Psychopathology - Done the SIl part of the booklet Flashcards
1
Q
What are behavioural characteristics?
A
Actions
2
Q
What are emotional characteristics?
A
Feelings
3
Q
What are cognitive characteristics?
A
Thoughts
4
Q
What are behavioural characteristics of OCD?
A
- Compulsions (repetitive rituals performed as a result of the anxiety caused by obsessions)
- E.g repeating certain words when passing a post box
5
Q
What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?
A
- Intense anxiety (unpleasant physiological arousal) and distress, caused by obsessions
- E.g feeling foolish that you think your family may die
6
Q
What are cognitive characteristics of OCD?
A
- Obsessive, irrational, persistent and intrusive thoughts, images or urges that repeatedly enter the mind
- E.g ‘an intruder will harm my family if I don’t check the lock 20 times’
7
Q
What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?
A
- Avoiding social events previously enjoyed
- Change in activity (lethargy), sleep (insomnia/hypersomnia) and eating (increase or decrease
- E.g. refusing invitations to meet up with freinds
8
Q
What are the emotional characteristics of depression?
A
- Low mode affecting feels of self-esteem and pleasure
- E.g intense sadness and worth fullness
9
Q
What are the cognitive characteristics of depression?
A
- Irrational negative beliefs about the self, the world and future
- E.g ‘Everyone hates me and I will never be liked’
10
Q
What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?
A
- Avoidance of the phobic stimulus (avoiding places where the fear will be encountered)
- Remaining in the phobic stimulus presence (endurance ‘freezing’)
- E.g not going on holiday if you have to go across a bridge
11
Q
What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?
A
- Intense physiological feeling of fear
- E.g dread and terror at the thought of speaking in public
12
Q
What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?
A
- Irrational beliefs about the phobic stimulus and resistance to rational arguments
- E.g ‘spiders will kill me’
13
Q
What is the definition of deviation from social norms?
A
Behaviour is abnormal if it goes against what society considers the norm
14
Q
What is the explanation of deviation from social norms?
A
- If behaviour is different to the typical way society perceives something its abnormal
- Abnormal behaviour is breaking societies rules, beliefs and values, how you should behave
- They may be explicit (wearing clothes) or implicit (not wearing black at funerals)
- Atypical behaviour is deviant as it is not expected behaviour
15
Q
How does deviation from social norms apply to OCD?
A
- Society has an unwritten rule that it is unacceptable to do behaviour which is repetitive or ritualistic (e.g avoiding shaking hands)
- Typical behaviour does not involve checking things several times
16
Q
How does deviation from social norms apply to depression?
A
- Society has an unwritten rule that its unacceptable to have persistent low mood (refusing to get out of bed is not conductive to working)
- Typical behaviour does not involve insomnia or no appetite
17
Q
How does deviation from social norms apply to Phobias?
A
- Society has an unwritten rule that its wrong to avoid situations that aren’t harmful (e.g refusing to go near pigeons)
- Typical behaviour doesn’t involve refusing to attend your friends party
18
Q
What are the weaknesses of deviation from social norms definition?
A
- Culturally relative
- Era dependant
- Context dependant
19
Q
Why is deviation from social norms definition culturally relative?
A
- Social norms vary between different cultures
- E.g women being topless is not the norm in our culture but may be in a tribal society
20
Q
Why is deviation from social norms definition era dependant?
A
- Societal norms change over time.
- Attitudes and beliefs change due to historical, political and cultural changes
- E.g same sex relationships between males was illegal and a mental illness until the 1960s
21
Q
Why is deviation from social norms definition context dependent?
A
- Abnormal behaviours are dependant on the situation in which they are being judged
- Many behaviours can be judged as eccentric not abnormal psychiatrically.
- E.g face tattoos break an implicit rule in society but aren’t abnormal clinically
22
Q
What is the definition failure to function adequately?
A
Behaviour is abnormal if it prevents a person from leading a normal, everyday life and coping with everyday activities
23
Q
What definition does Rosenham and Seligmans types of behaviour belong too?
A
Failure to function adequately
24
Q
When do Rosenham and Seligman say behaviour is abnormal?
A
When it becomes:
- Maladaptive behaviour
- Irrational behaviour
- Observer discomfort
- Unpredictable behaviour
25
What is maladaptive behaviour (Rosenham and Seligman)?
The behaviour stops a person from reaching life goals, both socially and occupationally
26
What is irrational behaviour (Rosenham and Seligman)?
Displaying behaviour that cannot be explained in a rational, reasonable way
27
What is observer discomfort (Rosenham and Seligman)?
Displaying behaviour that makes people feel uncomfortable
28
What is unpredictable behaviour (Rosenham and Seligman)?
Displaying unexpected behaviours characterised by a loss of control
29
How does failure to function adequately apply to OCD?
- A compulsive hand washer may scrub the skin of their hands through excessive hand washing
- This creates observer discomfort as it may make others squeamish
30
How does failure to function adequately apply to Depression?
- A depressive may be self-loathing and suicidal
- This could be irrational behaviour as the individual could appear to be successful and happy
31
How does failure to function adequately apply to Phobias?
- An individual could freeze or panic in front of their phobic object/situations
- This could be maladaptive behaviour as it may prevent them from going out
32
What are the negatives of the failure to function adequately definition?
- Based on subjective judgements
- Culturally relative
- Failing to function is not a defining feature of abnormality
33
Why is the definition failure to function adequately based on subjective arguments?
- What is classed as failing to function may depend on personal opinion
- For example those with Tourettes have tics. Some people may find it uncomfortable where's others won't be offended
34
Why is the definition failure to function adequately culturally relative?
- What is failing to function varies around the world
- In western culture hallucinations are a sign of failing to function but in non western cultures they are a spiritual experience
35
Why is the definition failure to function adequately not a defining feature of abnormality?
- It is possible to be abnormal and function adequately
- Abnormal behaviour showed by psychopaths may not meet any of the criteria of failing to function
- Harold Shipman killed over 250 patients whilst maintaining his family and GP career
36
What is the definition deviation from ideal mental health based on?
Humanist approach
37
What is the definition of deviation from mental health?
- Behaviour is abnormal if it lacks the signs of what people consider to be ideal mental health
- It is the absence of particular (ideal) characteristics
38
Which researcher is linked to the definition of deviation from ideal mental health?
Jahoda
39
What is the explanation of deviation from ideal mental health?
- Jahoda - abnormal behaviour is defined by the absence of 6 characteristics that are associated with ideal mental health
40
What is Jahoda 6 characteristics associated with ideal mental health?
- Having a positive view of yourself with a strong sense of identity
- Being capable of person growth and self-actualisation
- Being independent of others and self regulating
- Have an accurate view of reality
- Positive Friends and relationships
- Environmental mastery - being able to meet the varying demands of day to day situations
41
How does the definition deviation from ideal mental health apply to depression?
- May not have a positive view of themselves
- Lack the motivation to grow, develop and reach their full potential (self-actualise)
- They may find it difficult to resist and cope with stress
- Do not have an accurate perception of reality, such as being overly pessimistic
42
What is the strength of the definition deviation from ideal mental health?
- It takes a positive approach to behaviour
- It focuses what is helpful and desirable behaviour rather than behaviours that show abnormality
- It allows clear goals to be set during therapy so they can work towards ideal mental health
43
What are the weaknesses of the definition of deviation from ideal mental health?
- Based on subjective judgements
- The criteria for ideal mental health is unrealistic
44
Why is the definition of deviation from ideal mental health based on subjective arguments?
- The criteria are vague and difficult to measure (such as mastery of the environment)
- It is unclear how many criteria needs to be missing to be defined as abnormal
45
Why is the definition of deviation from ideal mental health unrealistic?
- The criteria is unrealistic as it is practically impossible to achieve all the criteria of ideal mental health all the time
- Maslow said that only a few people ever manage self-actualisation (around 1%)
46
What is the definition of statistical infrequency (definitions of abnormality)?
Behaviour is considered rare/uncommon in the general population, or is not seen very often
47
What is the explanation of statistical infrequency (definitions of abnormality)?
*The majority of people are ‘normal’ (clustered around the middle of a normal distribution curve), the minority are ‘abnormal’ (they are the tail ends of the curve)
*The less frequently a behaviour occurs in people then the more abnormal the behaviour.
*If your behaviour is 2 SD’s or more above or below the mean on a normal distribution you would be in approx. 2% of population -> abnormal
*Having an IQ below 70 is ‘abnormal’ (intellectual disability disorder)
48
How does statical infrequency definition apply to OCD?
- It is statistically rare in the population
- Around 2.3% of the adult population in USA suffer
- Therefore a minority of people suffer from OCD making it abnormal
49
What is the strength of statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality?
- Objective
50
Why is the statistical infrequency definition of abnormality objective?
- Provides clear guidelines on how to identify when a behaviour should be classed as abnormal
51
What are the weaknesses of statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality?
- Not necessary a defining feature of abnormality
- Era dependant
52
Why is statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality era dependant?
- Behaviours that were statistically rare years ago may be more common today, and vice versa.
- E.g 10 times more people suffer from major depression now compared to in 1945, which means the disorder is not abnormal today but would have been 75 years ago
53
Why is statistical infrequency not necessary a defining feature of abnormality?
- Some statistically rare behaviour are considered normal and vice versa
- E.g 6.7% of US adults suffer from major depression which means the disorder is not technically 'infrequent' as defined here
- Also highly intelligent people with an IQ over 130 are in the top 2%, so are statistically rare but not considered abnormal
