psychopathology Flashcards
abnormality
what is dieviation of ideal mental health?
people can be seen to be abnormal when they move away from what is considered ideal mental health e.g there are 6 categories that if not met then this would suggest abnormal (self attitudes, self actualization,resistance to stress, autonomy, environmental mastery and accurate perception of reality)
what is deviation from social norms?
standards of acceptable behavior are set by social group and anything that deviates from this behavior is deemed abnormal
what is failure to function adequately?
This is where people are not able to cope with everyday demands such as eating in public or going to school. It interferes with everyday life and the individual judges when their behavior becomes abnormal
what is statistical infrequency?
it helps to define ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ behavior in terms of numbers
what are the 4 definitions for abnormality?
statistical infrequency, deviation from social norms,failure to function adequately, deviation from ideal mental health
outline limitations of ‘deviation from social norms’ as a definition for abnormality
- it lacks cultural relativism as different actions are considered normal in different cultures thus the definitions cannot be generalised across cultures
- it may be dependent on the social situation in which the behavior occurred e.g going to the toilet in a bathroom and going to the toilet in a public area
- another limitation is that views have changed over time. For example, defining abnormality in terms of the deviation of current social norms is inappropriate because it is not reliable (inconsistent,) as it is dependent on the prevailing social norms and moral values, which can change over time
outline limitations of ‘failure to function adequately’
- A limitation is the subjective interpretation of defining someone as failing to
function adequately. Clinicians may wrongly classify people as abnormal (e.g a person who
displays personal distress due to a bereavement in the family would be having a normal reaction. The person may see this as
part of the process of mourning, which may take longer than expected) - Another limitation is that people who are clearly abnormal function quite well e.g Harold Shipman was diagnosed with being a psychopath however he didn’t display any characteristics outlines by rosenhan and seligman
outline limitations of ‘deviation from ideal mental health’
- A limitation is that very few people would be able to meet all 6 characteristics which can then be seen as unrealistic. For example, many
people may never achieve ‘self actualisation’ in their lives, which would suggest then that many people are psychologically unhealthy (i.e. they are abnormal). Therefore, everyone could be described as abnormal to some extent, which doesn’t help determine a genuine difference between normal and abnormal - Another limitation is that some of the concepts in Jahoda’s (1958) criteria are vague and difficult to measure. e.g ‘accurate perception of reality’ will be difficult to measure objectively. This is because ‘reality’ is
different for each person based on their experiences
outline limitations of ‘statistical infrequency’
- one limitation is that it fails to recognise desirable behavior : statistical infrequency defines desirable behavior, such as high IQ, as abnormal. This means that a positive characteristic such as high intelligence may be classed as a disorder
- another limitation is that abnormalities occur frequently : 1 in 4 people experience a mental health issue yearly. Therefore, given the high frequency of these issues, it may not be helpful to define everyone who suffers from them as abnormal as this then becomes the majority
- another limitation is that it is reductionist because it oversimplifies abnormality by equating it with rarity and deviation from the norm, neglecting other factors like desirability of a trait and cultural context
What DSM criteria are needed to be diagnosed with depression?
- an individual must experience five or more symptoms of depression during the same 2 week period (at least one of these symptoms must be either a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure)
outline two 2 behavioral, emotional and cognitive characteristics of depression
behavioral : loss of interest in activities and changes in appetite (over eating/under eating)
emotional : persistent sadness, feeling of hopelessness
cognitive : difficulty with concentration, tendency towards negative thoughts, suicidal ideations
explain the negative triad as an explanation of depression
Becks Negative Triad :
- Beck developed a cognitive explanation of depression which has three components :
a) cognitive bias
b) negative self-schema
c) the negative triad
It refers to the consistent negative thoughts and beliefs about oneself, the world, and the future
- negative view of self is where individuals with depression often hold negative beliefs about there own worth, desirability (may feel inadequate)
- negative view of the world is where they tend to perceive the world and others as hostile, unfair and unsupportive
- negative view of the future is where depressed individuals often experience a sense of hopelessness and pessimism about the future. They may believe that things will never get better or that their problems are permanent
explain the ABC model as an explanation of depression
ABC by Albert Ellis :
A is an activating event which happens in someone’s life (argument with friend)
B is the belief about why that event happened (rational or irrational)
C is the consequence of that belief
The ABC model suggests that it’s not the event itself, but rather the person’s interpretation of the event, that determines their emotional response. If an individual consistently holds irrational beliefs, they are more likely to experience negative emotional consequences e.g depression
Outline the Behavioral, Emotional and Cognitive characteristics for OCD
- Behavioral :
Compulsions are repetitive, the sufferer feels compelled to do the behavior over and over
Avoidance, sufferers may avoid situations where they need to do the compulsion, this can effect their everyday life.
Emotional :
Powerful anxiety, obsessive thoughts are unpleasant and the anxiety that comes with it can be overwhelming
Depression, anxiety can lead to low mood and lack of activity this in turn leads to depression.
Cognitive :
Obsessive thoughts, they can take over their lives ie. worrying about germs
Cognitive strategies to cope, sufferers cope with their obsessions by trying to manage their anxiety
definition of a Phobia
A group of mental disorders characterized by high levels of anxiety in response to a stimulus
definition of OCD
An anxiety disorder which arises from irrational obsessions and compulsions
definition of Depression
A mood disorder where an individual feels sad and lacks interest in their usual activities
outline and explain the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
Psychologists assume that all our behaviour is learnt and thus can be unlearnt
- Watson stated that we are born as a blank slate and any behaviour that we act is all learnt from the environment around us
- most behaviour we learn is adaptive and helps us lead a happy and productive life however maladaptive behaviour can be learnt ie phobias
- according to this approach there is two main ways in which a phobia is learnt
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
The two process model was developed which states that phobias start with classical conditioning and are maintained via operant conditioning (Little Albert + Mowrer)
strengths of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
:) The two way process model explains well why phobias are maintained over time and also has very important implication for therapy as it explains why exposure to the feared stimulus is vital. If patients are prevented from avoidance behaviour then the behaviour will stop being reinforced and so declines
:) effective practical applications such as systematic desensitisation that help treat phobias
This means that it can be used by doctors in the medical profession help relieve symptoms easier
limitations of the behavioural approach to explaining phobias
:( nature vs nurture - completely overlooks any effects of nature and simply 100% relies on nurture
This is a serious limitation as it shows there is more than just conditioning in learning
:( The approach is highly reductionist and tries to simplify complex human behaviours like phobias into a stimulus response relationship
It neglects holistic ideas such as thoughts and genes and It also cant explain for situations where people develop a phobia but have never been in contact with the stimulus before
:( The two way process model states that the neutral stimulus associates with the unconditioned stimulus, however not everyone who is for example bitten by a dog will have a phobia of dogs
This can be explained via the stress diatheses model that states we have a genetic vulnerability but we still need an environmental trigger to elicit behaviours, this shows us that the two way process model is too simplistic on its own as there are individual differences.
evaluate the cognitive approach to explaining depression
:) Practical applications such as CBT, this means it can be used in the medical profession to relieve symptoms and thus is an important area of psychology
:( Cognitive approach is oversimplified as it reduces complex behaviour to rational and irrational thoughts
It is not clear whether irrational thoughts cause the depression or vice versa, thus being difficult to prove cause and effect
:( ABC Model can’t explain why some suffers experience anger and hallucinations etc. This is a big problem and lowers value of insight.
evaluate the behavioural treatment to phobias
Systematic Desensitisation :
Supporting evidence -
Researcher had 42 patients who had received SD for three 45 minute sessions for arachnophobia. A control group were given relaxation without exposure. At both 3 and 33 months the SD group were less fearful. This shows that SD is effective at reducing arachnophobia.
Suits a diverse range of participants -
Alternate options such as CBT are not useful for everyone as they require a high amount of will power. Thus SD works better for particular people.
Flooding:
Time - Flooding is super efficient as it takes such a small amount of time especially compared to SD.
Less effective for some types of phobia
Flooding cant work for all types of phobia such as public speaking for example, this is because social phobias have cognitive aspects too. Therefore this may benefit more from therapies as they also tackle irrational thinking.
Traumatic - Flooding is a highly traumatic experience as participants are immediately exposed to their fear. It is not unethical as participants give consent but many people do decide to drop out, this is a weakness as resources are wasted.
Treatment to Phobias
Stages of systematic desensitisation :
(RHRC)
Relaxation - teach individual how to relax using muscle technique
Hierarchy of anxiety - Individual makes a graded scale of those that scare him the least to those that scare him the most
Reciprocal Inhibition - The concept that two incompatible states cant co-exist at the same time ie. using a relaxation technique when anxious
Complete Treatment - treatment ends when the client is desensitised
Flooding - This involves immediate exposure to the phobia but without the gradual build up.
Participants learn that the phobic stimulus is harmless. The conditioned stimulus is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus
