psychopathology

• Deviation from social norms

  Behaviour doesn't align with societal expectations, e.g. antisocial personality
• Failure to function adequately


  Unable to cope with the ordinary demands of life, e.g. intellectual personality disorder, danger to themselves
• Definitions of abnormality vary depending on culture, situation and age, and are flexible and observable
• Defining abnormality based on deviation from social norms or failure to function adequately can lead to negative labelling and be discriminatory and subjective
• Classical conditioning


  Acquiring phobias through association of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits fear - Pavlov
• Operant conditioning


  Maintaining phobias through consequences, such as negative reinforcement of avoidance behaviour - skinner
• The behaviourist approach has limitations in fully explaining phobias, as not all phobias stem from direct traumatic experiences and some may have an innate basis
• Systematic desensitisation

  Gradual exposure to the feared stimulus (anxiety hierarchy) while using relaxation techniques (reciprocal inhibition) to overcome the phobia and form a new conditioned response
• Flooding


  Immediate and prolonged exposure to the most anxiety-provoking aspect of the phobia to extinguish the fear response (worn out) to form a new association as unable to avoid
• exposure therapies for phobias can be effective, but have limitations such as requiring patient willingness and consent, and potential ethical issues - high drop out rate
• Beck's negative triad


  Negative thoughts about the world, self and future leading to cognitive biases and negative schemas (information interpretation) - caused by faulty information processing
• Ellis' ABC model


  negative thoughts (Activating event) leads to irrational beliefs which result in negative emotions (consequence)
• The cognitive approach highlights the role of faulty information processing and irrational thoughts in depression, but does not fully explain the cause-effect relationship between cognitions and depression - cause or consequence
• Cognitive approaches to treating depression can be effective, but have limitations such as requiring patient motivation and overlooking biological and environmental factors
• Genetic factors


  OCD has a polygenic basis with high heritability rates, suggesting a biological vulnerability - aetiologically heterogenous
• Neurotransmitter imbalances


  Abnormalities in serotonin and dopamine regulation may contribute to OCD symptoms
• The biological approach provides a partial explanation for OCD, as it does not fully account for cognitive and environmental factors that may also play a role
• Biological treatments for OCD can be effective in reducing symptoms, but do not address the cognitive and behavioural aspects of the disorder, and may have side effects
• statistical infrequency 


  a behaviour is seen as abnormal if it is statistically uncommon, or not seen very often in society
• deviation from ideal mental health 


  abnormal behaviour should be defined by the absence of particular (ideal) characteristics. 

  Jahoda proposed six principles of ideal mental health, including having a positive view of yourself and being resistant to stress.
• negative reinforcement 


  something unpleasant or uncomfortable is removed or taken away in order to increase the likelihood of the desired behaviour
• positive reinforcement 


  encouraging a behaviour by offering a reward when the behaviour occurs
• punishment 


  adding an unpleasant thing to discourage a behaviour
• phobias - animal extrapolation 


  more complex than stimulus and response

  reductionist
• phobias - little albert

  link between bad experience and phobia
• phobias - jongh


  73% who feared the dentist had trauma vs 21% in control
• phobias - only explains behaviour 


  not cognition

  irrational beliefs - more than avoidance

  incomplete explanation
• phobia treatment - gilroy


  less fear than control - even 33 months later
• phobias treatment - bang


  snake phobias - fear rating fell and stayed down 6 months later
• phobias treatment - biological


  if innate

  would require drug therapy

  not applicable to all
• flooding


  cost effective

  more people treated (nhs)
• depression - cohen


  cognitive vulnerability more common in individuals with depression
• depression - blames patient


  ethical issues

  may be biological
• depression - rwa


  cbt - alter cognitions

  rebt - arguing to alter beliefs
• cbt


  challenging faulty cognitions

  homework - set goals to achieve

  rewire schemas

  challenge irrational thoughts
• rebt


  dispute - challenge irrational beliefs

  effective rational belief
• treating depression - biological 


  drugs may be more effective

  overlooks circumstances
• depression treatment - motivation


  severe cases - drug therapy

  53% relapse rates
• ocd - nedstadt


  68% MZ + 31% DZ

  9% siblings

  17% parents
• ocd - groothest

  45-65% heritability rate