Psychopathology: Introduction and Historical Context (CHAP 1) Flashcards
definition of a psychological
disorder (scientific)
“A Psychological dysfunction within an individual associated with duress or impairment in functioning, and a response that is not typically or culturally accepted.”
Science is (at least a good part of it) is
socially constructed
Social Constructivist Theory
Idea that learning is collaborative - it is built upon another’s contribution, and people build constructs and agree upon them (group, culture, etc)
A clear and complete insight into the nature of madness, a correct and distinct conception of what constitutes the difference between _________ has, as far as I know, not been found.
sane and the insane (Schopenhaur)
Making a clear defiinition of psychology is
Controversial
______ is the scientific study of psychological disorders
Psychopathology
the overall definition of a psychological
disorder is not ___________
universally agreed on
statistical infrequency or violation of social norms
Abnormality
the issues relating distress to individuals in psychological disorders is
highly functional people may be struggling
significantly inside but are resilient
Consumer of science
* Enhancing the practice
Evaluator of practice
* Determining the
effectiveness of the
practice
Creator of science
* Conducting research
that leads to new
procedures useful
in practice
Scientistpractitioner
Many mental health professionals take a scientific approach to their clinical work and are therefore referred
to as
scientist-practitioners
What is a psychological dysfunction?
“Cognitive, behavioural or emotion breakdown in functioning” , is it a spectrum as well!!!
This course and the text has a ____ towards evidence‐based
assessment and treatment
bias
entering a trance is considered _______ in some
cultures but not in others, so we do not label it as dysfunctional
atypical (atypical or not culturally expected)
Dysfunction – controllability?
▪ Widiger and Sankis (2000) suggest that whether it is beyond your
_____ should be considered
control
why the patient is seeking help
Presenting problem
How many people have the disorder
Prevalence
How many new cases occur within a period
Incidence
Proportion of males and females with a particular disorder
Sex Ratio
at what age a disorder typically presents
Age of Onset
the pattern of symptoms across time (chronic, episodic)
Course
anticipated course of the disorder
Prognosis
Why a disorder begins
Etiology
Cutting holes in the skull to let evil spirits out
Trephination
Approach to disorders with (Chemical, genetic, structural theories)
Biological
Approach to disorders with (Psychoanalytic, behavioural, humanist)
Integrative Approaches
Psychological
Measuring the correlation between factors, symptoms, etc
“Measuring two variables and assessing the relationship between them, with no manipulation of an independent variable”
(Correlation =/= Causation, does not differentiate which causes the other or if they are in tandem)
Correlational Etiology
Father of Modern Medicine
Hippocrates
Believed psychological disorders probably occurred in the brain
Humoral Theory: Brain functioning affected by four fluids in the body (depression = black bile)
Excesses were addressed with blood-letting, temperature therapy
Other cultures like Traditional Chinese Medicine aligned similarly in that it focuses on imbalance of supernatural energy
Also believed there could be Psychosomatic causes of medical illness without apparent physical causes (eg; hysterical blindness)
The “talking cure”
psychoanalysis
Anna Freud
Her approach used Freud’s ideas but presented them in a slightly different way, that abnormal behaviour is still due to the ego being deficient but not by purely “sexual” drives. Believed struggle or any conflict could lead to this abnormal behaviour.
▪ Originated from Freud’s drive theory (importance of biological
drives that people must control to adapt to society)
▪ The unconscious conflict between the id and superego get re‐
enacted throughout a person’s life
▪ Core interpersonal conflicts are repeated in the relationship with
the therapist (transference)
▪ Across STPPs, focus is on becoming aware of unconscious
processes, and re‐enacting troublesome issues in relationship
with therapist
▪ Brief: 16‐30 sessions
▪ More active and GOAL‐DIRECTED than psychoanalytic
Short‐term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
(STPP)
▪ Address interpersonal problems that underlie
depression
▪ Stems from interpersonal theories of psychodynamic
theory (Sullivan) but doesn’t focus on relation to id,
ego…
▪ Develop more effective communication patterns and
more realistic expectations about relationships
▪ Empirically supported therapy for depression (Cuijpers
et al., 2011; Cuijpers, Karyotaki, de Wit & Ebert, 2020
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for
Depression
Your nature (archetypes) is present from birth, and your environment brings it out; fundamentally believes people have a positive orientation to grow, set goals, etc
Carl Jung:
Uses information about relationships to alter intrapsychic variables
Intrapsychic
Explicitly attempts to alter relationship functioning
Interpersonal
very little technique, mainly empathy, and to have unconditional positive regard (always be supportive and positive in moving forward with what works to improve their conditio
“Person-Centred Therapy” Carl Rogers
Largely present focused, but also emotion focused
Feelings and emotional experiences can cause client to be stuck
A lot of “What do you feel” , and trying to connect it to issues they are experiencing
Les Greenberg and Emotion-Focused Therapy
