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Psychopathology Flashcards

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1
Q

Explain what deviation from ideal mental health is (DIMH)

A 
6 criteria that have to be met to achieve ideal mental health:
•positive attitude towards ourselves 
•self-actualism 
•autonomy 
•resisting stress 
•accurate perception of reality 
•environmental mastery
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2
Q

Give one strength of DIMH

A

The definition emphasises positive achievements rather than failures and distress - it focuses on the desirable and not the undesirable

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3
Q

Give one limitation of DIMH

A

Meeting all 6 criteria is unrealistic and everyone has a time where they are unable to meet all 6 criteria however does not mean they have a mental illness

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4
Q

Explain what statistical frequency is (SI)

A

Researchers and government agencies collect data to inform us as to what is normal. These statistics can be used to define the ‘norm’ for any group of people

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5
Q

Give one strength of SI

A

Objective : only a way of collecting data about a behaviour has been agreed and a ‘cut off point’ is decided - it becomes an objective way of deciding who is abnormal

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6
Q

Give one limitation of SI

A

Statistics can also be misleading - they did not include people who are mentally ill but have not seen a professional - so are of part of the official statistics

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7
Q

Explain what deviation from social norms are (DSN)

A

Behaving in a way that is considered abnormal and not applying to the expected behaviour of a society, however can be seen as abnormal of eccentric

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8
Q

Give 1 strength of DSN

A

Establishes what behaviour is normal based on the context of the behaviour

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9
Q

Give 1 limitation of DSN

A

Social norms change over time

E.g. Homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness in 1973

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10
Q

Explain what failure to function adequately means? (FFA)

A

A person is considered abnormal is they are unable to cope with the demands of everyday living

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11
Q

Give 1 strength of FFA

A

It allows judgement by others of whether individuals are functioning properly
E.g. GAF

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12
Q

Give 1 limitation of FFA

A

Most people fail to function adequately at some time, but are not considered abnormal
E.g. Bereavement

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13
Q

Outline what is meant by DSM

A

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders- provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders

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14
Q

Outline what is meant by ICD

A

The international classification of diseases -
Is the standard diagnostic tool for health management and clinical purposes. It is known as a health care classification system that provides codes to classify disease.

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15
Q

What category of disorders are phobias classes as in the DSM and ICD?

A

Phobias are a types of anxiety disorder

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16
Q

What are the 3 different types of phobias?

A 
-specific phobias :
Different subgroups (animals, natural environment, injections, situational

-social phobias :
Involves fear of being observed doing something humiliating

-agoraphobia :
Involves fear of places of assembly, crowds and open spaces and is most prevalent of phobias

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17
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

A

Persistent, excessive fear - phobias produce high levels of anxiety due to the presence of an anticipated of feared objects and situations

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18
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

A

Avoidant/anxiety response- as confrontation with feared objects and situations produces high anxiety response, efforts are made to avoid the feared object or situation

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19
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

A

Recognition of exaggerated anxiety- generally phobics are consciously aware that the anxiety levels they experience in relation to their feared objects or situations are overstated

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20
Q

What category of disorder is depression classes as in the DSM/ICD?

A

Depression is an affective mood disorder involving lengthy disturbance of emotions

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21
Q

What is uni-polar depression?

A

Just depression on its own

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22
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of uni-polar depression?

A
  • loss of enthusiasm
  • constant depressed mood
  • worthlessness(those suffering from depression often have constant feelings of reduced worth)
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23
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of uni-polar depression?

A
  • loss of energy
  • social impairment
  • weight changes
  • poor personal hygiene
  • sleep patterns disturbed
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24
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of uni-polar depression?

A
  • delusions
  • reduced concentration
  • thoughts of death
  • poor memory (some depressives will have trouble with retrieval of memories)
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25
Q

What is bi-polar depression?

A

When you have both uni-bipolar and the other extreme

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26
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of bi-polar depression?

A
  • elevated mood states
  • irritability
  • lack of guilt (the condition is characterised by social inhibition and a general lack of guilt concerning behaviour)
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27
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of bi-polar depression?

A
  • high energy levels
  • reckless behaviour
  • talkative (the condition is generally characterised by fast, endless speech without regard to what others are saying)
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28
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of bi-polar depression?

A
  • delusions

- irrational thought processes (often characterised by reckless and irrational thinking and decision making)

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29
Q

What category of disorder is OCD classed as in the DSM/ICD?

A

OCD is an anxiety disorder

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30
Q

What are the 2 main components of OCD?

A
  • obsessions

- compulsions

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31
Q

Explain what is meant by obsessions and compulsions? Inc examples

A

Obsessions - things people think about e.g. Forbidden or inappropriate ideas and usual images
Compulsions - what people do as a result of obsessions e.g. Intense, uncontrollable urge to repetitively perform tasks and behaviours

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32
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of obsessions?

A

-extreme anxiety (persistent inappropriate or forbidden ideas create excessively high levels of anxiety)

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33
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of obsessions?

A
  • hinder everyday functions

- social impairments (the anxiety levels generated are so high as to conduct meaningful interpersonal relationships

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34
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of obsessions?

A

-recurrent and persistent thought
Recognised as self generated(most sufferers understand their obsessional thoughts; impulses and images are self invented)
-realisation of inappropriateness
-attentional bias

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35
Q

What are the emotional characteristics of compulsions?

A

Distress- the recognition that compulsive behaviours cannot be consciously controlled can lead to strong feelings of distress

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36
Q

What are the behavioural characteristics of compulsions?

A
  • repetitive (sufferers feel compelled to repeat behaviours as a response to their obsessive thoughts, ideas and images)
  • hinders everyday functioning
  • social impairment
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37
Q

What are the cognitive characteristics of compulsions?

A
  • uncontrollable urges
  • realisation of inappropriateness (sufferers understand their compulsions are inappropriate but cannot consciously control them)
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38
Q

What is the two-process model?

A

Orval Hobart Mowrer in 1947 proposed the two process model to explain how phobias are learned. The first stage is classical conditioning and then, in the second stage operant conditioning occurs. These two processes can explain the initiation and maintenance of a phobia

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39
Q

Outline the case of Little Albert using the terms UCS/UCR/NS/CS/CR to explain how he learned to fear a white rat

A 
Classical conditioning 
UCS: will produce fear and crying (loud noise) 
UCR: fear 
NS: white rat 
CS: white rat 
CR: fear
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40
Q

What is a way of explaining how phobias are maintained?

A

Operant conditioning involves learning through reinforcement

  • if behaviour is rewarding it is said to be reinforced and this increases the chances that it will be repeated
  • there are two types of reinforcement
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41
Q

What are the 2 types of reinforcement? Explain them

A

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT:
A behaviour is more likely to happen again because you get something pleasant
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT:
A behaviour is more likely to happen again because of avoidance of negative, unpleasant consequences

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42
Q

Explain how positive and negative reinforcements explain phobias

A

Avoidance of the feared object/situation is rewarded by a reduction of anxiety (fear) and acts as a negative reinforcer. This makes it likely the avoidance response will be repeated again

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43
Q

How could the principles of SLT explain the imitation of a phobia?

A

SLT could explain certain terms of abnormal behaviour (phobias) if a child sees a parent (model) responding to a spider with extreme fear, this may lead the child to acquire a similar behaviour because the behaviour appears rewarding (attention)

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44
Q

Why does the effectiveness of treatments that use behaviourist principles lend support to the theory? (Strengths of behavioural approach explaining phobias)

A
  • behavioural therapy is very effective (about 85% success)
  • therapists involve counter conditioning where by a fear response to an object or situation is replaced with a relaxation response. This is a form of classical conditioning
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45
Q

Does everyone who has a phobia recall a traumatic event that could of caused it? (Weakness of behavioural approach explaining phobias)

A

Some people with a phobia can’t recall ever experiencing their feared objects (e.g. Only 7% arachnophobic recall encountering a spider -Davey -1992)
An indent may have been simply forgotten or perhaps they have repressed a memory of a frightening encounter

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46
Q

How can the two-process model be criticised?

A

Ignores the cognitive approach

  • phobias are an example of irrational beliefs. People with a phobia may process threatening stimuli differently
  • irrational thinking may lead to a phobia
47
Q

What is systematic desensitisation?

A

A behavioural therapy where people gradually desensitised to a feared object/situation. This is done by using gradual exposure from the least up to the most feared situation
Based on the idea of counter balancing

48
Q

How does systematic desensitisation work?

A

1) the patient is taught muscle relaxation techniques
2) the therapist and patient construct a hierarchy of anxiety provoking situations
3) patient works through the desensitisation/ fear hierarchy
4) when patient remains calm, they can move onto the next step
5) the patient successfully masters the feared situation

49
Q

What has research shown in terms of effectiveness of systematic desensitisation when treating patients with anxiety?(refer to Emmelkamp 1994)

A

The ability to tolerate imagined situations is followed by a reduction in anxiety in real life situations

50
Q

Can you identify any other strengths of this therapy compared to others, such as drug therapy and ECT?

A

No major side effects and it can be self administrated after training

51
Q

Give 1 other strength for systematic desensitisation

A

It works for many- success especially for specific phobias- but works for a range of phobias (McGrath et al. 1990) has 75% success rate- higher rate than for other types of therapy

52
Q

In treating an abnormality with systematic desensitisation, symptom substitution may occur. What is meant by this concept? How has research challenged this assertion?

A

Does not deal with underlying causes and can lead to symptom substitution

53
Q

Systematic desensitisation- in vitro- requires a very vivid imagination. What is the problem with this? What has research found in term of the effectiveness of in vitro procedures compared to in vivo procedures?

A

Requires a vivid imagination- not everyone can do this

-research has found that in vivo procedures are generally more successful and more effective than in vitro procedures

54
Q

Are there any faster acting alternatives to systematic desensitisation?

A
  • flooding involves real exposure to a feared object / situation BUT without taking the steps (as in SD) escape is prevented and the therapists forces the person to continue
  • eventually anxiety will decrease. Flooding can cause intense anxiety and lead to drop out - ethical issues are also involved
55
Q

Define desensitisation hierarchy

A

Process of trying to relax and stay calm whilst using either vivo (using a real object or situation) or vitro (using an imagined object or situation)

56
Q

Explain one advantage of flooding compared to systematic desensitisation in the treatment of phobias

A

Flooding does not involve any steps, and is a harsh/quick yet effective way of getting rid of a phobia. Exposing the patient to a direct fear means anxiety is often over faster than when using systematic desensitisation

57
Q

Give one limitation of flooding as a treatment of phobias

A

Flooding can cause intense anxiety and eventually drop outs, ethical issues also take a role in limitations

58
Q

Outline how flooding is used in the treatment of phobias

A

Instead of using step-by-step approach, patients go straight to the top of the hierarchy and imagine, or have direct contact with, their most feared object / situation. The patient is unable to leave the room or stop

59
Q

What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach about the origin of behaviour?

A

Suggests thinking shapes behaviour

60
Q

Define schema

A

A cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information. A schema helps an individual male sense of new information

61
Q

what did Beck in 1987 believe?

A

People become depressed because the work is seen negatively though negative schemas

62
Q

Explain Beck’s Negative Triad

A
  • people become depressed because the world is seen negatively through negative schemas
  • these negative schemas dominate thinking - leading to a negative view of the world, and are triggered whenever individuals are in situations that are similar to those in which negative schemas were learned
63
Q

What did Beck propose?

A

That negative schemas develop during childhood and adolescence when authority figures such as parents place unrealistic demands on an individual and are highly critical of them, therefore the schema leads them to expect to fail

64
Q

What is selective abstraction? (Cognitive biases?

A

Conclusions drawn from just one part of a situation

65
Q

What is overgeneralisation? (Cognitive biases)

A

Sweeping conclusions drawn on the basis of a single event

66
Q

What did Ellis (1962) believe? (ABC model)

A

Believed that irrational thinking could was to psychological disturbances, mainly due to the fact that individuals fall into a cycle of irrational thinking, which prevents the individual from behaving in an adaptive way

67
Q

What is meant by adaptive in this context? (Ellis’ ABC model)

A

Being rational, it is a healthy response to a situation

68
Q

What does the ‘A’ stand for in Ellis’ ABC model?

A

ACTIVATING EVENT - something happens in the environment around you

69
Q

What does the ‘B’ stand for in Ellis’ ABC model?

A

BELIEFS- you had a belief about the event or situation

70
Q

What does the ‘C’ stand for in Ellis’ ABC model?

A

CONSEQUENCE- you have an emotional response to your belief

71
Q

Use PEC to explain why the cognitive approach has therapeutic success

A

P: CBT has been found to be a very successful therapy for treating depression
E: it is one of the best treatments for depression, especially in the conjunction with drug treatments
C: the fact that cognitive therapy is successful adds support to cognitive explanations for depression

72
Q

Give positive research support for the cognitive approach explaining depression

A

Hammen and Krantz (1976) found that depressed participants made more errors in logic when asked to interpret written material that non-depressed participants.
This support the cognitive theory as it shows that when depressed you are biased in your thinking. The cognitive approach suggests that depression is linked to irrational thinking

73
Q

Explain how the cognitive approach to explaining depression lacks cause-effect (negative)

A

There is no link between negative thoughts and depression, however this does not mean negative thoughts cause depression. It could be that depression leads to more negative thinking

74
Q

Explain how the cognitive approach to explaining depression does not acknowledge current situational factors (negative)

A

Some argue it is important to consider situational factors such as family problems, money problems and life events making a negative contribution to mental health problems

75
Q

Negative/irrational beliefs may be realistic… explain how… (cognitive approach to explaining depression)

A

Not all irrational beliefs are irrational- they may simply seem irrational.
Alloy & Abrahmson (1979) suggest that depressive realists tend to see things for what they really are.
So, some irrational beliefs may actually be rational

76
Q

What does CBT stand for?

A

Cognitive behavioural therapy

77
Q

Why use CBT?

A
  • the rationale behind CBT is that thought interact with and influence emotions and behaviour
  • if thoughts are persistently negative and irrational, they can lead to maladaptive behaviour
78
Q

What is CBT?

A
  • to encourage people to examine beliefs and expectations underlying unhappiness to replace irrational, negative thoughts with a more positive, adaptive pattern of thinking
  • therapists and clients work together to set new goals for the clients to bring about more realistic and rational beliefs that are incorporated into their thinking
79
Q

What does CBT involve?

A
  • cognitive element

- behavioural element

80
Q

What is the cognitive element? (CBT)

A

A therapist encourages the client to become aware of beliefs that contribute to anxiety or depression or are associated with general dysfunctions. The client needs to understand better where their faulty thinking is leading them

81
Q

What is the behavioural element? (CBT)

A

The client and therapist works together by doing role play or homework assignments. The aim is to make the client recognise the consequences of their faulty thinking. Client and therapist work together to set goals. Done in stages, client builds on their own success

82
Q

Explain what REBT is

A 
Ellis,1962 
-believed that it's not the beliefs that lead to self-defeating consequences. Therefore REBT focuses on encouraging patients to challenge or dispute any self defeating beliefs, replacing them with effective, rational beliefs 
•logical disputing 
•empirical disputing 
•pragmatic disputing
83
Q

Explain what these are: REBT
•logical disputing
•empirical disputing
•pragmatic disputing

A

•logical disputing :
Self defeating beliefs do not follow logically from the information available
•empirical disputing :
Self defeating beliefs may not be consistent with reality
•pragmatic disputing :
Emphasises the lack of usefulness of self defeating beliefs

84
Q

Describe 2 other different types of CBT. (Apart from REBT)

A
  • beck’s cognitive therapy- mainly used to treat people with depression, encouraging clients to monitor situations where they make negative assumptions
  • Meichenbaum’s Stress Inoculation Therapy (SIT) -a type of CBT used to manage stress
85
Q

Why is CBT a good long-term treatment? (Strength)

A

P:there may be long term beliefs for some people using CBT
E:because once they learn techniques to deal with negative irrational thinking these skills can be used in as range of situations. It is a skill that once developed could be potentially be used over a lifetime
C: this is a positive thing because teaching people to deal with potential problems will reduce their chances of developing depression

86
Q

Why may CBT not be effective for everyone? (Weakness)

A

CBT may not work for everyone. For some they may find it difficult to work with a therapist & focus on their thinking. For patients who find it hard to concentrate, CBT may not be suitable. People with depression often find it hard to concentrate.
Also, some people may not want to talk about inner feelings. Also, CBT may not be treating the cause of the depression such as having no money and being in debt.

87
Q

How is CBT cost and time effective? (Strength)

A 
The application (and success) of CBT can occur over a very short time period compared to other treatments.
It is therefore more cost effective to carry out
88
Q

Explain what the ‘worry circuit’ is

A

The OFC (orbitofrontal cortex) sends ‘worry’ signals to the thalamus. These are normally suppressed by the caudate nucleus but, if damaged, then the thalamus is alerted and confirms the ‘worry’ to the OFC, creating a worry circuit

89
Q

What is a gene?

A

A part of the chromosome of an organism that carries information in the form of DNA

90
Q

What does the orbitofrontal cortex do?

A

The OFC sends signals to the thalamus about things that are worrying, such as germs

91
Q

What does the caudate nucleus do?

A

Normally suppresses signals from the OFC

92
Q

What are the 2 biological approaches to explaining OCD?

A
  • genetic explanations

- neural explanations

93
Q

What does genetic explanation mean?

A

A popular explanation for mental disorders such as OCD is that they may be inherited. This would mean that an individual inherits a specific gene from their parents that relates to the onset of OCD

94
Q

What 2 genes are involved in the genetic explanation of explaining OCD?

A
  • COMT gene

- SERT gene

95
Q

What is the COMT gene short for?

A

Catechol-O-methyltransferase

96
Q

What is the COMT gene?

A

Is involved in the regulation of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine has been implicated in OCD. All genes come in different forms, known as alleles, and one form of the COMT gene has been found to be more common in patients with OCD. This variation of the gene produced lower activity of the COMT gene and so results in higher levels of dopamine

97
Q

What does the SERT gene do?

A

Affects the transport of serotonin, creating lower levels of the neurotransmitter

98
Q

Explain why some people may possess both the COMT and SERT gene, yet never develop OCD whilst others do

A

It may be the case that there is an interaction between genes and the environment- the gene may provide a genetic predisposition (vulnerability) to developing OCD, and this is triggered by another factor, perhaps from the environment

99
Q

When looking at neural explanations for explaining OCD, explain how dopamine and serotonin may be involved in OCD

A

P:evidence for the role of serotonin in OCD comes from Hu(2006) who compared serotonin activity in 169 OCD sufferers
E: and found that serotonin levels were lower in the OCD patients
C: which support ls the idea that low levels of serotonin are associated with the onset of OCD

100
Q

When looking at neural explanations for explaining OCD, explain how dopamine and serotonin may be involved in OCD in ANIMALS

A

Animal research has shown that when drugs that increase levels of dopamine are administered, the animal often displays stereotyped movements that resemble compulsive behaviours found in patients with OCD (Szechtman et al, 1998)

101
Q

What does the fact that there is not a 100% concordance rate between MZ twins for OCD suggest? (Weakness in the evaluation of biological explanations for OCD)

A

This suggest that there must be other possible causes of OCD (e.g. Environment) because it was genetic then there should be 100% concordance rates e.g. If one identical twin has OCD, then you would expect to find their twin also suffering from OCD, but you don’t always find this

102
Q

What does the meta-analysis by Grootheest et al (2005) suggest? (Strength of the evaluation of biological explanations for OCD)

A
  • findings suggest that twin studies indicate a genetic component to the transmission of OCD.
  • heritability of OCD appears to be greater in children than adults
103
Q

Explain why there is an issue of cause-effect within neural explanations

A
  • we can’t say for sure that the biological factors identified (low levels of serotonin , abnormal brain circuits) and causing OCD as it could be the case that they are an effect of the OCD
  • this presents issues of cause-effect within this theory and as such reduces its validity
104
Q

Why does the fact that some anti-depressants, which increase levels of serotonin, alleviate symptoms of OCD in some patients support this explanation?

A

P:it suggest that low levels of serotonin are linked to OCD
E: for example, some anti-depressants increase the availability of serotonin, which in turn have been shown to reduce the symptoms of OCD
C: this seems to strongly link serotonin as a possible explanation of OCD symptoms

105
Q

What is the anti-depressant drug?

A

SSRIs

106
Q

What is the anti-anxiety drug?

A

BZs

107
Q

Explain how SSRIs work

A

Serotonin is released into the synapse from one neuron. It targets receptor cells on the receiving neuron at receptor sites and afterwards is reabsorbed by the initial neuron sending the message. In order to increase levels of serotonin at the synapse, and increase stimulation to the receiving neuron, this re-absorption (re-uptake) is inhibited

108
Q

Explain the role of GABA and why BZs can help the symptoms of OCD

A
  • These are 2 of the most prescribed drugs for psychological disorders and they can be very effective against states of stress and anxiety
  • they appear to act by reducing ‘BRAIN’ arousal
  • BZs help by enhancing the action of a natural brain chemical called gamma-amino-butyric acid(GABA)
  • GABA has a general ‘quieting influence’ on many of the neurons in the brain
  • BZs work by boosting the action of GABA
109
Q

Give examples of BZs

A

-examples of BZs are Librium and Valium

110
Q

Would you consider drug therapy to be a cure? (Limitation)

A

Generally, drugs don’t cure OCD, but they do reduce obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours to such a Level that a more normal lifestyle can be achieved

111
Q

Are drug therapies for OCD a long term treatment? (Limitation)

A

Ideally, drugs could be used together with CBT

  • some drugs should only be taken for a short period of time
  • once drugs are stopped there is the problem of relapse
112
Q

What are some side effects of drug therapies to cure OCD?

A

SSRIs- nausea, headaches, insomnia

BZs-increased aggressiveness, problems with memory, addition

113
Q

Why might drug therapy be preferable to a psychological therapy such as CBT? (Strength)

A

Although, CBT is seen to be effective and does not have side effects, it isn’t suitable for patients who have difficulty talking about their inner feelings. Some patients don’t have verbal skills and find it hard to express themselves when talking. These patients would probably benefit from drug therapies

Psychology AS Level (5 decks)

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