Psychopathology

• What are the 4 definitions of abnormality?

  1) Deviation from social norms (DSN)

  
  

  2) Failure to function adequately (FFA)

  
  

  3) Statistical frequency (SI)

  
  

  4) Deviation from ideal mental health (DIMH)
• Define deviation from social norms (DSN)

  When someone deviated/goes against the 'unwritten social rule/norms' they are considered abnormal
• Strengths of DSN


  + Has face validity - supports general ideas of abnormality

  
  

  + Developmental norms - can be sued to asses whether infants are developing at the right time/speed
• Weaknesses of DSN


  - Social norms change over time - 'Era dependent'

  
  

  - Cultural relativity - social normals vary depending on culture

  
  

  - Human rights abuse - dreptomania - DSN has been used int eh past to keep control over certain minority groups
• Define failure to function adequately (FFA)

  Behaviour is considered abnormal when someone cannot cope with their everyday life (interferes with day to day life)
• Strengths of FFA


  + RLA - important criteria when diagnosing someone
• Weaknesses of FFA


  - Who decides what is adequate

  
  

  - Abnormality is not always associated with failure to function adequately - many individuals with a mental health disorder can lead pretty normal lives
• Define Statistical Infrequency (SI) + give an example

  A behaviour is considered abnormal if it is statistically infrequent when compared to the rest of the population

  
  

  Any individuals with the 'abnormal characteristic' falls in the top + bottom 2.5 of the population

  
  

  e.g. schizophrenia is suffered by 1 in 100 so is statistically infrequent (abnormal)
• What is SI measured on + what does it look like?

  Normal distribution graph/IQ graph

  
• Strengths of SI


  + It is objecting an sometimes appropriate - it becomes an objective way of deciding what's abnormal

  
  

  + RLA of diagnosis - used to identify and diagnose someone with IDD (Intellectual Disability Disorder)
• Weaknesses of SI


  - Focuses of frequency not desirability of the behaviour - lower IQ is more abnormal than a high IQ but a high IQ is ermore desirable - same with the type of disorder - Cultural relevance - what is considered SI in one culture might be statistically more frequent in anoth
• Define deviation from ideal mental health (DIMH)

  Jahoda suggests there's a criteria to meet before you have the 'ideal mental health' He argued that if anyone deviated from any of these six criteria then you would be considered abnormal
• What are Jahoda's criteria?

  1) Positive attitudes towards self

  2) Self-actualisation + personal growth

  3) Being resistant to stress

  4) Personal autonomy - someone who has the ability to take charge of their own life/has confidence in themselves

  5) Accurate perception of reality

  6) Environmental mastery
• Strengths of DIMH


  + Positive approach to viewing abnormality

  + Jahodas criteria have some RLA are in accord with the humanistic approach

  + The DIMH covers a broad range of criteria for mental health
• Weaknesses of DIMH


  - Sets unrealistic standards for mental health - no-one can achieve all these at the same therefor suggesting that everyone is abnormal

  
  

  - Cultural relativism - These criteria are rooted in western societies (self-actualisation maybe seen as the most important in one culture but not in others)
• Define phobias

  An irrational fear of an object or situation
• Characteristics of specific phobias

  • Fears relating to specific objects/situations
  • Include animal (e.g. dogs) + situational phobias (e.g. planes/lifts)
• Characteristics of social phobias

  • Excessive fear of situations involving other people
• Characteristic of Agoraphobia

  • Fear of public spaces
  • Most serious phobia (can have significant impacts on someone's social life/they can't leave the house)
• What are 3 behavioural characteristics of phobias?

  • Panic
  • Avoidance
  • Endurance (opposite to avoidance)
• Emotional characteristic of phobias

  • Emotional responses
  • Anxiety
  • Fear
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias

  • Decrease in concentration
  • Irrational beliefs
  • Selective attention to phobic stimulus - the person will find it hard to divert their attention away from phobic stimulus
• What is the two-process model?

  • Behavioural explanation of phobias
  • Explanation for the creation + persistence of phobias (creation/acquired through classical conditioning) (Maintained/pursued by operant conditioning)
• How does classical conditioning help acquire the phobia?

  • Learning through association 
  • NS (e.g. traumatic experience) is associated with the UCS (e.g. heights) which produces an UCR (e.g. fear)
  • Then the phobia will occur every time the NS is there
• How does operant conditioning maintain the phobia?

  If the person avoids the phobic stimulus then anxiety is greatly reduced - This reinforces the fear bc they aren't facing the fear
• Strengths of the two-process model

  + RWA - It explains how phobias are created and maintained in a logical way - has face validity

  + Helped with treatments + therapies - flooding + systematic desensitisation techniques
• Weaknesses of the two-process model

  • Incomplete explanation to phobias - evolutionary factors may have a big role in phobias
  • Alternative explanation for avoiding phobias - Avoidance behaviours could be due to positive feelings of safety/relaxing not just negative ones like fear/anxiety
• WHat are two behavioural treatments for phobias?

  • Systematic desensitization
  • Flooding
• What is Systematic desensitisation?

  Slowly reducing the anxiety caused by phobia using classical - operant conditioning Therapist tries to associate new feelings/emotions with the phobia
• Name + explain the three processes used in systematic desensitisation

  1. Anxiety hierarchy - a list of situations, from the patient, that involve the phobia from least to most frightening
  2. Relaxation - the therapist teaches the patient relaxation techniques to get them to calm down
  3. Exposure - When relaxed, the patient is exposed to phobic stimulus - starting at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy
• Strengths of systematic desensitisation

  + Effectiveness - good with specific phobias but not with social phobias/agoraphobia

  + Appropriate - generally quick and requires less effort on the patients part

  + less traumatic - more gentle than flooding --> making it more popular + more successful
• Weaknesses of systematic desensitisation

  • Doesn't treat the cause, only the behaviour
  • Less effective for evolutionary theories
  • Many patients cannot apply what they have learnt in therapy to everyday situations
• What is flooding?

  No gradual build up of phobia because patient is flooded with their phobia all at once
• What is the process of flooding?

  • Patient is exposed to phobia
  • Patient will get to maximum anxiety and then calm down with relaxation techniques
  • Phobic response stops and is extinguished
  • No option of avoidance
• Strengths of flooding

  NS = Nervous system

  + Cost-effective - fewer sessions needed

  + Has higher rates of success

  + Works well with simple phobias (e.g. a specific thing/object)

  + RLA = Dr Kindt (Amsterdam Uni)

  • Flooding patients to max capacity then gives them propranolol (pill)
  • Propranolol = beta blocker - decreases adrenalin levels - calms NS
  • Patient leaves and comes back 24hrs later - results show they are no longer phobic
• Weaknesses of flooding

  • Traumatic for patients
  • Can lead to worsened fear of phobia - if patient doesn't go through with it
  • Less effective with complex phobias - social phobias
  • Not good for people with health issues - e.g. heart attacks
• Characteristics of OCD


  - Anxiety disorder

  
  

  - Experiencing persistent + intrusive thoughts occurs as obsessions/compulsions

  (Obsessions = recurrent + persistent thoughts that are intrusive)

  (Compulsions = behaviours that occur in response to an obsession)
• Behaviour characteristics of OCD

  - Compulsions

  - Avoidance
• Emotional characteristic of OCD

  - Anxiety + distress

  - Guilt + disgust - with themselves

  - Depression - go hand in hand with (Co-morbid) with OCD
• Cognitive characteristic of OCD

  - Recurrent + persistent thoughts

  - Excessive anxiety - they are aware that these thoughts are irrational but they cannot stop them