Psychopathology AO1 Flashcards
Deviation from social norms
A social norm is an unwritten expectation of behaviour that can vary from culture to culture and change over time. Additionally what is acceptable is one context may not be acceptable in another, and people who deviate from these societal expectations may be seen as abnormal or social deviants.
Deviation from ideal mental health
Jahoda’s definition comes from the humanistic perspective, focusing on way to improve and become a better person rather than dysfunction or deficit. Jahoda identified six features of ideal mental health and argues deviation from these features indicates abnormality.
Jahoda’s criteria:
- environmental mastery: the ability to adapt and thrive in new situations.
- autonomy: the ability to act independently and trust in one’s own abilities.
- resistance to stress: the internal strength to cope with anxiety caused by daily life.
- self-actualisation: the ability to reach one’s potential through personal growth.
- positive attitude towards oneself: characterised by high self-esteem and self-respect.
- accurate perception of reality: the ability to see the world as it is without being distorted by personal biases.
Failure to function adequately
The individual is defined ass abnormal if they cannot cope in their daily lives, including their ability to interact with the world and meet their challenges.
Rosenhan and Seligman criteria:
- maladaptive behaviour: behaves in ways that go against their long term interests.
- personal anguish: the individual differs from anxiety and distress.
- observer discomfort: the individual’s behaviour causes distress to those around them.
- irrationality: unexpected behaviour
- unconventionality - behaviour doesn’t match what is typically expected to society.
Statistical infrequency
Someone is mentally abnormal if their condition is very rare in the population, this is judged objectively using statistics, comparing the individuals behaviour to the rest of the population, they appear at the extremities of the normal distribution curve.
What are the three types of phobias?
Specific phobia - fear of a specific object or situation.
Social phobia - fear of social situations due to potential embarrassment or judgement.
Agoraphobia - fear of open spaces or being in situations where escape might be difficult.
What is the behavioural approach to explaining phobias?
Classical conditioning: (learning through association) neutral stimulus becomes associated with a fearful experience leading to the development of a phobia.
Operant conditioning: (learning through reinforcement) once a response is established avoiding the phobics stimulus reduces anxiety reinforcing the avoidance behaviour.
What is the behavioural approach to treating phobias?
Systematic desensitisation: (involves gradual exposure to phobic stimulus in a controlled way whilst teaching relaxation techniques to counter condition the anxiety). 1) teach relaxation methods, 2) create an anxiety hierarchy from least anxious to most anxious, 3) gradually exposed to the hierarchy whilst practising relaxation this relies on counterconditioning and reciprocal inhibition the idea that fear and relaxation cannot coexist.
Flooding: immediate and intense exposure to the fear object or situation until the anxiety is exhausted and diminishes.
What is becks cognitive theory of depression?
Faulty information processing – depressed individuals focus on the negative aspect of the situation ignoring the positives
Negative self – tendency to interpret information about oneself in a negative way
Negative triad – negative view of oneself negative views of the world and negative views of the future.
What is Ellis ABC model?
Depression is caused by irrational thoughts.
A – activating events a situation that triggers irrational thoughts.
B - beliefs - irrational beliefs
C - consequence, emotional and behavioural consequence such as depression
What is becks cognitive behavioural therapy?
– Identify negative thoughts in the negative triad.
– uses tort catching where patients learn to recognise and record automatic negative thoughts
– Patients are encouraged to act as a scientist testing their reality of their beliefs through evidence based reasoning.
– They are challenged with assignments and goals setting that patients complete outside of sessions such as keeping a diary.
What is Ellis REBT?
An extended ABC model
D – dispute – challenging irrational beliefs (empirical dispute – looking for real evidence to support or contradict the belief)(logical dispute – challenging whether the belief makes logical sense or not)(pragmatic dispute – examining whether the belief is useful or helpful).
E – effect developing rational positive beliefs
What is OCD?
A mental disorder characterised by obsessions and compulsions.
How do families support the genetic explanation of OCD?
Research suggests a genetic component to OCD as individuals with a 1st degree relative with OCD and more likely to develop this disorder.
How do twin studies support the genetic explanation to OCD?
Studies show a higher concordance rate for OCD in monozygotic twins compared to dizygotic twins indicating a genetic predisposition. Nestadt et al found that the concordat was 53% in monozygotic twins and only 22% in dizygotic twins.
What is the SERT gene and how is it related to OCD?
It codes for the serotonin transport of protein which is responsible from removing serotonin from the synaptic cleft and thereby reducing serotonin in the synapse.
– In individuals with a variation of the SERT gene, serotonin reuptake is impaired so it occurs too quickly leading to low levels of serotonin in the synapse causing obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour.
– Ozarki et al. Found that mutations in the SERT were associated with increased susceptibility to OCD.
What is the COMT gene and how is it related to OCD?
The COMT gene is involved in the breakdown of dopamine.
– Dopamine is released into the synaptic cleft And bind to dopamine receptors after transmission the COMT enzymes breakdown dopamine.
– Variations of the gene affect officially dopamine is broken down leading to higher or lower levels of dopamine.
– Inefficient dopamine breakdown can lead to excess in the prefrontal cortex which can cause cognitive disturbances and contribute to obsessive thinking.
What is the neural explanation support for OCD?
The neural explanation suggest that brain abnormalities particularly in the regions related to decision-making and emotional regulation contribute to OCD.
– The frontal cortex is involved in decision-making and detecting potential threats with people with OCD. The orbital frontal cortex may be overactive leading to excessive worrying and the generation of obsessive thoughts.
– The Basal ganglia and caudate nucleus are involved in filtering out irrelevant information if the nucleus fails to suppress intrusive thoughts it can lead to compulsive behaviours.
– the corticostriatal thalamo system: frontal cortex generates the obsessive thoughts like worries or fears, the caudate nucleus should help filter out these irrelevant thought but in OCD it doesn’t work properly allowing the thoughts to continue, thalamus implies these thoughts sending them back to the cortex strengthening and creating a cycle.
What are SSRIs as a drug for OCD?
Example: fluoxetine
How it works: increase serotonin levels in the brain by blocking the re-uptake of serotonin at the synapse allowing it to remain active for longer.
Soomro et al - meta analysis and found SSRIs a more effective than a placebo in reducing OCD symptoms.
What are SNRIs as a treatment for OCD?
Example: venlafaxine
Hope it works: increase both serotonin and norepinephrine levels preventing their reabsorption into the presynaptic neurone.
What are benzodiazepines as a drug for OCD?
Examples: diazepam
How it works: they reduce anxiety by enhancing the effect of GABA the brains natural calming neurotransmitter. They are not used to OCD long term because they don’t address the underlying issue.
What are tricyclic acids as a treatment for OCD?
Example: clomipramine
How it works: Increases serotonin levels it is a more powerful drug, but it has more side-effects.
