Psychopathology

• Two definitions of abnormality


  Deviation from social norms

  statistical infrequency
• Deviation from social norms (DSN)


  individuals who don't conform to the majority and therefore their chosen behaviour is classified as abnormal and unacceptable. e.g. Anti social personality disorder
• Statistical infrequency


  occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic in comparison to the general population. E.g. those who have an IQ of 80 and below 115 are considered intellectually disabled.
• Strength of deviation from social norms


  One strength is that it has real life application.

  deviation from social norms is used within clinical practise such as reflection of anti social personality disorder - failure to conform to culturally unacceptable behaviour.

  Therefore shows that DSN has clinical value with psychiatry.
• Weakness of deviation from social norms


  one weakness is that it is culturally and situationally relative.

  standards of abnormality differ from culture and country. E.g. hearing voices is a norm in one culture but it would be a sign of abnormality in other cultures.

  this therefore means that it is difficult to judge deviation from a social norm as abnormal across different situations.
• Strength of statistical infrequency

  one strength is that it is objective judgement.

  the collection of data is based on the statistic of the overall population which relies on real and unbiased data.

  this therefore provides a clear and operationalised perspective of abnormality.
• Weakness of statistical infrequency


  one weakness is that it overlooks desirable behaviours

  for example individuals with high IQ which is statistically infrequent would be deemed abnormal under this definition but is socially desirable and thus would not be treated as abnormal.

  this therefore shows that this definition does not take place into account desirable and undesirable notions of behaviour when defining abnormality which possess a problem when identifying infrequent behaviours that need treatment.
• Deviation from ideal mental health

  occurs when someone does not meet a set standard if criteria for good mental health.

  the more characteristics you fail to meet most of the criteria, the more abnormal you are.
• psychologist for deviation from ideal mental health


  Jahoda
• Failure to function adequately


  occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day to day living (basic hygiene and nutrition)
• Rosenhan and Seligman


  proposed signs that can be used to determine when someone is not coping:

  personal distress (anxiety disorders)

  maladaptive behaviour - behaviour stops individual from attaining life goals.

  unpredictability - displaying unexpected behaviours.

  irrationality - displaying behaviour that cant be explained

  observer discomfort - displaying behaviour causing discomfort to others

  violation of moral standards - display behaviours that violate societies moral standards

  unconventionality - display untraditional behaviours
• One strength of deviation from ideal mental health


  A strength is that it is highly comprehensive. Johadas research has helped to distinguish mental health from mental disorder
• on weakness of deviation from ideal mental health


  cant be applied cross culturally
• One strength of failure to function adequately

  real life application - GAF
• weakness of failure to function adequately

  labels unconventional lifestyles as abnormal e.g. living in a motorhome.
• phobia


  they are a type of anxiety disorder and is a natural response to potentially dangerous stimuli
• simple/specific phobia


  occurs when sufferers have fears of specific things/environment.

  E.g. animal phobia, injury phobia, situational phobia (fear of places) or natural phobia (fear of nature)
• social phobia


  involves being in overly anxious social situations E.g. performance phobias or interaction phobias
• Agrophobia


  Fear of leaving home/safe space and occurs with panic attacks
• Behavioural symptoms of phobias


  avoidance - avoid situations in order to stop anxiety

  anxiety - interfered with the ability to work everyday and be sociable.
• emotional symptoms of phobias


  persistent excessive fears
• cognitive symptoms of phobias


  recognition of exaggerated anxiety

  irrational beliefs

  cognitive distortions
• Two-process model


  behavioural explanation see phobia as being learned through experience/ association.
• Little Albert (Watson and Rayner)


  conditioned fear of rats in child using classical conditioning. prior to this study there was nothing abnormal. when a rat was displayed in front of him he would reach for it and a steel hammer would make a loud noise behind it causing him to cry and have the fear, this procedure was repeated over a period of 2-3 weeks.
• Strength of two process model


  real world application with exposure therapies

  two process model explains how phobias are maintained by avoidance of phobic stimulus and is important to devise treatments around this concept to allow for treatment.

  this therefore shows the value of the two process model because it identifies a means of treatment
• Weakness of two process model


  it ignores the evolutionary explanation to phobias.

  for example we tend to acquire phobias that have presented danger in our evolutionary past such as snakes or the dark.

  this therefore supports the idea that phobias are a form of evolutionary idea towards adaption rather than behaviourist
• Weakness of two process model


  doesn't take into account for the cognitive aspects of phobias

  two process model accounts for behavioural approach to phobia but phobias are not simply avoidance responses they also hold irrational beliefs

  two process model doesn't offer adequate explanation for phobias nor explain the symptoms
• systematic desensitisation


  a behavioural therapy designed to gradually reduce phobia anxiety.
• three processes of systematic desensitisation


  anxiety hierarchy - put together a list of situations from least to worst anxious

  relaxation/ reciprocal inhibition - breathing exercises or mental imagery (cover desensitisation)

  exposure - client is exposed to phobia in a relaxed state
• Strength of systematic desensitisation (Gilroy)


  highly effective

  Gilroy et al followed up 42 people who had SD for spider phobia in 3 45 min sessions. all three groups were less fearful than the control group

  more people can be treated effectively using SD in a relaxed environment
• Strength of systematic desensitisation


  gradual exposure of the phobic stimulus

  clients are relaxed when presented with phobic stimulus and develop an anxiety hierarchy on their account. more ethical account on tackling phobias

  supports SD as an appropriate method especially when treating vulnerable people like children
• Weakness of systematic desensitisation


  SD is not appropriate for all phobias like death, Satan etc

  SD may be more effective for treating specific phobias while CBT is better for treating complex phobias.

  this therefore suggests that not all phobias can be treated the same and that individuals need to be accounted for.
• flooding


  involves immediate exposure of the phobia without a gradual build up in anxiety hierarchy.

  flooding stops avoidance behaviour.

  fear element of the phobia is extinguished when individual realises fear is merely irrational.

  flooding isn't unethical, clients are fully informed and consented.
• Strength of flooding


  highly cost effective

  flooding can work in as little as one session as opposed to multiple like SD to achieve the same result.

  this therefore means that more people can be treated effectively at the same cost with flooding than SD.
• Weakness of flooding (Schumacher)


  flooding is a highly unpleasant experience.

  Schumacher found that participants and therapists rated flooding as significantly more stress than SD. this also meant that there were a higher rate of attrition (drop outs)

  therefore suggests that overall therapists may avoid using this treatment.
• Weakness of flooding


  it only tackles symptoms rather than the underlying causes of phobia.

  for example persons reported the case of s woman with a phobia of death was treated using flooding. her fear of death declined but her dear of criticism got worse.

  therefore supports the idea that flooding is an extreme concept at tackling phobias.
• OCD


  an anxiety disorder.
• behavioural symptoms of OCD

  compulsions.

  they are repetitive, people with OCD feel compelled to repeat behaviour.

  this hinders everyday functioning.
• cognitive symptoms of OCD


  sufferers experience uncontrollable urges to perform acts they feel will reduce the anxiety caused by their obsessions,

  hinders everyday functioning.
• emotional symptoms of OCD

  distress

  extreme anxiety

  guilt and disgust