Psychopathology (Paper 1) Flashcards
Deviation from Social Norms def + S + L
Deviating from the commonly accepted rules/standards of behaviour set by society Norms). Usually results in performing behaviour that is seen as socially unacceptable.
e.g. laughing when told someone has died.
Strength: Practical application - Useful in the diagnosis of psychological conditions. Therefore enabling the protection of society from unstable people.
Limitation: Norms are subjective and change over time. e.g. Being gay would be seen as abnormal 50 years ago.
Also Norms are culturally relative.
e.g. ‘Hearing voices’ is normal in tribal cultures, seen as abnormal in western cultures.
Failure to Function Adequately def + S + L
Being unable to perform normal everyday tasks such as waking up for work, getting dressed, maintaining good hygiene etc.
A subjective assessment of their life is used to determine whether they are unable to cope.
Strength: Accounts for the subjectiveness of the patient. Leads to higher validity of diagnosis.
Limitation: Problem with subjectivity. Some people who would be regarded (by most of society) as ‘abnormal’ (i.e. having a psychological condition) are still able to function or do not recognise their dysfunction. E.g. murderer who can live a ‘normal life’ despite murdering countless victims.
Six Key Criteria for ‘Ideal Mental Health’
- Positive self-attitudes/Self esteem: Displaying a positive self-concept and a strong sense of identity (e.g. viewing oneself in a realistic way, accepting both ones limitations and strengths).
- Self-actualisation: The ability to fulfil ones potential (for example intellectual, artistic, athletic).
- Resistance to Stress: An ability to cope with stressful encounters (e.g. an upcoming exam or coursework deadline).
- Autonomy Ability: to make decisions independently and not being dependent on others.
- Accurate perception of reality: Ability to view oneself and the world in a realistic way; neither through an overly optimistic or pessimistic vision.
- Adapting to the environment: Ability to meet the demands of any situation – being flexible and competently adapting/adjusting to change at work, in leisure activities, in personal relationships.
Deviation from ideal mental health def + S + L
Def: Not having one or more of the 6 criteria would be seen as abnormal
S: More positive - focuses on mental health rather than abnormality. Good as it helps therapists to give patients something to work towards.
L: Too demanding/unrealistic. Most people struggle to achieve self-actualisation.
L: Western culture bias. several ideas are suited to western cultures (autonomy (independence) and self-actualisation).
Statistical infrequency def + S + L
Proposes behaviours that are statistically rare are seen as abnormal - Any that fall out of the 5% range.
S: More objective - less reliant on subjective views of patient or therapist for diagnosis; more accurate diagnosis
L: Overlooks ‘desirability’ of rare behaviours such as high IQ. Confuses being ‘exceptional’ with ‘abnormal’. Subjective
L: Cut off point is arbitrary. eg person with 70 IQ = normal but 69 IQ = Abnormal.
Characteristics of Phobias
Cognitive:
- Selective attention to stimulus: P find it hard to divert attention away from phobic stimulus
- Irrational beliefs: eg all spiders are deadly/will die if touched by a spider
Emotional:
- Anxiety: High levels when in the presence or in anticipation of phobic stimuli
- Emotional responses are unreasonable: Response (eg panic attack) is unproportionate to the level of danger posed by the stimulus.
Behavioural:
- Avoidance: Goes through a lot of effort to avoid phobic stimuli
- Panic: Fight or flight response in presence of phobia
The Two process model of Phobias
Process 1: Classical conditioning - Creation
- Phobia formed through an association of a cue in the environment (NS) and a traumatic event (UCS) which created the reaction of fear (UCR).
- After this occurs the environmental cure becomes the CS with the CR of fear.
Process is passive - requires no effort from the learner
Process 2: Operant Conditioning - Maintenance
- Individual avoids the stimulus they fear, which removes their anxiety/fear and acts as negative reinforcement.
- Therefore never allowing them to ‘face their fear’ and get rid of it.
Characteristics of OCD
Cognitive:
- Obsessive thoughts: recurring intrusive thoughts relating to an event/situation
- Insight into excessive behaviour: awareness their behaviours are not rational
Behavioural:
- Compulsions: Feel the need to continuously repeat behaviours to reduce anxiety/fear
- Avoidance: Avoiding events/stimuli that trigger anxiety
Emotional:
- Anxiety and distress
- Guilt and disgust: behaviour causes these feelings to
Biological Treatment of OCD + S + S + L
Drug therapy
Specifically: SSRIs
- works by preventing the réabsorption of serotonin
S: Effective
- Meta analysis of 17 studies found SSRIs were more effective than placebo.
S: Cost effective
- Fast and most accessible treatment - cheaper for the NHS than psychological therapies
L: Side effects
- Loss of sex drive, weight gain etc
- Affects compliance.
Genetic Explaination of OCD
Compared this with OCD to those without OCD
Candidate genes identified where the COMT (affects enzyme regulating dopamine levels) + SERT gene (affecting/lowering sérotonine levels)
OCD is a combination of both, not just one
Neural explaination of OCD + S + L
Low sérotonine: known to regulate mood. If one has low sérotonine, mental processes can be affected
High dopamine: Higher levels to be associated with increased reward from obsessive behaviour
S: Practical application
- Helps develop SSRIs, therefore helping society and people
L: Cause and effect
- As OCD is mostly studied after diagnosis, hard to tell whether OCD caused neural abnormality or neural abnormality caused OCD
Worry circuit explanation of OCD
Frontal lobe abnormality in people with OCD.
Orbital frontal cortex is damaged so more worry signals are sent, causing high anxiety and obsessive behaviours to suppress this anxeity.
Becks negative triad for creating a Negative Self-Schema
Negative view of self: i am worthless
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Negative view of future: i’ll never be good at anything
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Negative view of world: Everyone hates me
ABC Model for dépression
A = Activating event (eg friends cancel plans)
B = Belief (eg ugh they hate me)
C= Consequence (eg so you never go out again)
Procedures involved in CBT
- Identify irrational/Negative thoughts.
- Challenge + change irrational beliefs
- Logical disputing: highlighting that self-defeating beliefs do not follow logically from the information available.
- Empirical disputing: highlighting that these beliefs may not be consistent with reality.
- Pragmatic disputing: Emphasise the lack of usefulness of self-defeating beliefs
