psychopathology

• Definitions of Abnormality


  • Deviation from Social Norms
  • Statistical Infrequency
  • Failure to Function
  • Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
• Social norm

  Rules of behaviour that are considered acceptable in a group or society
• Deviation from social norms

  Anyone who does not follow social norms is considered abnormal
• Social norms vary tremendously from one generation to another and from one country to another
• Relying on deviation from social norms to define mental illness can lead to systematic abuse of human rights
• Statistical infrequency


  Statistically rare behaviour is regarded as abnormal, whereas frequent behaviour is normal
• The normal distribution curve shows the majority of people as being in the middle, with relatively few people falling at either end</b>
• Standard deviation (SD)


  The spread of the normal distribution, 68% of the population fall between 1 SD either side of the mean and 95% fall between 2 SD
• Behaviour falling outside 2 SD is defined as abnormal
• A weakness of the statistical infrequency definition is that it does not classify whether all behaviour is undesirable
• The statistical infrequency definition is culturally relative as what is considered abnormal in one culture may be normal in another
• Failure to function adequately


  A person is considered abnormal if they are unable to cope with the demands of normal everyday life
• Criteria for inadequate functioning


  • Maladaptive behaviour
  • Vivid and unconventional behaviour
  • Unpredictability
  • Irrationality/incomprehensibility
  • Observer discomfort
  • Personal distress
  • Violation of moral/social standards
• A weakness of the failure to function adequately definition is that it requires subjective judgement
• Deviation from ideal mental health

  A person is considered abnormal if they do not meet all or most of the criteria for good mental health
• Criteria for ideal mental health


  • Autonomy
  • Resistance to stress
  • Accurate perception of reality
  • Positive attitude towards self
  • Self actualisation
  • Adapting to and mastering the environment
• A weakness of the deviation from ideal mental health definition is that it sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health
• Phobia


  A type of anxiety disorder where the adaptive fear response to a potentially threatening object or situation has become extreme and debilitating
• Characteristics of phobias


  • Cognitive characteristics
  • Behavioural characteristics
  • Emotional characteristics
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias

  Irrational thought processes, recognition that response is excessive but inability to control it, selective attention
• Behavioural characteristics of phobias

  Avoidance, panic
• Emotional characteristics of phobias

  Extreme fear, distress, anxiety
• Two-process model of phobia acquisition


  1. Classical conditioning (initiation)

  2. Operant conditioning (maintenance)
• Classical conditioning


  The process by which phobias are initially learned
• Phobia


  • Avoidance behaviour that can significantly impair day to day functioning
  • Panic behaviour such as crying, screaming or running away
• Behavioural psychologists


  Believe phobias are acquired through the process of conditioning (learning)
• Two-process model


  1. Initiation through classical conditioning

  2. Maintenance through operant conditioning
• Classical conditioning


  Learning by association - an unconditioned stimulus that creates fear is paired with a neutral stimulus, which then becomes a conditioned stimulus that creates fear on its own
• Operant conditioning


  Negative reinforcement - the fear response is strengthened because it removes the unpleasant anxiety, making the avoidance behaviour more likely to be repeated
• Preparedness


  Biological pre-programming to fear certain things that would have threatened survival in our evolutionary past
• Systematic desensitisation


  Replacing a maladaptive fear response with a relaxation response through gradual exposure to the feared stimulus
• Systematic desensitisation


  1. Relaxation techniques

  2. Anxiety hierarchy

  3. Counter conditioning
• Flooding


  Immediate and prolonged exposure to the most severe version of the phobia
• Depression


  • Unipolar (constant low mood) vs bipolar (alternating low mood and mania)
• Beck's cognitive biases


  Negative schemas and cognitive biases that lead to negative interpretations of reality
• Beck's negative triad


  Pessimistic and irrational view of the self, the world, and the future
• Overgeneralisation


  Depressives often draw a sweeping conclusion based on the basis of a single event
• Negative schemas


  Activated in adult life whenever the person encounters a situation similar to the one in which the schema was learned
• Beck's Negative Triad


  A pessimistic and irrational view of three key elements in a person's belief system: the self, the world, and the future
• The self


  • Individuals see themselves as being helpless, worthless and inadequate