Ao3

• A strength of statistical infrequency is it’s clinical use / real world-application. It can be used to diagnose certain abnormalities as a disorder i.e Intellectual Disability Disorder (IDD) requires an IQ below 70. Another clinical example: it’s a tool used to determine the severity of depression (BDI of 30+ = severe depression).
• A weakness of Statistical Infrequency is that infrequent characteristics does not necessarily mean it’s an abnormal characteristics. For example, an IQ of 130+ is on one of the ends on the IQ distribution curve, yet it’s not regarded as an abnormal trait. Similarly, a low score on BDI shouldn’t be classed as abnormal, since depression isn’t desirable and a low score on BDI means low symptoms of depression. So Stat. Infrequency can be used for diagnostic procedures, but it’s not a sufficient form of assessment.
• A strength of Deviation from Social Norms is the clinical application. The key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder (APD) is failure to conform to culturally normal ethical behaviour i.e aggression.Similarly, the word ‘strange’ is used to characterise the thinking, behaviour, and appearance of people with schizotypical personality disorder. So DFSN has strong value in psychiatry.
• A weakness of Deviation from Social Norms is that it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact norms as they widely vary across cultures. One cultural group might find the behaviours o another group abnormal and vice versa, i.e hearing voices in some cultures is a ‘sign from their ancestors’ while in the UK that’s a sign of hallucination and abnormality. Even within cultures the norms vary; being deceitful in the family is frowned upon but accepted in business.
• A strength of Failure to Function is that it represents a sensible threshold for those in need of professional help. Around 25% of people in the UK will experience depression at any given year, and when symptoms become severe they can cease to function adequately. That is when professional help is administered and services can target those who need the most help.
• A weakness of Failure to Function Adequately is it’s too quick to label non-standard life styles as abnormal. It’s difficult to tell when someone is failing to function or if they’re just deviating from the norm. For example not having a job or permanent address might be a failure to function for most, but some people might choose to live alternative life styles (i.e off-grid). Those who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and having their freedom restricted.
• A strength of Ideal Mental Health is it’s comprehensive criterion with a wide range that covers most reasons why someone might seek help with their mental health. It can also be discussed meaningful with a range of professionals who might take different theoretical views. A humanistic counsellor will focus on the self-actualisation aspect while a medical psychiatrist will focus on symptoms
• A weakness of Deviation from Ideal mental health is that it has a very Western take on its elements which aren’t applicable to many other cultures. The concept of self-actualisation is indulgent to some countries. Even within Western Europe there is variational takes on independence i.e desirable high Germany, low in Italy. Furthermore, what’s defined as successful in love lives and work is varied across cultures. So it’s difficult to apply the concept of ideal mental health to all cultures.
• A strength of the two-process model is the strong systematic evidence between phobias and traumatic experiences. Ad De Jongh et al found that 73% people with fear of dental treatment had a traumatic experience with dentistry or violence. In comparison, the control group of people with low dental anxiety showed only 21% had experienced a traumatic event. This confirms the association between stimulus (dentistry) and an unconditional response (pain) does lead to development of phobias.
• A counterpoint limitation of phobias is that not all phobias seem to follow from experience. Some common phobias such as a phobia of snakes occur in populations where very few people even contact snakes let alone traumatic experiences. Plus not all frightening experiences lead to phobias. So association between phobias and frightful experiences are not as strong as we would expect if behavioural theories provided a complete explanation.
• Another limitation of the two-process model is that it doesn’t account for the cognitive aspects of phobias. he model is geared towards behavioural explanations such as avoidance of phobic stimulus. However phobias aren’t just avoidant responses - they also have a significant cognitive component which is irrational beliefs towards the phobic stimulus. For example believing a spider is dangerous. The two-process model fails to adequately explain phobic cognitions and other symptoms of phobias.
• A strength for Systematic Desensitisation (SD) is its evidence for its effectiveness. Gilroy et al followed up 42 patients that had SD for their phobias of spiders. hey all had 3 sessions spanning 45 minutes. At both 3 and 33 months after the sessions, the patients were less fearful than a control group treated with relaxation without exposure. Wechsler et al concluded that SD is effective for specific phobias. So SD is likely to be helpful.
• A strength of SD is that it can be used to help people with learning disabilities that suffer with phobias. People with learning disabilities often struggle with cognitive therapies that require a high level of rational thought. They may also feel confused and distressed by the traumatic experience of flooding. So SD is most appropriate form of therapy for people with learning disabilities as it is not emotionally or rationally challenging.
• A strength of flooding is that it’s highly cost effective. When we provide therapies in heath systems like the NHS we need to think about how much they cost. A cost effective therapy is one which is effective at tackling clinical symptoms but is also cheap. Flooding can work in as little as one session compared to ten sessions of SD and they both achieve the same result. Even if a flooding session lasts 3 hours, it is still more cost-effective.
• A limitation of flooding is that it is a highly unpleasent experience. Confronting one‘s phobic stimulus in an extreme form provokes tremendous anxiety. Schumacher found that participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stressful than SD. Therefore, the traumatic nature of flooding means that attrition rates are higher than for SD. This suggests that therapists may avoid using this treatment overall.
• A strength of Beck’s cognitive model of depression is the supporting research. Cognitive vulnerabilities refers to ways of thinking that predisposes a person to depression (i.e the negative triad). Clark and Beck concluded that not only were these cognitive vulnerabilities more common in depressed people but it also preceded the depression. This was confirmed by Cohen et al who tracked the development of 473 adolescents. They regularly measured their cognitive vulnerabilities and found that showing signs of vulnerabilities predicted later depression.
• Another strength of Beck’s cognitive model of depression is its application in screening and treatment for depression. Cohen also concluded that assessing cognitive vulnerabilities allows psychologists to screen young people and identify those most at risk of developing depression in the future in order to monitor them. Cognitive vulnerabilities can also be applied in CBT. These therapies work by altering the kind of cognitions that make people vulnerable to depression, making them more resilient in negative life aspects.
• One strength of Elli's ABC model is its real-world application in the psychological treatment of depression. Ellis’ approach to cognitive therapy is called rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). The idea of REBT is that by vigorously arguing with a depressed person the therapist can alter the irrational beliefs that are making them unhappy. There is some evidence to support the idea that REBT can both change negative beliefs and relieve the symptoms of depression (David et al. 2018).
• One limitation of Ellis's ABC model of depression is that it only explains reactive depression and not endogenous depression. Depression is often triggered by life events (activating event) - these cases are sometimes called reactive depression. How we respond to negative life events also seems to be at least partly the result of our beliefs. However, many cases of depression are not traceable to life events and it is not obvious what the cause is. This type of depression is sometimes called endogenous depression. This means that Ellis's model is only a partial explanation.
• A strength of CBT is the large body of evidence supporting its effectiveness for treating depression. For example, March et al. (2007) compared CBT to antidepressant drugs and also to a combination of both treatments when treating 327 depressed adolescents. After 36 weeks, 81% of the CBT group, 81% of the antidepressants group and 86% of the CBT plus antidepressants group were significantly improved. So CBT was just as effective when used on its own and more so when used alongside antidepressants. CBT is usually a fairly brief therapy requiring six to 12 sessions so it is also cost-fective.
• One limitation of CBT for depression is that in some cases depression can be so severe that clients cannot motivate themselves to engage with the cognitive work of CBT. They may not even be able to pay attention to what is happening in a session. It also seems likely that the hard cognitive work involved in CBT makes it unsuitable for treating depression in clients with learning disabilities. Sturmey (2005) suggests that, in general, any form of psychotherapy (any 'talking' therapy) is not suitable for people with learning difficulties, and this includes CBT.
• A limitation of CBT is that its technique might actually be irrelevant and the real reason for success is the strength of the client-therapist relationship. Rosenzweig (1936) suggested that the differences between different methods of psychotherapy, might actually be quite small. All psychotherapies share one essential ingredient - the therapist-patient relationship. Many comparative reviews (e.g. Luborsky et al) find very small differences, which supports the view that simply having an opportunity to talk to someone who will listen could be what matters most.
• (Strength: OCD genetic expl.) There is evidence from a variety of sources for the idea that some people are vulnerable to OCD due to their genetic make-up. One of the best sources of evidence for the importance of genes is twin studies. Nestadt et al reviewed previous twin studies and found that 68% of identical twins shared OCD as opposed to 31% of non-identical twins. This strongly suggests a genetic influence on OCD.
• (limitation: OCD genetic expl.) Although twin studies strongly suggest that OCD is largely under genetic control, psychologists have been unsuccessful at pinning down all the genes involved. One reason for this is because it appears that several genes are involved and that each genetic variation only increases the risk of OCD by a fraction. A genetic explanation is unlikely to ever be very useful because it provides little predictive value due to the quantity of candidate genes.
• (limitation: genetic explanations OCD) It seems that environmental factors can also trigger or increase the risk of developing OCD (the diathesis-stress model). For example, Cromer et al found that over half the OCD patients in their sample had a traumatic event in their past, and that OCD was more severe in those with more than one trauma. This suggests that OCD cannot be entirely genetic in origin, and has some nurture factors. It may be more productive to focus on the environmental causes because we are more able to do something about these.
• (strength: OCD neural expl.) There is evidence to support the role of some neural mechanisms in OCD. For example, some antidepressants work purely on the serotonin system, increasing levels of this neurotransmitter. Such drugs are effective in reducing OCD symptoms and this suggests that the serotonin system is involved in OCD.

  Also, OCD symptoms form part of a number of other conditions that are biological in origin, for example Parkinson's Disease (Nestadt et al). This suggests that the biological processes that cause the symptoms in those conditions may also be responsible for OCD.
• (limitation: OCD neural expls.) Studies of decision making have shown that these neural systems are the same systems that function abnormally in OCD (Cavedini et al). However, research has also identified other brain systems that may be involved sometimes but no system has been found that always plays a role in OCD. We cannot therefore really claim to understand the neural mechanisms involved in OCD.
• (limitation: OCD neural expl.) There is evidence to suggest that various neurotransmitters and structures of the brain do not function normally in patients with OCD. However, this is not the same as saying that this abnormal functioning causes the OCD. These biological abnormalities could be a result of OCD rather than its cause.
• (strength: OCD treatment) There is clear evidence for the effectiveness of SSRIs in reducing the severity of OCD symptoms. Soomro et al reviewed studies comparing SSRIs to placebos in the treatment of OCD and concluded that all 17 studies reviewed showed significantly better results for the SSRIs than placebo conditions. Typically symptoms decline significantly for around 70% of patients taking SSRIs. Of the remaining 30% alternative drug treatments or combinations of drugs and psychological treatments will be effective for some. So drugs can help most patients with OCD.
• (strength: OCD treatment) An advantage of drug treatments in general is that they are cheap compared to psychological treatments. Using drugs to treat OCD is therefore good value for a public health system like the NHS. As compared to psychological therapies SSRIs are also non-disruptive to patients' lives. If you wish you can simply take drugs until your symptoms decline and not engage with the hard work of psychological therapy. Many doctors and patients like drug treatments for these reasons.
• (limitation: treatment OCD) Although drugs like SSRis are often helpful to sufferers of OCD, a significant minority will get no benefit or suffer side-effects such as indigestion and blurred vision. For those taking Clomipramine, side-effects are more common and can be more serious (bleeding when urinating). More than 1/10 patients suffer erection problems, tremors and weight gain. More than 1/100 become aggressive and suffer disruption to blood pressure and heart rhythm. Such factors reduce effectiveness because people stop taking the medication.