Psychopathology Flashcards
What is Psychopathology?
the study of psychological disorders
Why does abnormality have no definition among health experts
as when definitions remain unstated it means it cannot be challenged and alternative explanations our ignored therefore we cannot develop a scientific understanding
What is the most common definition of psychopathology
statistical infrequency
Describe statistical infrequency as a definition
we can define what is normal by mean, median, and mode then by using this typical value in the data we can see what is not normal
Describe deviation from social norms as a definition
Norms are created by a group of people and thus social
there are standards of acceptable behaviours that are set by the social group anyone who behaves differently is classed as abnormal
Evaluation of statistical infrequency as a definition: Some abnormal behaviours are desirable
some abnormal behaviour is desirable such as having a high IQ other normal behaviours are undesirable, for example it is quite common to experience depression this makes it hard to distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviours
Evaluation of statistical infrequency as a definition: the cut of point is subjectively determined
need to be able to decide where to separate normality from abnormality also depends on how you see the data
Evaluation of statistical infrequency as a definition: statistical infrequency is sometimes appropriate (strengths)
in some situations it is appropriate to use a statistical criterion for example intellectual disability is defined in terms of the normal distribution more than two standard deviations below the mean then it is judged as having a mental disorder
Evaluation of deviation from Social norms as a definition: susceptible to abuse
What is socially acceptable varies as times change, if we define abnormality in terms of social norms then it can become based on social morals and attitudes
- Thomas Szaz in 1974 said “concept of mental illnesses was to exclude non conforms from society
Evaluation of deviation from Social norms as a definition: Deviance is related to context and degree
relate to the context or degree of behaviour for example wearing a bikini to the beach is normal but at a funeral it is not
Evaluation of deviation from Social norms as a definition: strengths
it does distinguish between desirable and undesirable, takes in effect it has on others
- abnormal behaviour is behaviour that damages others
How does definitions of psychopathology relate to cultural relativism
- statistical infrequent behaviours may be more frequent in another culture for example hearing voices
- social norms are defined by culture as well, classification systems such as DSM are based on western culture there are no universal standards or rules for labelling a behaviour as abnormal
Describe a failure to function adequately as a definition
functioning refers to going about daily life such as eating regularly when you fail to do this then it can cause distress and suffering for the individual and others
- in some cases the person does not feel distress but others around them are distressed for example schizophrenic people
What are the things that you need to be able to function failure
- understanding and communicating
- getting around
- self care
- getting along with people
- life activities
- participation in society
it is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 then scored out of 180
Evaluation of failure to function adequately as a definition: who judges
may be the individual that experiences the distress and recognises that they cannot cope
the individual may be content with the situation or not aware that they are not coping so will judge their behaviour as abnormal
depends on whose making the judgement
Evaluation of failure to function adequately as a definition: the behaviour may be quite functional
some dysfunctional behaviours can be adaptive and functional for the individual
for example not eating gains attention this can be rewarding and functional for the disorder
Evaluation of failure to function adequately as a definition: Strengths of failure to function adequately
recognises the subjective experience of the patient allowing use to view the mental disorders from the point of view of the patient
- easy to judge objectively as we can list behaviours and thus judge abnormality objectively
describe deviation from ideal mental health as a definition
Maire Jahoda (1958) said that we should judge mental health like we do physical illness and look at the absence signs of mental health
