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psychopathology Flashcards

1
Q

what is deviation from social norms?

A

Deviation from the rules regulating how one should behave are seen as undesirable by the majority of societies members

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2
Q

what are the strengths of deviation from social norms?

A

+ protects society from potentially dangerous individuals and helps people as it provides clarity
+ flexible for individual and situation

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3
Q

weaknesses of deviation from social norms?

A
  • social norms may change overtime e.g. homosexuality
  • vary between different cultures
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4
Q

what is failure to function adequately?

A

abnormality that prevents the person from carrying out the range of behaviours that society would expect from them, such as holding down a job.

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5
Q

what features did Rosenhan and Seligman identify to be the features of failure to function adequately?

A
  • personal distress
  • maladaptive behaviour
  • irrationality
  • unpredictability
  • discomfort to others
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6
Q

strengths of failure to function adequately?

A

+ the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) provides a practical and measurable way of quantifying abnormality
+ includes subjective experience of the individual

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7
Q

weaknesses of failure to function adequately?

A
  • cultural differences for what is FFA
  • Not everyone with a mental disorder is unable to function in society
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8
Q

what is statistical infrequency?

A

defines abnormality as being statistically rare behaviours or characteristics

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9
Q

strength of statistical infrequency?

A

+ provides objective way of determining abnormality
+ good measure for psychological disorders

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10
Q

weaknesses of statistical infrequency

A
  • infrequency does not always mean abnormality e.g. IQ and vice versa - depression and anxiety are common but abnormal
  • some psychological disorders difficult to measure objectively
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11
Q

what is deviation from ideal mental health?

A

anyone who deviates from Jahoda’s 6 characteristics associated with ideal mental health is abnormal.

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12
Q

Jahoda’s criteria for ideal mental health:

A
  1. no distress
  2. rational
  3. self-actualised
  4. can cope with stress
  5. realistic world view
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13
Q

strengths of deviation from ideal mental health

A

+ holistic view of ideal mental health may be more effective in treating mental disorders
+ positive psychology, to focus on what is optimal and desirable rather than abnormal

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14
Q

weakness of deviation from ideal mental health

A
  • too idealistic
  • subjective and hard to measure
  • ideal mental health may differ between countries e.g. impendence in collectivist cultures
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15
Q

what is OCD?

A

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

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16
Q

what are OCD symptoms? (behavioural)

A

obsessions - social impairment
compulsions - repetitive behaviour

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17
Q

what are OCD symptoms? (emotional)

A

obsessions - extreme anxiety
compulsions - distress

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18
Q

what are OCD symptoms? (cognitive)

A

obsessions - compulsive and persistent thoughts, attentional bias
compulsions - uncontrollable urges

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19
Q

what is the COMT gene?

A

This gene regulates dopamine production. One form of this gene is more common in patients with OCD and produces lower COMT gene activity and higher dopamine levels.

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20
Q

what is the SERT gene?

A

This gene produces lower levels of serotonin. Lower levels of this gene have been found in two unrelated families where six of the seven family members had OCD. (Ozaki et al.)

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21
Q

what does the diathesis stress model suggest about OCD?

A

suggests that people gain a vulnerability to developing OCD through certain genes, but an environmental stressor is also required. families often share environments, which may trigger genes to be activated

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22
Q

what do researchers have to say about the role of genetics for OCD?

A

Bellodi et al. claims that genetic factors play a role and found that close relatives are more likely to have the disorder than more distant relatives.

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23
Q

Family studies for OCD

A

Billet et al. found a concordance rate for OCD in monozygotic twins than dizygotic twins. However, the concordance rate for OCD in monozygotic is only 68%, which means that environmental factors must also play a role in OCD.

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24
Q

what brain structures are abnormal in those with OCD?

A

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) of the frontal lobes and caudate nucleus part of the basal ganglia.

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25
what is the role of serotonin in brain structures effecting OCD?
Damage to the Caudate Nucleus fails to suppress minor ‘worry’ signals from the OFC creating a worry circuit. Low serotonin levels may cause the areas to malfunction.
26
role of dopamine in brain structures impacting OCD?
High dopamine levels lead to over activity of the basal ganglia. If the caudate nucleus is damaged, abnormal worry circuits go back to the OFC and cause obsessional thinking.
27
what is SSRI?
an antidepressant used for the reducing OCD symptoms
28
How does SSRI work?
After carrying a message, the serotonin is usually reabsorbed by the nerve cells. SSRI’s inhibit reuptake, allowing more serotonin is available to pass further messages between nerve cells.
29
what is the dosage for SSRI?
Patients are given 20mg Capsules or Liquids 3-4 months for symptoms to go
30
what happens when SSRI is not effective?
When SSRI is not effective for 3-4 months, they can be prescribed alternative antidepressants. - Tricyclics have the same effect as SSRI but has more side effects. SNRI’s have also been used for OCD increase serotonin and noradrenaline.
31
what did Soomro find for OCD patients combining CBT and drug therapy?
Soomro et al reviewed SSRI with placebos and found that SSRI’s significantly improved OCD symptoms, particularly when combined with CBT. Typically, symptoms are reduced by 70%. This suggests that drug therapy is very effective for reducing symptoms and therapies are effective in improving symptoms.
32
what are the strengths of drug treatments?
- cheap, readily available - easy to take and does not require time for schedules or appointments - good for economy
33
what are some weaknesses of drug treatments?
- OCD can be caused by traumatic experience. May not be appropriate to use drugs when treating cases that follow trauma. Therapy is better suited. - Some believe evidence favouring drug treatments is biased b/c it's sponsored by drug companies who may try suppress evidence that doesn't support effectiveness of certain drugs to maximise economic gain. This has ethical dilemmas as patients are being deceived and exploited
34
what is depression?
a mood disorder which colours a person's thoughts and behaviours with negative emotions
35
What is the diagnostic criteria for depression?
- at least five+ symptoms for more than 2 weeks - tearfulness, extreme sadness, depressed mood, loss of interest in usual activities and social withdraw
36
What are some physical symptoms of unipolar depression?
lack of energy and loss of weight and appetite.
37
what are some behavioural symptoms of unipolar depression?
Sufferers stop socialising, lose of libido, may attempt suicide, moving very slowly
38
what are some emotional symptoms of unipolar depression?
Feelings of sadness, absence of feeling, little or no interest in everyday activities
39
what are some cognitive symptoms of unipolar depression?
issues with memory and concentration, negative and suicidal thoughts, persistent anxiety
40
what are the behavioural symptoms of bipolar depression?
- High energy levels - Reckless behaviour - Fast, endless speech without any regard for what others are saying
41
what are the emotional symptoms of bipolar depression?
- Elevated mood states - high irritability - Lack of guilt
42
what are the cognitive symptoms of bipolar depression?
- delusions - irrational thought processes
43
what are the key assumptions of the cognitive explanation?
Individuals who suffer from mental disorders have distorted and irrational thinking which may cause maladaptive behaviour. It is the way you think about the problem rather than the problem itself which causes the mental disorder Individuals can overcome mental disorders by learning to use more appropriate cognitions. Aim to be positive and rational
44
What is Beck's cognitive triad?
depression is characterised by a negative triad of beliefs about the self, the world, and the future
45
what are the cognitive symptoms of OCD obsessions
- selective attention - recurrent and persistent thoughts - realisation of inappropriateness
46
what are the emotional characteristics of OCD obsessions?
low mood and self-loathing - extreme anxiety
47
what are the behavioural characteristics of OCD obsessions?
- hinder everyday functioning - social impairement
48
behavioural symptoms of OCD compulsions?
- repetitive behaviour - hinder everyday functioning - social impairment
49
emotional symptoms of OCD compulsions?
extreme distress
50
cognitive symptoms of OCD compulsions?
uncontrollable urges + realisation of inappropriateness
51
how can phobias be explained?
two process model, with the acquisition of phobias by classical conditioning and is maintained by operant conditioning
52
AO3 of two process model explanation of phobias
+ RL application for treating phobias by therapy + Little Albert case study - not all phobias caused by traumatic event. ignores evolutionary reasons
53
what are the two types of phobia treatments?
systematic desensitisation and flooding?
54
what is systematic desensitisation?
1. therapist teaches client relaxation techniques 2. client created an anxiety hierarchy 3. client is exposed to each level of the anxiety-hierarchy. client moves on when fully relaxed 4. when the client can hold the phobic object without fear, the association is extinct
55
what is flooding?
attempts to counter a phobia by immediate and full exposure to the maximum level of phobic stimulus
56
what is reciprocal inhibition?
fear and relaxation are two antagonistic emotions
57
AO3 of flooding
- not applicable for everyone, such as those with heart conditions. - can be highly traumatic and has high attrition rates, meaning treatment is ineffective + less sessions are needed compared to SD
58
AO3 of systematic desensitisation
+ can be used on a range of people, such as those with learning disabilities + not traumatic like flooding, and has a low attrition rate + can be costly as more sessions are needed than flooding
59
what is beck's triad theory?
- cognitive explanation for depression - negative self schemas, cognitive biases and negative triad
60
what is Beck's negative triad?
negative self-schemas about the self, world and future
61
what is Ellis' ABC model?
A - activating event B - negative belief C - consequence
62
Taghavi et al.
- compared 29 depressed patients to 34 normal control group, and depressed patients scored higher in negative beliefs
63
AO3 of cognitive explanation of depression
+ Taghavi et al (supporting research) + practical application (CBT and REBT) - blames patient and ignores situation
64
what is CBT?
- therapist helps the client to identify particularly negative thoughts. - therapist challenges these thoughts by using positive incidence. This is called reality testing. - focus of the therapy is in cognitive restructuring.
65
what is REBT?
- Ellis believes that people maintain negative and self-defeating thoughts by constantly telling themselves how inadequate they are or looking for confirmation of their inadequacy. - Client and therapist work together to identify situations that produce negative emotions. - Therapist challenges these thoughts but is slightly more confrontational than in Beck’s approach.

Psychology (11 decks)

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