Psychopathology

• Deviation from social norms


  Abnormal behaviour is classified in this way as any behaviour that goes against societal expectations about how to and not to behave. Often these social expectations are rooted in a desire to make society more pleasant- for example, being polite.
• Characteristics of depression


  • Emotional- Feelings of intense sadness and often worthlessness. But, there are some that report feelings of anger.
  • Behavioural- Depressed individuals experience either increased or reduced levels in activity. Sleeping hours may be reduced, whereas others might experience agitation and restlessness. Appetite is also affected with some experiencing diminished appetite and others increased appetite.
  • Cognitive- Negative thoughts cause the negative emotions associated with depression. These thoughts are irrational and include negative expectations and thoughts of worthlessness. In some cases these thoughts can be self-fulfilling- belief that you'll fail an exam leads to reduced studying that causes failure.
• How phobias are initiated through classical conditioning


  A neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (that causes fear) so that it eventually takes on the properties of this stimulus to produce a conditioned response- of fear.
• Systematic desensitisation


  This is a treatment for phobias that attempts to replace the association between fear and the phobic stimulus with an association between relaxation and the phobic stimulus. Patients are exposed to scenarios that progressively cause more anxiety than the last stage in their hierarchy.
• Why systematic desensitisation is preferred to flooding
• Diathesis-stress model


  The diathesis stress model suggests that certain genes create a vulnerability for mental disorders, and that after an activating event or trauma, mental disorders develop in these individuals.
• Negative triad


  This is a cognitive approach to understanding depression, focusing on how expectations (schema) about the self, world and future lead to depression.
• Failure to function adequately


  Abnormality is defined in this way as an inability to cope with everyday life, especially if this is causing the individual or others around them distress. In some instances, the individual may not be aware that their behaviour is causing distress to others, like if they are schizophrenic.
• How SLT explains phobias


  The social learning theory suggests that phobias may be acquired through modelling the behaviour of others. If a child sees an adult react fearfully to a dog, they are likely to imitate the behaviour themself because the behaviour is rewarding- it gets them attention.
• Characteristics of OCD


  • Emotional- Feelings of anxiety and shame are associated with both the obsessions and the compulsions, as they are aware that their behaviour is excessive.
  • Behavioural- Compulsive behaviours are carried out the alleviate the anxiety caused by obsessions. These are repetitive and unconcealed, and often not connected in any way with the object of their obsession. Some compulsions are carried out in the absence of an obsession.
  • Cognitive- Obsessions are recurrent, intrusive thoughts that may be irrational and embarrassing. The individual is often aware that their obsession is irrational. Common obsessional themes involve germs.
• How phobias are maintained by operant conditioning


  If a behaviour produces a favourable outcome, it is likely to be repeated- in the case of phobic individuals, avoidance of their phobic stimulus reduces anxiety, so they are likely to continue to avoid it. This is an example of negative reinforcement.
• How the cognitive theory explains depression


  Depression is due to irrational thinking, and cognitions that are skewed towards negative thoughts.
• Statistical infrequency


  Abnormality is defined in this way as behaviour which is extremely rare, or as characteristics not displayed by many people.
• How the biological theory explains OCD


  OCD is caused by abnormal levels of dopamine and serotonin, and a non-functioning worry circuit in which signals about potentially worrying things from the OFC are not suppressed by the caudate nucleus.
• Characteristics of phobias


  • Emotional- Anxiety is the primary emotion associated with phobic disorders, and is triggered by the presence of the phobic stimulus. The level of anxiety caused by the stimulus is often out of proportion to the actual threat posed by it.
  • Behavioural- Phobic individuals often avoid all situations that could potentially involve their phobic stimulus. But the response of freezing in the face of their stimulus is also common. Phobias interfere with the individual's daily life, distinguishing phobias from normal fears.
  • Cognitive- The thoughts of a phobic individual are irrational and the anxiety they cause is not reduced by reasoning. The individual is aware that their thoughts are irrational, distinguishing between phobias and disorders like schizophrenia.
• How depression is treated using the cognitive approach


  It's treated using CBT which is a combination of cognitive therapy (changing maladaptive thoughts and beliefs) and behavioural therapy (a way of changing behaviour in response to those thoughts and beliefs).
• Case of Little Albert
• How OCD is treated using the biological approach


  This involves the treatment of mental disorders by administering drugs to reduce the symptoms of the disorder. This involves using SSRIs to increase the levels of serotonin in the body.
• Deviation from the ideal mental health


  It was recognised by Jahoda, that when assessing for physical illnesses, we look for the absence of physical health. Jahoda concluded that the same should be done for mental illnesses. As a result, abnormality is defined in this way as displaying the absence of the ideal mental health criteria set by Jahoda
• Why the deviation from ideal health definition is criticised