Psychopathology Flashcards
What is the DSM
classification system (a book) used to identify mental health disorders. Theres a tick list for each disorder. In order for a label it has to impact social life or work. Failure to function adequately
4 definitions of abnormality
statistical infrequency
failure to function adequately
deviation from ideal mental health
deviation from social norms
Statistical infrequency
describes behaviours that are extremely rare in the population. 2 standard deviations from the norm.
Strengths of statistical infrequency
real life application as its a clincial assessment. Intellectual disability is diagnosed for anyone whose IQ is more than 2 standard dvs below the mean
Weakness of statistical infrequency
some unusual charectoristics can be positive and doesn’t need treatment, such as abnormally high IQ.
labelling can negatively affect the person.
some disorders a common but still considered abnormal
Deviation from social norms
Behaviour thats seen as deviation from social norms. Deviation from the unwritten rules regulating how one should behave are seen as undesirable by the majority of society
Strengths of deviation from social norms
research is nomographic
Weakness of deviation from social norms
social deviance cannot offer a complete definition as the context makes some things acceptable.
social norms change over time
Failure to function adequately
healthy people judged as being able to operate within certain acceptable limits
suffering
maladptiveness
unconventualality
loss of control
irrational
observer discomfort
vio of moral standards
Negatives of failure to function adequately
subjective who decides what is adequate?
culturally relative
the individual may think they are functional
Positives of failure to function adequately
listing behaviours and rating provides quantiative measure of functioning.
Deviation from ideal mental health
ideal mental health would be seen as having a positive attitude towards the self, resistance to tress and an accurate perception on reality
evaluate ideal mental health
unrealistic, difficult to measure, tries to equate mental health to physical
What are phobias
marked and persistant fear of a specific object or situation.
Features of phobias
50% have a specific phobia and 36% young adult men meet criteria for social anxiety
women 2x more likely
Emotional charectoristics
extreme and unreasonable anxiety in relation to the situation
persistant anxiety
feelings of panic
Behavourial charectoristics
avoidance
fight flight freeze faint
avoidance must effect daily life
Cognitive charecteristics
selective attention
irrational thinking
flooding
reciprocal inhibition
aims to extinguish an undesirable behaviour FEAR by replacing it with a desirable one RELAXATION.
we cannot feel fear and relaxed at the same time
what is flooding?
a patient is taught to relax
a persons fear response usually has a time limit. as these adrenaline levels decrease and the bodies physiological response starts to return to normal a new stimulus-response link can be learned between stimulus and relaxation
classical conditioning
Flooding in practice
Wolpe (1973) client had a fear of cars. drove her around for hours and locked the door. initially hysterical but eventually calmed down. realised she was safe
Evaluation of flooding
cost effective: comparable to others but much better for the economy because people can get back to work quickly
highly traumatic: informed consent but many don’t finish treatment
variable effectiveness: useful for specific but less for social and agoraphobia
