Psychopathology

Question 1

Definitions of abnormality

Answer 1

Statistical infrequency, deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately and deviation from ideal mental health.

Question 2

Statistical infrequency

Answer 2

Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed or less intelligent than the rest of the population. (statistics)

Question 3

Statistical infrequency evaluation

Answer 3

Real life application- can diagnose intellectual disability disorder. can use a scale. (IQ test)
Unusual characteristics can be positive- an IQ test above 130 is as unusual as a score below 70 but it’s not undesirable.
Being labelled as abnormal might have a negative affect on someone living a happy life.

Question 4

Deviation from social norms

Answer 4

Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society. Social norms differ from different cultures and different generations.

Question 5

Deviations from social norms evaluation

Answer 5

Real life application- can diagnose antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy).
Social norms vary- hearing voices is socially acceptable in some cultures but a sign of mental abnormality in the UK. This creates problems for people living within a different society.
Can lead to human right abuses- homosexuality when it wasn’t accepted.

Question 6

Failure to function adequately

Answer 6

Occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day to day living. (keeping a job, relationships, hygiene).
Rosenhan and Seligman- when a person fails to conform to standard rules such as maintaining eye contact and respecting personal space. If a person experiences severe personal space and when a person’s behaviour becomes irrational/ dangerous.

Question 7

Failure to function adequately evaluation

Answer 7

It acknowledges that the experience of the patient is important.
Travellers do not live in permanent homes and may not work, this doesn’t mean they’re ‘failures’. This means it limits free will and discriminates against minority groups.
Subjective, but a psychiatrist has the right to make a judgement.

Question 8

Deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 8

Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health.
Jahoda- we have good mental health is we have no symptoms or distress, are rational, we self actualise, we can cope with stress, we have good self esteem, we can successfully work and we are independent.

Question 9

Deviation from ideal mental health evaluation

Answer 9

It covers a broad range of criteria for mental health.
Jahoda’s criteria is specific to western europe. Independence in other parts of the world may be a bad thing.
It sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health, not everyone can achieve all of them at the same time or keep them up for a very long time.

Question 10

Phobia

Answer 10

An irrational fear of an object or situation.

Question 11

Behavioural characteristics of phobias

Answer 11

We respond to things or situations we fear by behaving in particular ways.
Panic- may panic in response to the presence of the phobic stimulus- running away.
Avoidance- Tend to avoid coming into contact with the phobic stimulus- eg. not going through a park to avoid dogs. Can affect every day life.
Endurance- Sufferer remains in the presence of the phobic stimulus but continues to experience high levels of anxiety.

Question 12

Emotional characteristics of phobias

Answer 12

Phobias involve an emotional response of anxiety and fear. Anxiety levels will increase whenever they enter a place associated with their phobia.
Emotional responses are unreasonable, for example if a person was arachnophoic, their very strong emotional response to a tiny harmless spider, this is disproportionate to the danger they can cause.

Question 13

Cognitive characteristics of phobias

Answer 13

People with phobias process information about phobic stimuli differently from others objects or stimuli.
A sufferer will keep eye contact with the phobic stimulus which means they aren’t concentrating.
Someone may hold irrational beliefs in relation to phobic stimuli. For example a social phobia may have beliefs that if they blush, they are weak. This increases the pressure to perform well.
The phobic’s perceptions of the stimulus may be distorted. eg. an arachnophobic may think spiders are aliens.

Question 14

Depression

Answer 14

A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels.

Question 15

Behavioural characteristics of depression

Answer 15

Behaviour changes when we suffer an episode of depression.
Typically they have reduced levels of energy making them lethargic. This may mean they stop going to work. However in some cases it could be the opposite where they struggle to relax and pace up and down a room.
Sufferers may experience reduced sleep or increased need for sleep. Also appetite may increase of decrease leading to weight gain or loss.
Can become verbally or physically aggressive which can lead to self harm.

Question 16

Emotional characteristics of depression

Answer 16

Lowered mood, feel worthless and empty. Anger this can be directed at themselves or others. They may also have low self esteem meaning they hate themselves.

Question 17

Cognitive characteristics of depression

Answer 17

May process information about several aspects of the world quite differently from the normal ways. Poor concentration may mean they find it difficult to stick to tasks. Dwell on the negatives rather than the positives. (half empty/half full glass). They think in black and white, if something is sort of bad, its a disaster.

Question 18

OCD- obsessive compulsive disorder

Answer 18

A condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive behaviour.

Question 19

Behavioural characteristics of OCD

Answer 19

Compulsive behaviour- feel compelled to repeat a behaviour, eg. constant hand washing. Compulsive behaviour reduces anxiety, washing hands because of fear of germs.
However, they may avoid things that will trigger their ocd, eg may not touch anything that might have germs on.

Question 20

Emotional characteristics of OCD

Answer 20

OCD is often accompanied by depression. Compulsive behaviour tends to bring some relief from anxiety but this is temporary.

Question 21

Cognitive characteristics of OCD

Answer 21

Obsessive thoughts are those which repeat over and over again. eg. worried about being contaminated by dirt and germs.
Cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions, a religious person with guilt may respond by praying or meditating.
People suffering from OCD are aware that their obsessions and compulsions are not rational.

Question 22

The behavioural approach to explaining phobias

Answer 22

Two process model- Mowrer, it states that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and then continue because of operant conditioning. (eg. little albert).

Question 23

The behavioural approach to explaining phobias evaluation

Answer 23

Not all avoidance behaviour associated with phobias seems to be the result of anxiety reduction. Some evidence suggests that avoidance behaviour is for positive feelings of safety.
Could be evolutionary factors, cavemen scared of snakes (dangerous) so we are.

Question 24

The behavioural approach to treating phobias

Answer 24

Systematic desensitisation- Reduces phobic anxiety through classical conditioning. Three processes involved in SD, the anxiety hierarchy, relaxation (meditation) and exposure.
Flooding- no gradual build up, straight into a very frightening situation. Extinction- classical conditioning. The conditioned stimulus isn’t there with the unconditioned stimulus. Therefore no conditioned response is formed. They must have fully informed consent.

Question 25

The behavioural approach to treating phobias evaluation

Answer 25

Systematic desensitisation- It’s suitable for a diverse range of patients unlike flooding. Prefer it to flooding as it’s not as much trauma and it’s relaxing. Results are long lasting.
Flooding- It’s cost effective, phobics overcome their phobia quicker, so need less therapy. Less effective for some phobias such as social phobias. And the treatment is traumatic for patients so some may not see it through to the end wasting money and time.

Question 26

The cognitive approach to explaining depression

Answer 26

Beck’s cognitive theory- explains why some people are more vulnerable to depression. Faulty informational processing (dwelling on the negatives), negative self schema’s and the negative triad (negative view of the world, future and of the self).
Ellis’s ABC model- says that bad mental health is to do with irrational thoughts. Activating event (irrational thoughts triggered by external events.) Beliefs (we must succeed or achieve perfection). Consequences (a and b trigger depression).

Question 27

The cognitive approach to explaining depression evaluation

Answer 27

Beck’s cognitive theory- he reviewed research on this topic and found solid support for all these cognitive vulnerability factors. Depression can be identified and challenged in CBT. It doesn’t explain all aspects of depression- deep anger can’t be explained by Beck. Also can’t explain hallucinations.
Ellis’s ABC model- Only applies to some kind of depression, not ones that have no underlying cause. It has practical application in CBT- challenge irrational thoughts. It also doesn’t explain deep anger or hallucinations.

Question 28

The cognitive approach to treating depression

Answer 28

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy- The patient and therapist jointly identify goals for the therapy and put together a plan to achieve them. Aim to challenge negative or irrational thoughts, some focus on Beck’s or some focus on Ellis’s but most focus on both. For becks they focus on the negative triad. For ellis’s they add 2 new ideas; Dispute and Effect and call it Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT).

Question 29

The cognitive approach to treating depression evaluation

Answer 29

CBT may not work for the most severe cases- may not pay attention. March et al found that the group with only antidepressant drugs and the group of only CBT improved 81% and the group with both improved 86%.
Success may be due to the therapist-patient relationship as the differences between CBT and systematic desensitisation are small.

Question 30

The biological approach to explaining OCD

Answer 30

Genetic explanations- Genes are involved in vulnerability to OCD and runs in families. According to the diathesis stress model, certain genes leave some people more likely to suffer a mental disorder but it is not certain, some environmental stress is necessary to trigger the condition.
Neural explanations- The genes associated with OCD are likely to affect the levels of key neurotransmitters as well as structures of the brain. Could be a reduction of serotonin. Could have irrational thoughts due to impaired decision making in the frontal lobes.

Question 31

The biological approach to explaining OCD evaluation

Answer 31

Genetic explanations- It appears several genes are involved meaning it unlikely to ever be very useful. Evironmental factors can also trigger the development of OCD so it can’t be fully genetic in origin
Neural explanations- The faulty structure of the brain and the various neurotransmitters could be due to OCD not the cause of OCD. It’s not clear exactly what neural mechanisms are involved.

Question 32

The biological approach to treating OCD

Answer 32

Drug therapy- increase or decrease levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. SSRI’s- antidepressant, work on the serotonin system in the brain. It blocks absorption and and the breakdown of serotonin, therefore it increases it’s levels in the synapse. It takes 3-4 months to have much impact on symptoms. It’s often used with CBT.

Question 33

The biological approach to treating OCD evaluation

Answer 33

Its effective at tackling OCD symptoms. Drugs are cost effective and non disruptive, cheap compared to psychological treatments. Drugs can have side effects, such as blurred vision. This makes them less effective since people may stop taking them.