Psychopathology

• Definitions of abnormality:

  • Statistical infrequency
  • Deviation from social norms
  • Failure to function adequately
  • Deviation from ideal mental health
• Deviation from social norms:


  Social norms are the rules that a society has about what are acceptable behaviours, values and beliefs. These are adhered to by those socialised into that group. Some of these rules are explicit while others are implicit but are agreed upon as a matter of convention within a society. People who violate (deviate from) these norms are classed as abnormal.
• Deviation from social norms - example


  Antisocial personality disorder is when a person is impulsive and often aggressive, pleasing only themselves. One important symptom is an absence of pro-social internal standards and a failure to conform to lawful or culturally ethical behaviour.
• Deviation from social norms draws a line between desirable and undesirable behaviours and labels individuals behaving undesirably as social deviants. This allows interference into their lives in order to help them e.g. admitting them to a mental hospital.
• Strengths of deviation from social norms:

  • It includes the issue of desirability of behaviour. This means that behaviours are numerically rare (and so statistically abnormal) can be socially acceptable and therefore not abnormal. For example, being a genius is statistically abnormal but we wouldn't suggest that it is abnormal behaviour in terms of psychopathology.
• Weaknesses of deviation from social norms:

  • Social norms vary as time changes. What is socially acceptable now may not have been 50 years ago. For example being gay is acceptable now but previously was included in the DSM as a disorder.
  • Social norms are defined by culture. This means that a person from one culture may be labelled as abnormal by someone from a different culture. For example hearing voices has different meanings in different cultures. This is the problem of cultural relativism. This creates problems for people from one culture living within another culture.
• Statistical Infrequency:


  This model argues that behaviours that are statistically rare should be seen as abnormal. What is regarded as statistically rare depends on a normal distribution; most people will be around the mean for the behaviour in question with declining amounts of people away from the mean. Any individual who falls outside the normal distribution (usually about 5% of the population - 2.5% either end of the distribution) are perceived as being abnormal.
• Statistical infrequency - example

  Intellectual disability disorder can be identified using this model. The average IQ is set at 100 and only approx. 2% of people fall below 70. These individuals may be diagnosed with this disorder as such a low IQ is infrequent.
• Strengths of statistical infrequency:

  • The definition can be useful as part of clinical assessment. One of the assessments of patients with mental disorders includes some kind of measurement of the severity of symptoms compared to statistical norms. This may have positive economic implications as people are more likely to receive the correct diagnosis.
• Weaknesses of statistical infrequency:

  • Behaviours that are statistically infrequent in one culture may be statistically more frequent in another. For example, one of the symptoms of schizophrenia is hearing voices. However, this is a common experience in some cultures, especially immediately after a loved one has died. This means the definition is culturally relative.
  • When someone is living a happy and fulfilled life, there is no benefit of them being labelled as abnormal, regardless of how unusual they are.
• Failure to function adequately:


  This definition perceives individuals as abnormal when their behaviour suggests they cannot cope with everyday life. The behaviour is considered abnormal when it causes distress leading to dysfunction e.g. disrupting the ability to work. In order to assess the degree of dysfunction, Rosenhan and Seligman identified seven features of abnormality and the more features are shown, the more abnormal a person is.
• Failure to function adequately - example


  Schizophrenia is when a person can have disturbing hallucinations which can lead to bizarre behaviour; they experience distress and they can be irrational and unpredictable around other people. They may stop looking after themselves to be able to work.
• Rosenhan and Seligman's features of personal dysfunction:

  • Personal distress
  • Observer discomfort
  • Unpredictability
  • Unconventionality
  • Maladaptive behaviour
  • Irrationality
  • Violation of moral standards
• Personal distress


  A key feature of abnormality. Includes depression and anxiety disorders.
• Observer discomfort


  Displaying behaviour that causes discomfort to others.
• Unpredictability 


  Displaying unexpected behaviours characterised by a loss of control e.g. attempting suicide after failing a test.
• Unconventionality


  Displaying unconventional behaviours
• Maladaptive behaviour:


  Behaviour stopping individuals from attaining life goals both socially and occupationally.
• Irrationality:


  Displaying behaviour that cannot be explained in a rational way.
• Violation of moral standards:


  Displaying behaviour violating society's moral standards.
• Strengths of failure to function adequately:

  • It attempts to include the subjective experience of the individual. It may not be entirely satisfactory approach because it is difficult to assess distress, but the definition acknowledges that the experience of the patient is important. Therefore the definition captures the experience of many who need help. This can lead to speedier recovery which has positive economic implications for the individual.
• Weaknesses of failure to function adequately:

  • Psychopaths can cause great harm and yet still appear normal. Shipman murdered at least 215 of his patients over 23 years seemed to be a respectable doctor. He maintained a job, personal hygiene, interpersonal relationships. He was abnormal but didn't display features of functioning inadequately and so would be classed as normal according to this definition.
  • In some cultures, women are not expected to have a job. Using this definition, such people would be classified as abnormal due to their cultural norms being different.
• Deviation from ideal mental health:


  Rather than identifying what is abnormal, Jahoda identified six characteristics of what it is to be normal and an absence of these characteristics indicates abnormality.

  • Having a positive view of yourself with a strong sense of identity
  • being capable of personal growth and self-actualisation
  • being independent of others and self-regulating
  • having an accurate view of reality
  • being able to resist stress
  • being able to master your environment

  The more a person fails to meet, the further away from normality they are.
• Deviation from ideal mental health - example


  Depression illustrates this definition as sufferers generally have low self-esteem, they can struggle to make decisions and they experience high levels of stress concerning their low mood condition.
• Strengths of deviation from ideal mental health:

  • The definition is very comprehensive. It covers a broad range of criteria for mental health and therefore most of the reasons why someone would seek help from mental health services or be referred for help. This means the definition can have practical applications in treatment by helping people focus on the positive criteria rather than the negative aspects of a mental illness.
• Weaknesses of deviation from ideal mental health:

  • Most of the criteria are culture bound to Western European and North American cultures. For example, in terms of self-actualisation, seeking to fulfill your own potential is a prime goal in individualistic cultures but not in collectivist cultures.
  • According to these criteria, most people are abnormal. Jahoda presented them as ideal criteria. For example, few people experience personal growth all the time. Therefore, the criteria may be ideals rather than actualities.
• Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder. Anxiety is an emotion that all people experience and is a natural response to potentially dangerous stimuli, but phobias are characterised by uncontrollable, extreme, irrational and enduring fears and involve anxiety levels that are out of proportion to any actual risk. They produce a conscious avoidance of the feared object or situation.
• Types of phobias:

  • specific phobias - fears about specific objects or situations
  • social anxiety - anxiety related to social situation, such as talking to a group of people.
  • agoraphobia - fear of open spaces or being tapped in a public place.
• Behavioural categories of phobias (actions):

  • Panic - including crying, screaming, running away
  • Avoidance - avoid the thing that causes the fear response. This can make it hard to go about every day life.
  • Endurance - stays in the presence of the stimulus but continues to experience anxiety
• Emotional characteristics of phobias (feelings):


  Phobias are classified as anxiety disorders, by definition they involve an emotional response of anxiety or fear. Anxiety can therefore be defined as an unpleasant state of high arousal. This prevents the sufferer relaxing and makes it difficult to experience any positive emotions. Anxiety can be long-term. The emotional responses that we experience in relation to phobic stimuli go beyond what is reasonable.
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias (thoughts):


  The cognitive element is concerned with the way in which information is processed. People with phobias process information about phobic stimuli differently from other objects or situations.
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias: Selective attention to the source of the phobia


  If a person sees the phobic stimulus, it is hard to look away from it. Keeping attention on something dangerous is positive as it gives us the best chance of reacting quickly to a threat, but is no useful when the fear is irrational.
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias: Irrational beliefs


  They may hold irrational beliefs in relation to the stimuli. For example, social phobias involve beliefs such as “I must always sound intelligent” or “ If I blush people will think I’m weak”. These kinds of beliefs increase the pressure on the sufferer to perform well in social situations.
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias: Cognitive distortions


  The phobic person’s perceptions of the phobic stimulus may be distorted. So, someone with a phobia of snakes may see them as alien and aggressive looking.
• The behavioural approach emphasises the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. It focuses on behaviour we can see, so it is geared towards explaining the behavioural characteristics of phobias.
• Mowrer proposed the two-process model to explain phobias. This argues that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and then maintained through operant conditioning.
• Classical conditioning - acquisition/onset of phobia


  A phobia (conditioned response) is acquired though the association of something that we initially have no fear (neutral stimulus) of with something that already triggers a fear response (an unconditioned response).
• Classical conditioning - onset of phobias


  Before conditioning, a phobia is acquired through association. Therefore, before conditioning, a neutral stimulus produces no response from the person. However an unconditioned stimulus produces the unconditioned response of fear.

  During conditioning, you pair the neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus together to produce an unconditioned response.

  After conditioning, the neutral stimulus has become the conditioned stimulus and therefore produces the conditioned response of fear.
• Operant conditioning - maintenance of the phobia


  Through classical conditioning, a phobia is acquired. However, this does not explain why individuals continue to feel fearful or why individuals avoid the feared object. Mowrer argued this can be explained using operant conditioning.
• Operant conditioning - maintenance of the phobia


  Mowrer suggested that whenever we avoid a phobic stimulus, we successfully escape the fear and anxiety that we would have suffered if we had remained there. This reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour (via negative reinforcement) and so the phobia is maintained as avoidance is more likely to happen again in the future.