Psychopathology Evaluation Flashcards
Deviation from social norms evaluation
Limitation- social norms change over time so the lack of consistency reduces the reliability of this definition of abnormality
Limitation- social norms differ between cultures and are culturally relative
Limitation- this can be seen as punishing people who are trying to express their individuality and not conform to social norms
Strength- distinguishes between desirable and undesirable behaviour so it may be more appropriate than other definitions
Failure to function adequately evaluation
Strength- includes the patients perspective so it can be used as a useful criterion and provide a checklist for patients to assess their level of functioning
Limitation- abnormality is not always accompanied by dysfunction e.g. psychopaths can be very dangerous yet still appear normal like Harold Shipman
Limitation- cultural relativism e.g. long periods of bereavement are more acceptable in some cultures but in others may be seen as low functioning
Statistical infrequency evaluation
Strength- objective as there is a clear cut off point so it is easier to decide who meets the criteria and who doesn’t
Limitation- many abnormal behaviours are actually quite desirable e.g. high IQ therefore it is makes it more difficult to narrow down undesirable characteristics and focus treatment on that
Limitation- the cut off point is subjective as many disorders vary in severity
Deviation from ideal mental health evaluation
Limitation- ethnocentric as ideals of mental health like self-actualisation may be seen as selfish and not relevant to all cultures such as collectivist cultures in which the wider community is taken into consideration
Limitation- not clear how many of the criteria need to be lacking before we are seen as deviation from ideal mental health
Strength- alternative perspective on mental disorders as it focuses on desirable behaviours rather than the negatives
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias evaluation
Strength- it can be tested in an objective and rigorous way e.g. Mowrer paired a buzzer sound with an electric shock and trained rats to escape an electric shock by jumping over a barrier when the buzzer sounded through negative reinforcement
Strength- practical applications of systematic desensitisation
Limitation- Seligman stated that it fails to explain the role of evolution in fears and phobias so the explanation is incomplete and too simplistic
Behavioural approach to treating phobias evaluation- systematic desensitisation
strength- it has been proven to be effective by Gilroy who followed up with 42 patients after s.d. and 33 months later they still showed less fear to their spider phobia than a control group
strength- sufferers prefer it to flooding because it does not cause the same degree of trauma
limitation- Ohman says that s.d. may not be effective for all types of phobias e.g. phobias with underlying evolutionary components
Behavioural approach to treating phobias evaluation- flooding
strength- it is cost effective as it is as effective as s.d. but much faster
limitation- it is highly traumatic for patients and so money and time are sometimes wasted as patients are unwilling to see it through to the end
Cognitive approach to explaining depression evaluation
strength- it has been applied to CBT which is consistently found to be the best treatment for depression by challenging irrational thinking
limitation- the cognitive approach appears to blame the patient for their depression which places a large burden on someone who is already prone to negative thinking
limitation- the diathesis stress approach is more appropriate as some individuals suffer from a genetic vulnerability for depression causing them to be prone to stressful life events etc
Cognitive treatment for depression evaluation
strength- CBT has been proven to be effective by March who compared it to drug therapy and found after 36 weeks 81% of patients showed improvement in both groups so CBT is just as effective but without side effects
strength- CBT has clear economic benefits as mental health issues cost England £22.5bil per year
limitation- CBT may not work for all sufferers as it requires commitment and motivation which may not be possible for people with severe depression
Biological explanation to OCD evaluation
strength- Nestadt carried out a meta-analysis of twin studies and found MZ twins had a concordance rate of 68% compared to 31% of DZ twins therefore there is a link between OCD and genetics
Strength- Soomro found that SSRI’s were more effective than placebos in treating OCD which supports the neural explanation as SSRI’s increase the levels of serotonin
limitation- the diathesis stress approach would be more appropriate as Cromer found that over half of their OCD patients had experienced a traumatic life event and it was more severe in patients who experienced more than one traumatic event
Biological approach to treating OCD evaluation
strength- drug therapy is cost effective as it does not require a trained therapist and it is less disruptive to the patients lives
limitation- drugs only treat the symptoms of OCD rather than the root cause so psychotherapies like CBT should be tried first as with drugs patients normally relapse within the first few weeks as it is not a lasting cure
limitation- major and minor side effects such as blurred vision, indigestion and hallucinations which diminish the effectiveness as it will cause higher drop out rates
