AO3

• A limitation of deviation from social norms is that it is c...

  culturally biased, which is where a definition inappropriately judges behaviour from one cultural perspective, so it cannot be generalised. Eg. wearing the dead teeth of a relative breaks social norms, but is normal in some indigenous cultured. Therefore this definition has no universal standards for social norms across the world.
• A limitation of deviation from social norms is that it is hi...

  historically biased, which is where a definition is developed in one time and unfairly applied to another. Eg. being homosexual was seen as abnormal several years ago as it wasn’t socially normal, but it is more widely accepted today. This suggests that social norms aren’t fixed and change over time, reducing the validity of the definition.
• A limitation of deviation from social norms is that it ig...

  ignores the context of behaviour, which is when a definition oversimplifies the true complexity of behaviour, possibly ignoring the roles of other factors. Eg. wearing next to nothing at the beach is socially normal, but it wouldn’t be in a formal setting and would be considered abnormal. This means that behaviour on its own can’t be judged as abnormal because it is dependent on context.
• A limitation of statistical infrequency is that it is ov...

  overly simplistic. It ignores the concept that some abnormal behaviour may be desirable eg. very few people have an IQ higher than 150, which would be more than 2 standard deviations from the mean. They’d be considered abnormal by this definition, but having a high IQ isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Therefore using statistical infrequency to define abnormality means we can’t distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviour.
• A limitation of statistical infrequency is that it is c...

  culturally biased, which is where a definition inappropriately judges behaviour from one cultural perspective, so it cannot be generalised. Eg. In western cultures it would be considered abnormal to hear voices, so would be considered abnormal. However, this is common in cultures like the Maori people in New Zealand. This means that there are no universal standards for labelling a behaviour as abnormal, weakening the definition.
• A limitation of failure to function adequately is that it is ...

  partly subjective, which is where a definition doesn’t use standardised methods of measurement that don’t allow for replication. This is because, although it has a set criteria, something like observer discomfort will change due to personal opinion. Therefore this makes the definition unreliable as different people judge behaviour differently, leading to inconsistent diagnoses.
• A limitation of deviation from ideal mental health is that it is c...

  culturally biased, which is where a definition inappropriately judges behaviour from one cultural perspective and cannot be generalised to another. This is because some of Jahoda’s characteristics are specific to Western cultures eg. the idea of personal growth is an individualist idea. Therefore the definition works best in individualist cultures rather than collectivist ones, which limits its usefulness.
• A limitation of failure to function adequately is that it is c...

  culturally biased, which is where a definition inappropriately judges behaviour from one cultural perspective and cannot be generalised to another. Failure to function adequately is likely to result in different diagnoses when applied to people in other cultures, which could also explain why non-white patients are more often diagnosed with mental disorders. This suggests that the definition may only be restricted to western cultures and shouldn’t be universally applied, which limits its usefullness.
• A limitation of deviation from ideal mental health is that it has un...

  unrealistic criteria for mental health. Very few people are always able to meet Jahoda’s standards at any given time, so most of us would be considered abnormal eg. students may find it hard to resist stress in exams, but that isn’t abnormal. We therefore question the usefulness of this definition in the real world.
• A strength of using the two process model to explain phobias is that there is...

  supporting evidence from Sue et al, who interviewed people with phobias and found that many of them attributed the start of their phobia to a specific traumatising event, which shows that classical conditioning and association is clearly important in the initiation of a phobia.
• A limitation of using the two process model to explain phobias is that it is en...

  environmentally reductionist, which is where an explanation inappropriately explains complex human behaviour at a basic environmental level eg. through classical and operant conditioning. Contradicting evidence comes from Di Nardo et al who used questionnaires to find that not everyone who was bitten by a dog develops a phobia of dogs. This suggests that phobias do not always develop due to a negative experience in our environment as the model suggests, which weakens it’s credibility.
• A limitation of using the two process model to explain phobias is that it ignores...

  cognitive factors. This is because these cognitive factors cannot be explained in a traditionally behavioural framework eg. a person who thinks they may die if trapped in a lift becomes extremely anxious, which may trigger a phobia about lifts. This shows that irrational thinking may play a role in the development of phobias so therefore the two process model is an incomplete explanation as it ignores important cognitive factors like thoughts.
• A strength of systematic desensitisation as a treatment for phobias is that it has strong evidence from...

  Gilroy et al, who followed 42 patients who received SD for their phobias of spiders until their 3, and 33 month follow ups and found that they were less fearful than a control group. This suggests that SD is an effective phobia treatment which is also long lasting.
• A strength of using systematic desensitisation as a treatment for phobias is that it is...

  suggested to be more effective that other therapies, which is reflected in lower dropout rates than other methods like flooding. SD is less distressing and more gradual than flooding, allowing patients to feel more in control over their work through the use of a fear hierarchy. This suggests that the main features of SD (gradual exposure) make it a more effective theraphy for phobias.
• A strength of using flooding as a treatment for phobias is that there is...

  supporting research evidence from Wolpe, who forced an adolescent girl to sit in the back of a car continuously for four hours to overcome her fear of them. The fear grew hysterical, but eventually she calmed down and her fear disappeared. This suggests that although flooding may be initially distressing, it is an effective therapy if the patient remains in treatment.
• A limitation of using flooding as a treatment for phobias is that it can be...

  incredibly harming and emotionally distressing. Flooding requires the client to either visualise (vitro) or experience (vivo) their most feared situations until they calm down, which may explain why the therapy has such high drop out rates. This suggests that other behavioural therapies such as systematic desensitisation may be a more effective treatment.
• A limitation of either flooding or SD is that it has been...

  criticised for ‘symptom substitution’ as behavioural treatments for phobias only remove and treat the symptoms of a phobia, rather than tackling underlying causes. This suggests that therapies which consider the underlying causes of a phobia may be more useful for treating phobias.
• a strength of using the two-process model to explain phobias is that there is s...

  supporting evidence from Sue et al who interviewed people with phobias and found that many of them attributed their phobia to a traumatising event, which shows that classical and operant conditioning are clearly important in the initiation of a phobia.
• A limitation of using the two process model to explain phobias is that it is en...

  environmentally reductionist, which is where it only explains complex behaviour from one environmental level eg through operant and classical conditioning. Contradicting evidence comes from Di Nardo et al who used questionnaires to find that not everyone who was bitten by a dog develops a phobia. This suggests that phobias don't always form due to a negative experience in our environment, which weakens the explanations credibility.
• A limitation of using the two process model to explain phobias is that it ignores...

  cognitive factors. This is because these cognitive factors cannot be explained in a behavioural framework eg a person who thinks they may die in a lift may trigger a phobia of lifts. This shows that irrational thinking may play a role in the development of phobias so the two process model is incomplete and doesn't explain this.
• A strength of using systematic desensitisation as a treatment for phobias is that it..

  has strong evidence from Gilroy et al who followed 42 patients that received SD for their phobias until their 33 month follow up and found that they were less fearful than a control group. This suggests that SD is an effective phobia treatment which is also long lasting.
• A strength of using systematic desensitisation to treat phobias is that it is...

  more effective than other therapies, which is reflected in lower dropout rates than with flooding. SD is less distressing and more gradual than flooding, allowing patients to be in control of their fear through fear hierarchies. This suggests that the main features of SD make it more effective.
• A strength of flooding as a treatment for phobias is that it has su...

  supporting evidence from Wolpe who forced an adolescent girl to sit in the back of a car for four hours to overcome her fear. She grew hysterical, but eventually calmed down and grew relaxed. This suggests that flooding may initially be distressing, but it is effective if someone remains in therapy.
• a limitation of flooding as a treatment for phobias is that it can be...

  harming and distressing. Flooding requires the client to either visualise (vitro) or experience (vivo) their fear until they calm down, whih may explain why therapy dropouts are so high. This suggests that other behavioural therapies such as systematic desensitisation may be more effective.
• A strength of cognitive explanations for depression is that there is su...

  supporting evidence from Grazioli and Terry who assessed 65 women for their faulty thought processes before and after they gave birth. Those who were judged to have a negative self schema was more likely to suffer from post natal depression. This supports the view that depression can develop due to cognitions.
• A strength of cognitive explanations for depression is that it has...

  practical application , which is where an explanation has real-world benefit. CBT aims to challenge irrational thoughts and is one of the most effective treatments for mental health disorders like depression. Therefore the success of CBT supports the cognitive approach as irrational thoughts clearly play a role in depression.
• a limitation of cognitive explanations for depression is that there are alternative explanations from...

  researchers who suggest that genetic factors and neurochemistry lead to depression rather than irrational thought processes. People with depression have low levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter linked to mood regulation. Antidepressants such as SSRIs help reduce depressive symptoms by increasing serotonin levels. Therefore this reduces the credibility of the cognitive explanation as it may be incomplete.
• A strength of cognitive treatments for depression is that there is...

  supporting evidence for CBT from Cuijpers et al who performed a meta analysis of 75 studies from 5 countries. They found that the CBT condition was more effective than a control condition which had no treatment. This shows that CBT is an effective treatment for depression and using a meta analysis shows that it is globally effective.
• A limitation of cognitive treatments for depression is that...

  some patients want to explore their past. A basic principle of CBT is that it focuses on a patient's present and future but not their past. CBT requires patients to to dispute their current beliefs but other effective psychotherapies focus on the link between childhood and the present. This suggests that CBT may be ineffective for individuals whose depression is rooted in their past trauma, limiting its overall usefulness.
• A limitation of CBT is that it may not suit...

  patients with severe depression as CBT is time consuming and requires effort from a patient. Someone with severe depression may ack the energy/motivation to engage in the high demands of CBT so antidepressants may be more effective for them. Therefore, although CBT can be combined with drugs to treat depression, it cannot stand alone, which limits its overall usefulness.
• One strength of biological explanations for OCD is that there is...

  supporting evidence from Nestadt et al who reviewed twin studies and found that 67% of MZ twins shared OCD but only 32% of DZ twins did. This supports the idea that genetics has a role in OCD as the higher concordance rates in MZ twins is explained by the higher levels of genetic similarity.
• A limitation of neural explanations for OCD is that there are issues with...

  cause and effect. Research has shown that people with OCD have abnormal levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin and differences in brain structure. However, this doesn't prove that these biological difference cause OCD, they may just be a result of having the disorder. This reduces the validity of the explanation as it may not be identifying the true cause of OCD and only describing its effects.
• a limitation of biological explanations for depression is that it is...

  biologically determinist which is when an explanation inappropriately judges complex behaviour from only one biological viewpoint. However, it could also be that environmental factors are just as important in the development of OCD as genes or neurotransmitters. Cromer et al found that 50% of OCD patients had a traumatic event in their past which made their OCD more severe. This shows that OCD isn't purely biologically determinist as traumatic experiences also increase risk, highlighting the role of nature vs nurture.
• A strength of the biological treatments for OCD is that they are...

  effective. Soomro et al reviewed 17 studies comparing SSRIs to placebos and found that studies showed better results than placebo conditions symptoms being reduced by 70%. This suggests that drug therapy is an effective treatment for OCD/
• A strength of drug therapies is that they are...

  preferred to other treatments as they are cost effective and non-disruptive. Drug therapies involve little effort or input from patients or doctors but CBT requires people to attend many session with homework. Therefore drug therapies are more beneficial to the NHS than psychological therapies as they can be mass produced, work quicker and require less overall effort.
• a limitation of biological treatments for OCD is that they have ...

  negative side effects like weight gain, aggression and disruptions to heart rhythm. These can reduce someone's quality of life and may discourage them from continuing with treatment. therefore some patients may prefer CBT treatments as they don't include these side effects.