Topic 1 - Psychological Disorders Flashcards
Define psychopathology
Refers to problematic patterns of thought, feeling or behaviour that disrupt an individual’s sense of wellbeing or social or occupational functioning.
How does culture impact psychopathology?
- Vulnerability to disorders
- Classifications
- Some disorders are culture specific (e.g. Koro & Amok)
- Different cultures may have different Sx for the same disorders
Define labelling theory.
Argues that diagnosis is a way of stigmatising individuals a society considers deviant.
(Hasn’t held up well over time due to cross-cultural recognition of disorders & evidence to suggest some disorders are illnesses in the brain)
What did Thomas Szasz propose?
that mental illness is a myth used to make people conform to society’s standards of normality.
Define mental health.
Is the capacity of individuals to behave in ways that promote their emotional and social wellbeing.
Define mental health problems.
MH problems include the wide range of emotional and behavioural abnormalities that affect people throughout their lives.
Define mental disorder.
Implies the existence of a clinically recognisable set of symptoms and behaviours that cause distress to the individual and impair their ability to function as usual.
What populations are at high risk of mental disorders in AU?
Kids, adolescents, older people, Aboriginal, TSI, rural, CALD
What are the pros & cons of Diagnosis?
Pros: Short-hand, may point toward specific risks & treatments.
Cons: labelling, stigma
What are the 3 psychodynamic classes of psychopathology?
- Neuroses - enduring problems in living that cause distress or dysfunction
- Personality disorders - chronic, severe disturbances that substantially inhibit the capacity to love and to work.
- Psychoses - gross disturbances involving a loss of touch with reality.
Define psychodynamic formulation. What is it derived from?
A set of hypotheses about the patients personality structure and the meaning of a symptom.
(Derived from info re: functioning, life stress, origins/course of Sx, salient events).
What 3 questions does the psychodynamic formulation focus on?
- What does the patient wish for and fear? → focuses on motives and conflicts
- What psychological resources does the person have at his disposal → focuses on the adaptive functioning/ ability to function autonomously.
- How does the pt experience himself and others? → ability to form meaningful relationships & maintain self esteem
What is the cognitive-behavioural perspective of psychological disorders?
Clinicians integrate an understanding of classical and operant conditioning with a cognitive-social perspective.
What is the behavioural perspective of psychopathology?
- Psychological problems involve conditioned emotional responses in which previously neutral stimulus has become associated with unpleasant emotions
- irrational fears in turn elicit avoidance, which perpetuates them and may lead to secondary problems, such as poor social skills.
What do behaviourist clinicians focus on in psychopathology?
Assessing the conditions under which Sx arise & try to discover the stimuli that elicit them.
What is the cognitive perspective of psychopathology?
What do clinicians focus on?
Many psychological problems reflect dysfunctional attitudes, beliefs and other cognitive processes, such as a tendency to interpret events negatively.
Clinicians will assess the thoughts that run through a pt’s mind as the Sx arises.
What is the biological approach to psychopathology?
What is a central focus?
Looks for roots of mental disorders in the brains circuitry.
- neurotransmitter dysfunction
- abnormalities of brain structures along a pathway that regulates behaviour
Central focus = heritability
What is the diathesis-stress model?
Proposes that people with an underlying vulnerability (called a diathesis) may exhibit Sx under stressful circumstances.
Define systems approach.
Explains an individual’s behaviour in the context of a social group (e.g. couple, family etc).
What is the family systems model?
Views an individual’s Sx as Sx of dysfunction in the family = The real problem lies in the family, not the individual.
What are the 3 ways evolutionary psychologists view psychopathology?
- A random variation likely to be weeded out by natural selection.
- As the result of broader population pressures that select rates of genes in the population that can be either functional or dysfunctional depending on the other genes an individual inherits
- As the maladaptive environmental ‘tuning’ of psychological mechanisms that are normally adaptive.
Define clinical syndromes.
Constellations of symptoms that tend to occur together.
What does the DSM-5 contain?
- Diagnostic criteria
- Prevalence
- Similar disorders
What is ADHD?
A disorder characterised by inattention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity inappropriate for the child’s age.
