Psychopathology Flashcards
Defintions of abnormality - Statistical infrequency
- behaviours that are extremely rare
- used to show typical value in a set of data (what age should you have a baby)
AO3; - some abnormal behaviour is desirable - eg - having a high IQ - depression is common but not desirable
- cut off point subjective - symptom of depression is not sleeping - some people may say sleeping less than 80% of the population is an acceptable level whereas some others may disagree
- strength - help in identifying mental disorders - IQ 2 standard deviations below mean
Defintions of abnormality - Deviation from social norms
- deviation from “how” your meant to behave -eg- homosexuality
AO3: - susceptible to abuse - varies as times change - something accepted now may not have been before - eg - homosexuality - by classifying people as mentally ill is a way of getting rid of non conformists from society
- deviation is related to context and degree - person on beach wearing nearly nothing is normal but considered not if that was in a classroom - not a complete definition of abnormality because its related to context and degree too
- S - clear diff between desirable and not desirable behaviour
Defintions of abnormality - Deviation of ideal mental health
- Self attitudes
- Personal growth
- Integration
- Autonomy
- Accurate perception of reality
- Mastery of the environment
AO3: - Unrealistic criteria - according to the criteria most of us are going to be abnormal - criteria is also hard to measure - unclear how many we need to be lacking to be abnormal
- Suggests mental and physical health are the same - physical illness is easy to detect and diagnose whereas mental abnormality is harder to detect and diagnose
- S - focuses on positives not negatives of mental health
Defintions of abnormality - Failure to function
- Judged on ability to go about daily life
AO3: - Behaviour maybe functional - some mental disorders like depression may lead to extra attention - some people would be quite happy with this
- Depends on whose judging behaviours - the person may recognise that they aren’t coping - others may not realise that they aren’t coping and think its perfectly normal
Mental disorders - Phobias
- Emotional characteristics - fear is marked and persistent - anxiety and fear and anticipation of the object/situation
- Behavioural characteristics - avoidence, freeze or faint
- Cognitive characteristics - irrational nature of person’s thinking and resistence to rational arguments - the person recognises that its excessive and irrational
Mental disorders - Depression
- Emotional characteristics - sadness, worthlessness, hopelessness, low esteem, loss of interest in activities
- Behavioural characteristics - shift in activity level - increase or decrease - reduced energy and lethargy - some may be restless and tear skin or wring hands - appetite affected - sleep affected
- Cognitive characteristics - negative self concept, guilt and negative view of the world
Mental disorders - OCD
- Emotional characteristics - anxiety, stress, people are aware of the excessiveness and sometimes feel ashamed
- Behavioural characteristics - behaviours are repetitive - eg - hand washing or checking locks
- Cognitive characteristics - doubts, impulses, images that all create a sense of anxiety
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias - AO1
- Two process model - the processes that lead to phobias they begin through CC and are maintained through OC
- CC - Little Albert - white rat (NS) loud noise (UCS) and fear (UCR) - his phobia was then generalised to other white furry things - eg - rabbits
- OC - likelihood of a behaviour being repeated if there is a reward - the avoidance is removing an unpleasant feeling (negative reinforcement)
Behavioural approach to treating phobias - AO1
Systematic desensitisation :
- counterconditioning - counters original association - taught through CC to associate stimulus with new response (relax over fear)
- Relaxation - teaches patient relaxation techniques - focusing on breathing
- Hierarchy - different stages that gets harder the further up you go - practises relaxation at each stage - might start with looking at a spider from a distance and getting to the top stage where you hold one
Flooding:
- Instead of doing it gradually - the person is immersed in one long session experiencing the phobia at its worst - session continues until anxiety has gone
Cognitive approach to explaining depression - AO1
- Ellis’s ABC model - a=activating event b=belief c=consequence
- Mustubatory thinking - “I must do well or i’m worthless” or “I must be accepted by people who are the most important”
- Beck’s negative triad - depressed people have acquired a negative schema in childhood (view on the world) - caused by factors; rejection from teachers/parents - schemas are activated when person encounters new situation similar to original one - schemas lead to cognitive biases in thinking
- Negative triad - negative view of self, world and future
Cognitive approach for treating depression - AO1
CBT;
- based on the cognitive assumption that psychological problems occur as a result of irrational thinking - change irrational thoughts to rational ones
- form of CBT called REBT (Ellis)
D = Disputing irrational thoughts and beliefs
E = Effects of disputing and effective attitude to life
F = The new feelings produced
- 3 ways of disputing irrational thoughts:
Logical disputing = self-defeating beliefs do not make sense - they are illogical
Empirical disputing = self-defeating beliefs do not reflect reality - there is no proof that this is true
Pragmatic disputing = self-defeating beliefs are not useful - how is this helping you?
- Behavioural activation - taking part in pleasurable activites
Biological approach to explaining OCD; Genetics - AO1
Genetic explanations;
- COMT gene - regulates the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine that has been implicated in OCD and researchers have found COMT is more common in people who have OCD than those without the condition
- SERT gene - affects the transport of serotonin creating lower levels of this neurotransmitter - these lower levels have been found to be related to OCD
- Diathesis stress - proposes that each individual gene only creates a vulnerability for OCD as well as other conditions like depression - others affect what condition develops or indeed whether any mental illness develops
Biological approach to explaining OCD; neural - AO1
Abnormal Levels of Neurotransmitters:
- Dopamine levels are thought to be abnormally high in people with OCD - high doses of drugs that enhance levels of dopamine induce stereotyped movements resembling the compulsive behaviours in people with OCD
- Low levels of serotonin have been linked to OCD - Antidepressant drugs (SSRIs) that increase serotonin levels have been shown to reduce OCD symptoms
Abnormal Brain Circuits;
- OFC is responsible for sending signals to the thalamus about things that are worrying such as a germ hazard
- Caudate nucleus is responsible for surpressing signals from the OFC
- PET scans of patients with OCD have shown heightened activity in the OFC
- When the caudate nucleus is damaged it fails to surpress minor worry signals and the thalamus is alerted which in turn sends signals back to the OFC acting as a worry circuit
- Serotonin and dopamine are linked to these regions of the frontal lobes
Biological approach to treating OCD - AO1
- Anti depressents - SSRIs - low levels of serotonin linked to OCD so drugs increase levels of serotonin which will normalise the worry circuit - reduces anxiety - serotonin released into synapse from neuron - targets receptor cells n is reabsorbed by initial neuron - to increase levels the reuptake is inhibited
- Anti depressents - tricylics - first ever drug to be used for OCD - blocks the transporter mechanism that reabsorbs serotonin and noradrenaline after it has fired - advantage of targeting more than one cell - have greater side effects
- Anti anxiety drugs - BZs commonly used - slow down activity of the CNS by enhancing activity of neurotransmitter GABA - reacting with special sites and opens the channel that increases flow of chloride ions that make it harder for the neuron to be stimulated which slows down activity and relaxes the person
