to stick with a task
Dwelling on a negative = sufferers pay attention to negative aspects of s situation
Absolutist thinking = situations either black or white
What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?
Repetitive compulsions = sufferers feel compelled to repeat behaviour
Anxiety-reducing compulsions = performed in an attempt to manage the anxiety produced by obsessions
Avoidance = avoid situations which trigger situations
What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?
Anxiety and distress = obsessive urges to repeat behaviour cause anxiety
Accompanying depression = OCD accompanied by anxiety and depression
Guilt and disgust = irrational guilt against minor issues and disgust towards something like the self
What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?
Obsessive thoughts = repetitive and unpleasant e.g worries about being contaminated
Cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions = appear abnormal to others and can distract from everyday tasks
Insight into excessive anxiety = OCD sufferers experience catastrophic thoughts about worst-case scenario
What are the two explanations for depression?
Beck’s cognitive theory
Ellis’ ABC model
What are the 3 parts of Becks’ cognitive theory?
- Faulty Information Processing
- Negative Self Schema
- Negative Triad
What happens within Faulty Information Processing in Becks’ Cognitive Theory?
- When depressed, people attend to the negative aspects of the situation and ignore the positives
- Blow things out of proportion (think in black and white)
What happens within the Negative Self Schema in Becks’ Cognitive Theory?
- Mental framework for interpreting sensory info and how we interpret ourselves in a negative way
What happens within the Negative Triad in Becks’ Cognitive Theory?
- Those develop dysfunctional views of themselves because of 3 types of thinking: negative view of the world, a negative view of the future and a negative view of the self
What does Ellis’ ABC Model show?
Explains how irrational thoughts affect our behavioural and emotional state
What are the 3 parts of Ellis’ ABC Model?
- Activating event
- Beliefs
- Consequence
What happens within the Activating Event of Ellis’ ABC Model?
- When we get depressed, we experience negative events
- These trigger irrational events
- E.g failing a test triggers these beliefs
What happens within the Beliefs of Ellis’ ABC Model?
- Range of beliefs
- Masturbation = belief we must succeed
- Utopianism = belief life is always meant to be fair
- I-can’t-stand-it-is = belief it’s a major disaster when something goes wrong
What happens within the Consequences of Ellis’ ABC Model?
- When the Activating Event triggers irrational beliefs, emotional and behavioural consequences occur
- E.g if you believe you must always succeed and then fail at something - irrational beliefs
What are the 2 different treatments of depression?
- CBT (Cognitive Behavioural therapy)
- REBT ( Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy)
Who came up with CBT?
Beck
Who came up with REBT?
Ellis
What happens within Becks’ CBT?
- A therapist challenges the negative triad
- In future sessions, if a patient pleads no one likes them, they can use patients recordings as evidence against these claims
What is an example of CBT?
- E.g set homework such as recording when they enjoyed an event (patient as a scientist)
What happens within Ellis’ REBT?
- Extends ABC Model to include D (dispute) and E (effect)
- REBT identifies and disputes irrational thoughts
- Therapist identifies these examples of utopianism and challenges this irrational belief
- Involves vigorous arguments
What is an example of REBT?
E.g a patient may talk about how unlucky they are
What is the aim of the vigorous argument within REBT?
- Intends to change the belief and break the link between negative life events and depression
What different methods of disputing did Ellis identify within REBT?
- Empirical argument = disputing whether there is actual evidence to support the negative belief
- Logical argument = disputing whether the negative thought logically follows the facts
What are the different treatments for OCD?
- SSRIs
- Combining SSRIs with CBT
- Tricyclics
- SNRIs
What does SSRIs stand for?
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
What are SSRIs?
Anti-depressant which works on the serotonin system
What do SSRIs do?
- Serotonin is released by certain neurones in the brain via synaptic transmission which prevents re-absorption and breakdown of serotonin - this stimulates the postsynaptic neuron
How long does it take for SSRIs to work?
3-4 months of daily use
Why is combining SSRIs with CBT good?
Allows patients to engage more effectively with CBT
Why are there also alternatives for SSRIs?
If an SSRI isn’t effective within 3-4 months, the dose can be increased or combined with different ant-depressants
What are the 2 alternatives to SSRIs?
- Tricyclics
- SNRIs
What are tricyclics?
Older types of antidepressants e.g Clomipramine
What do tricyclics do?
- Have the same effect as SSRIs
- However, clomipramine has more negative effects
What does SNRIs stand for?
Serotonin non adrenaline reuptake inhibitors
What do SNRIs do?
Non-adrenaline increases muscle contraction, including the heart
What are the 2 biological explanations for OCD?
Genetic
Neural
What are the genetic explanations for OCD?
- OCD runs in families
- Candidate Genes
- OCD is Polygenic
- Different types of OCD
What are the neural explanations of OCD?
- Neurotransmitters
- Brain Areas
Who created the genetic explanation ‘OCD runs in families’?
Lewis (1936)
What did Lewis say about how OCD runs in families? (GENETIC EXPLANATION)
- 37% of OCD patients had parents with OCD, 21% had siblings with OCD
- According to diathesis-stress model, certain genes leave some people more likely to suffer a mental disorder
- Environmental stress also triggers OCD
What happens within the genetic explanation ‘Candidate Genes’?
- COMT Gene = associated with the production and regulation of dopamine (high levels linked to OCD)
- SERT Gene = involved in the transportation of serotonin (low levels linked to OCD)
What happens within the genetic explanation ‘OCD is Polygenic’?
- OCD isnt caused by on single gene but many
What did Taylor say about how OCD is polygenic? (GENETIC EXPLANATION)
- Analysed previous studies and found evidence up to 230 different genes may be involved in OCD
- These genes tend to be associated with mood-altering neurotransmitters (dopamine and serotonin)
What happens within the genetic explanation ‘Different types of OCD’?
- One group of genes may cause OCD in one person, but a different group of genes may cause the disorder in another person - aetiologically heterogeneous
What happens within the neural explanation ‘Neurotransmitters’?
- If a person has low levels of serotonin, then normal transmission of mood-relevant info does not take place and mood is affected
What happens within the neural explanation ‘Brain Areas’?
- Abnormal functioning of the frontal lobes = impaired decision-making
- patients who suffer from head injuries in the basal ganglia region of the brain often develop OCD symptoms
What are the positives of the genetic explanations of OCD?
- Good supporting evidence = Nesdadt et al’s meta-analysis found that 68% of identical twins shared OCD as opposed to 31% of non-identical twins (genetic influence on OCD, providing validity)
What are the negatives of the genetic explanations of OCD?
- Twin studies are flawed = twin studies assume that MZ twins are only more similar than DZ twins in terms of their genes, ignoring that shared environments will also be similar (twin studies ignore environmental factors and therefore a limited form of evidence)
What are the positives of the neural explanations of OCD?
- Supporting evidence for neurotransmitters = some antidepressants work purely on the serotonin system, increasing levels of the neurotransmitter - such drugs effective in reducing OCD (suggests serotonin system is involved in OCD which validates the explanation)
What are the negatives of the neural explanations of OCD?
- Correlational issues = various neurotransmitters and structures of the brain don’t function normally in patients with OCD - biological abnormalities could be a result of OCD rather than its’ cause (possible to establish cause and effect from research which limits usefulness0
What are the positives of the treatments for OCD?
Drugs are cost-effective and non-disruptive = patients can take drugs easily while also going to work and they’re cheap (attractive choice for many patients)
What are the negatives of the treatments for OCD?
Side effects = SSRIs can cause indigestion, blurred vision and loss of sex drive (reduce effectiveness of drugs because people stop taking them)
What are the positives of Ellis’ ABC Model in explaining depression?
- Practical application = Has led to successful therapy (CBT)
-Lipskey et al has evidence that by challenging irrational negative beliefs, a person can reduce their depressive symptoms
What are the negatives of Ellis’ ABC Model in explaining depression?
- A partial explanation = no doubt that some cases of depression follow activating events which psychologists refer to as reactive depression - psychologists see this as different from the kind of depression that rises without an obvious cause (Ellis’ explanation only appears to only a few kinds of depression)
What are the positives of Beck’s negative triad in explaining depression?
- Practical application = forms the basis of CBT (human benefit in successful treatment as a result of Beck’s theory)
What are the negatives of Beck’s negative triad in explaining depression?
- Blames the patient = cognitive approach suggests disorders are simply in the patient’s mind which could lead to situational factors being overlooked (problem as can lead to further negative self-schema and individual may delay seeking further treatment)
