Psychopathology AO1 Flashcards
What is statistical infrequency?
Stat infrequency
- Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic e.g IQ
How does normal distribution relate to IQ?
Stat infrequency
- Majority of people’s scores cluster around average
- Further we go above or below less people have it
- 68% of people have a score 85-115
- 2% of people have below 70 and are liable to receive a diagnosis of IDD
What do I mean by: deviation from social norms
Stat infrequency
- When a person behaves in a way that is different from how we expect people to behave
Describe what a norm is and how it is decided
Stat infrequency
Groups of people choose to define behaviour as abnormal on the basis that it offends their sense of what is acceptable (norm)
Give me an example of an abnormality in our culture
Stat infrequency
- Homosexuality
- Brunei introduced new laws that make sex between men an offence punishable by stoning to death
What is an example of a mental disorder that offends social norms?
Stat infrequency
- APD
- They are impulsive, agressive and irresponsible
- Important symptom= an absence of proscoial internal standards associated with failure to conform to culturally normative ethical behaviour
When is someone failing to function?
Seligman
FFA
- When a person no longer conforms to interpersonal rules
- when a person experiences personal distress
- when a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous
What is the definition of FFA?
FFA
- When a person crosses the line between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ where they can no longer cope with the demands of life they are described as FFA
What is Jahoda’s criteria for ideal mental health?
FFA
- No distress
- rationality
- self actualise
- cope with stress
- realistic view of world
- good self esteem, lack guilt
- independent of other people
- successfully work
What is a phobia +3 examples.
phobias
An irrational fear of an object or situation
- specific phobias
- Social anxiety
- agoraphobia
What are behavioural characteristics of phobias?
phobias
Panic in response to phobic stimulus
Avoidance
Endurance where person chooses to remain in the presence
Name emotional characteristics of phobias
phobias
Anxiety- it is an anxiety disorder, an unpleasent state of high arousal
Fear, the immediate and unpleasent response
Emotional responses are unreasonable
Name cognitive characteristics of phobias
phobias
Selective attention to phobic stimulus
Irrational beliefs
Cognitive distortions - inaccurae and unrealistic
What is depression + 4 examples
depression
Depression is a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
Major depressive disorder
Persistent depressive disorder
Diruptive mood dysregulation disorder
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
What are behavioural characteristics of depression?
- Activity levels, reduced energy may withdraw from social life, psychomotor agitation
- Diruption to sleep and eating
- Aggression and self harm
What are emotional characteristics of depression?
Lowered mood
Anger
Low self esteem
What are cognitive characteristics of depression?
- Poor concentration
Attending to and dwelling on the negative
Absolutist thinking (black and white thinking)
What are behavioural characteristics of OCD?
Compulsions are repetitive
Compulsions reduce anxiety
Avoidance, keep away from situations that trigger it
What are emotional characteristics of OCD?
Anxiety and distress
Accompanying depression, comorbidity
Guilt and disgust
What are cognitive characteristics of OCD?
Obsessive thoughts
Cognitive coping strategies
Insight into excessive anxiety- aware that compulsions are not rational, catastrophic thoughts about worst case scenarios, hypervigilant
What is the two process model?
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias
An explanation for the onset and persistance of disorders that create anxiety. It explains how they are acquired through classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning.
What is classical conditioning?
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias
- Learning by association. Occurs when two stimuli and repeatedly paired togehter
- A UCS and a NS
- The NS eventually produces the response that the UCS produced when encountered alone
Name a case study of classical conditioning?
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias
- Watson and Reyner= Little Albert
- Albert showed no anxiety to begin with
- The noise produced by the metal bar acts as an UCS which produces a UCR
- When the rat (NS) is encountered with the UCS they become associated with each other
- He displays fear when he sees the rat (NS) which means the rat is now a CS that produces a CR
- this then generalised to other fluffy white objects
What is operant conditioning?
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias
- A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Possible consequences of behaviour include positive reinforcement, negative or punishment
What did Mowrer say about avoidant behaviour?
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias
We escape the fear and anxiety that we would have experienced if we remained there. The reduction in fear reinforces avoidance behaviour so phobia is maintained
Explain systematic desensitisation
Behavioural approach to treating phobias
- Anxiety hierarchy= list of situatios ranked from least to most firghtening
- Relaxation= may use breathing techniques or mental imagery, cant be afraid and relaxed as one emotion prevents other (reciprocal inhibition), may use drugs like valium
- Exposure= climg the AH, when they stay relaxed in lower levels they move up the AH
Explain Flooding
Behavioural approach to treating phobias
Immediate exposure, no AH
- Without option of avoidance behaviour the client learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless
- Known as extinction
- learned response is extinguished when the CS is encountered without the UCS
- may even feel relaxed due to exhaustion
- need informed consent and are fully prepared
What is counterconditioning?
Behavioural approach to treating phobias
- When a new response to the phobic stimulus is learned (PS is paired with relaxation instead of anxiety)
What is SD an example of?
Behavioural approach to treating phobias
Classical conditioning
According to Beck, how does he explain depression?
Beck cognitive depression
- Faulty information processing- black and white thinking, attend to negative aspects and ignore positives
- Negative self schema- schema is a package of indeas/info developed through experience, act as mental framework, use to interpret world, if negative then we interpet surroundings negatively
- The negative triad- develops dysfunctional view of themselves because of three types of negative thinking that occur automatically
What does the negative triad consist of?
Beck cognitive depression
- Negative view of world
- Negative view of future
- Negative view of self
What does Ellis’s ABC model consist of?
Ellic ABC cognitive
- Activating event= situations in which irrational thoughts are triggered by external events
- Beliefs= Musturbation (must always succeed), Utopianism (life is always meant to be fair)
- Consequences= when activating events trigger irrational beliefs there are emotional and behavioural consequences
How did Ellis define irrational thoughts?
Ellic ABC cognitive
- Any thoughts that interfere with us being happy and free from pain
What is the cognitive and behavioural element of CBT?
cognitive approach to treating depression
cognitive= assessment to clarify the client’s problems, they identify goals and make a plan to reach them, identify where there are irrational thoughts
behaviour= put more effective behaviour in place
What does CBT include?
cognitive approach to treating depression
- Challenging thoughts directly
- may be set homework to record events where they were happy
- can produce this evidence later to challenge negative beliefs
- called client as scientist
- identify automatic thoughts (negative triad)
What does REBT include?
cognitive approach to treating depression
- Extends ABC to ABCDE
- D= dispute
- E= effect
- Central effect of REBT is to identify and dispute irrational thoughts
- vigorous arguments
- break link between negative life events and depression
- Multiple methods of disputing
What are the two methods of disputing in REBT?
cognitive approach to treating depression
- Empirical argument= whether there is actual evidence to support the negative belief
- Logical argument= whether the negative thought logically follows from the facts
What is behavioural activation and why is it used?
cognitive approach to treating depression
- Increase individuals engagement in activities that have been shown to improve mood
- It gradually decreases avoidance and isolation which reinforces depression
Who researched genetic involvement in OCD?
Biological approach to explaining OCD
- Lewis= observed that 37% of OCD patients had parents with OCD
- 21% had siblings with OCD
- this suggests that OCD runs in families
- it is genetic vulnerability that is passed on not the certainty of OCD
How does the diathesis stress model account for OCD?
Biological approach to explaining OCD
Certain genes leave some people more likely to develop a mental disroder but it is not certain. Some environmental stress is necessary to trigger the condition
What are the 3 key genetic factors of OCD?
Biological approach to explaining OCD
Candidate genes= create vulnerability, involved in serotonin system e.g 5HT1-D is involved in transport across synapse
Polygenic= ocd is not caused by one single gene but a combination that increase vulnerability
* Taylor found that there may be up to 230 different genes involved in OCD, genes have role in dopamine and serotonin action
Aetiologically heterogenous= one group of genes may cause OCD for one person but not another
What is a neural explanation for OCD?
Biological approach to explaining OCD
- The role of serotonin= believed to regulate mood, neurotransmitters relay info from one neuron to next, low levels of serotonin= transmission of mood relevent info doesn’t happen
- Decision making systems=
How do neural structures affect OCD?
Biological approach to explaining OCD
Basal ganglia= Controls routine behaviours and coordination of movement
- Hyperactivity is implicated, overactivity causes complications
- people with head injuries to this region develop OCD like symptoms
Orbitofrontal cortex= converts sensory info into thoughts and actions, part of worry centre sending worry signals to other parts
- worry circuit is overactive, sending too many signals, caudate nucleus cannot filter out
- leads to obsessions and compulsions
What are SSRIs?
Bio approach to treating OCD
Selective serotonin reabsorption inhibitors
What do biological treatments work on?
Bio approach to treating OCD
The assumption that OCD is caused by neurochemical imbalances in the brain
Explain how serotonin is released and how SSRIs work
Bio approach to treating OCD
- Serotonin is released by presynaptic neuron
- Travels across a synapse
- Neurotransmitter chemically conveys signal to postsynaptic neuron
- it is reabsorbed by the presynaptic neuron where it is broken down and reused
- SSRIs prevent breakdown and reabsorption so serotonin levels increase in the synapse
- communicatiom between nerve cells improve, alleviating anxiety and depression
What is the use in combining SSRIs with other treatments?
Bio approach to treating OCD
- Used along side CBT
- the drugs reduce emotional symptoms
- Means that clients can engage more effectively with the CBT
What are 2 alternatives to SSRIs?
Bio approach to treating OCD
Tricyclics= acts on various systems where it has the same effect as SSRIs, clomipramine has more severe side effects, kept in reserve for those who don’t respond to SSRIs
SNRIs (noradrenaline)= second line of defence, increase levels of serotonin as well as noradrenaline (another neurotransmitter
