Psychopathology

• Abnormality


  A psychological condition or behaviour that departs from the norm or is harmful and distressing to the individual or those around them. Abnormal behaviours are usually those that violate society's ideas of what is an appropriate level of functioning
• Psychopathology


  The scientific study of mental disorders
• DSM-5


  The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This is a classification system of mental disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. It contains typical symptoms of each disorder and guidelines for clinicians to make a diagnosis. The most recent version is the DSM-5.
• Definitions of Abnormality


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


  • Abnormal behaviour is considered to be an indication of abnormality if it is very rare or statistically infrequent
  • People with an IQ below 70 are considered to have an intellectual disability disorder
• A strength of the statistical infrequency definition is that it is used in clinical practice, both as part of factors and as a way to determine the severity of an individual's symptoms
• A limitation of the statistical infrequency definition is that unusual characteristics can be positive as well as negative
• Deviation from social norms

  • Abnormal behaviour is that which violates the rules (social norms) about what is considered acceptable within a particular society
  • Antisocial personality disorder and schizotypal personality disorder involve deviations from social norms
• A limitation of the deviation from social norms is the variability between social norms in different cultures and different situations
• Failure to function adequately

  • Normal behaviour is that which allows a person to cope with the demands of everyday life. Abnormal behaviour is when someone can no longer maintain basic standards or carry out everyday tasks
  • Signs of failure to function adequately include inability to maintain interpersonal relationships, experiencing severe personal distress, and engaging in irrational or dangerous behaviour
• A strength of the failure to function criterion is that it represents a sensible threshold for when people need professional help
• A limitation of the failure to function criterion is that it can be difficult to determine when someone is truly failing to function and when they have simply chosen to deviate from social norms
• Deviation from ideal mental health

  • Abnormal behaviour is defined by the absence of particular ideal characteristics for psychological well-being, such as accurate perception of reality, resistance to stress, and self-actualization
  • Depression would be considered abnormal as it involves a negative view of oneself and an inability to function at work
• A strength of the ideal mental health criterion is that it is highly comprehensive and covers most of the reasons why we might seek (or be referred for) help with mental health
• A limitation of the ideal mental health criterion is that it sets extremely high standards that are unrealistic for most people to achieve
• Phobia


  An irrational fear of an object or a situation. The fear is disproportionate to the actual danger.
• Characteristics of phobias, depression & OCD

  • Behavioral
  • Emotional
  • Cognitive
• DSM


  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association
• DSM-5 categories of phobia and related anxiety disorders

  • Specific phobia: phobia of an object, such as flying or having an injection
  • Social anxiety: phobia of a social situation such as public speaking or using a public toilet
  • Agoraphobia: phobia of being outside or in a public place
• Behavioural approach


  A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
• Two-process model


  • Phobias are acquired (learned in the first place) by classical conditioning and then continue because of operant conditioning
• Acquisition by classical conditioning

  1. Neutral stimulus paired with unconditioned stimulus that triggers fear

  2. Neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus that produces conditioned fear response
• Watson and Rayner (1920) created a phobia in a 5 month old baby called 'Little Albert'
• Operant conditioning


  Our behaviour is reinforced - rewarded or punished. Reinforcement tends to increase the frequency of behaviour
• Avoidance of phobic stimulus

  Reduces fear and anxiety, which reinforces the avoidance behaviour and maintains the phobia
• Systematic desensitisation (SD)


  Behavioural therapy to reduce anxiety to a stimulus by creating a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations, teaching relaxation, and gradually exposing the patient to the phobic situations
• Flooding


  Behavioural therapy where a phobic patient is exposed to an extreme form of a phobic stimulus to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus
• How systematic desensitisation works

  1. Anxiety hierarchy

  2. Relaxation

  3. Exposure
• Counter-conditioning is a process whereby a fearful reaction is replaced by another emotional response that is incompatible with fear
• It is impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time, so one emotion prevents the other (reciprocal inhibition)
• Depression


  A mental disorder characterised by low mood and energy levels
• DSM-5 categories of depression

  • Major depressive disorder
  • Persistent depressive disorder
  • Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
  • Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
• Cognitive approach to explaining depression


  • Depression is caused by faulty thinking in this model
  • Individual is in control of their own behaviour
• Beck's cognitive triad


  Three parts of cognitive vulnerability to depression:

  1. Faulty information processing - focusing on negative aspects and ignoring positives, blowing small problems out of proportion

  2. Negative self-schema - interpreting all information about themselves in a negative way

  3. Negative view of the world, the future and the self
• Ellis's ABC model


  A model that explains how thoughts affect emotions and behavior
• Activating event


  An external event that triggers irrational beliefs
• Beliefs


  Our interpretation of the activating event, which could be either rational or irrational
• Consequences


  The emotional and behavioral consequences that result from irrational beliefs
• Ellis identified a range of irrational beliefs, including the belief that we must achieve perfection, that we cannot stand frustration, and that things should be fair
• Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT)


  A form of cognitive therapy developed by Ellis that involves vigorously arguing with a depressed person to alter their irrational beliefs