Psychopathology

• Defining abnormality: statistical infrequency 


  Lower intelligence or extremely high, IQ (average is 85-115) or intellectual disorder (80 IQ) ; A03: real-life application for diagnosis, these qualities can be positive, labelling as abnormal may have a negative effect
• Defining abnormality: deviation from social norms

  Behaving differently to societal norms that seem unusual/unacceptable, can differ depending on culture, antisocial personality disorder (rude, lack of politeness, aggression, spitting, sexual habits) ; A03: cultural relativism, can abuse human rights, makes people feel forced to all be the same
• Defining abnormality: failure to function adequately 


  Unable to maintain basic hygiene or mannerisms (e.g eye contact or hold down a job); A03: could be described as the same as deviating from social norms, doesn’t consider the individuals potential reasoning behind it, subjective judgement (distressed or distressing)
• defining abnormality: deviation from ideal mental health

  Jahodas criteria: rational/accurate self perception, adaptability, no symptoms of distress, self-actualisation (reached own potential), realistic view of world, good self esteem and lack guilt, independent, successfully work and partake in leisure; A03: comprehensive (covers a broad range of characteristics); cultural relativism, sets unrealistic standard for mental health
• Phobia categories

  Specific phobia (specific to an object/situation), social anxiety, agoraphobia (fear of the outside)
• Behavioural characteristics of phobias

  Endurance, avoidance, fear (crying, screaming or running away)
• emotional characteristics of phobias

  Anxiety, unreasonable emotional response (arachnophobia makes people distress over a small and harmless insect)
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias

  Selective attention to phobia stimulus (fixating on it to react to ‘threat’), irrational beliefs, cognitive distortions (seeing something as something it isn’t)
• Depression: characteristics

  Behavioural: reduced level of energy, social life withdrawal, disruption to sleep and eating, aggression or self-harm; emotional: lowered mood and self-esteem, anger; cognitive: poor concentration, fixating on negatives, absolutist thinking (excessive belief something is really bad, black and white thinking)
• OCD: characteristics

  Behavioural: compulsions (compelled to do something), avoidance; emotional: anxiety and distress, accompanying depression, guilt and disgust; cognitive: obsessive thoughts
• Behavioural approach to explaining phobias: Mowrer‘s two process model


  States phobias are aquired by classical conditioning and then continue operant conditioning; classical conditioning: associate neutral stimulus (no fear) with something that already triggers fear (unconditioned stimulus); operant conditioning: behaviour is reinforced or punished (avoiding fear to feel relief as a reward- negative reinforcement), explains how phobia is maintained
• research into two-process model (phobia)

  Watson and Rayner: Little Albert (9 month old baby), conditioned a phobia of white rats ( loud ringing noise off an iron bar as UCS to create a fear UCR, learned that when rat was present so was the UCS so developed a fear), afterwards became scared of white rats
• Behavioural approach to phobias A03

  Explanatory (shows importance of exposure to reduce a phobia) ; doesn’t explain evolutionary phobias (innate)
• Behavioural approach to treating phobias

  Systematic desensitisation: through principle of classical conditioning (counter conditioning), learn to relax in presence of fear, create an anxiety hierarchy, apply relaxing techniques (breath work or imagery), exposure ; flooding: exposure to fear and learn to control anxiety
• Behavioural approach to treating phobias A03

  flooding is less time consuming ; both cant be applied to fears like death ; flooding can be traumatic for patient
• Cognitive approach to depression: Beck’s negative triad


  Faulty information processing (always seeing the bad in something good) ; negative self-schema ; negative triad: negative view on the world, negative view of future, negative view of self
• Cognitive approach to depression: Ellis’ ABC model 


  Activating agent (irrational thoughts that were triggered by an event); Beliefs (irrational negative beliefs, believes life isn’t fair - Utopianism) ; Consequence (emotional and behavioural response)
• Beck’s negative triad A03

  Practical application (CBT) ; doesn’t explain all aspects of depression (cant explain anger)
• Ellis’ ABC model A03


  Partial explanation as doesn’t explain non-triggered depression ; practical application to therapy (challenging irrational beliefs) ; doesn’t explain cognitive aspects like hallucinations or delusions
• Cognitive approach to treating depression

  CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy): identify and challenge irrational thoughts to change thought process, Beck‘s research applied by proving irrationalities wrong, Ellis’ REBT (rational emotional behavioural therapy) is ABCDE (D being dispute (empirical disputing is the evidence, logical disputing is the logic behind thought, pragmatic disputing argues how useful it is and E being effect (separate the link between the negative life events and depression)), challenges beliefs by asking for probability/evidence behind these thoughts
• cognitive approach for treating depression A03

  it is effective (good first choice for NHS that doesn’t caused a drug-strain) ; antidepressants may be better for severe cases due to lack of motivation ; success may be due to patient-therapist relationship
• Biological approach to OCD: genetics

  Individual vulnerability (Lewis tested patients, found 37% had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with OCD) (can link to diathesis-stress model) ; candidate genes (sert gene affects reuptake of serotonin as mops up/ collects too fast- reduces level overall, comt gene associated with dopamine), effected by a deficiency in the synapsis transport ; polygenic condition (caused by multiple genes not one), both dopamine (motivation, productive, hyperactive) and serotonin (happiness, mood) linked to regulating mood; high dopamine and low serotonin
• Biological approach to OCD: neural explanations

  Dysfunctional serotonin system, low levels of transmissions cause mood-regulation problems, can be linked to mental processes ; decision-making systems disrupted by abnormal functioning in frontal lobes (responsible for logical thinking and decision making), parahippocampal gyrus linked to unpleasant emotions and functions abnormally in those with OCD ; worry circuit: OFC (rational decision making), basic ganglia system (caudate nucleus and thamalus), overactive for OCD
• Genetic explanations to OCD A03

  Supporting evidence of twin studies show increased genetic vulnerability in identical twins ; environmental risk facts not considered like traumas ; too many candidate genes
• Neural explanations to OCD A03

  Supporting evidence of antidepressants working from the basis of serotonin system that increases the levels of serotonin ; causation issues
• Biological approach to treating OCD

  Works to increase serotonin levels, SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), transmits chemicals over synapse and reduces reabsorbing and reuses, CBT to engage in emotional symptoms like anxiety (slows down worry circuit), can also use Fluoxetine, alternatives: tricyclics (older med, Clomipramine), same system as SSRIs but had more severe side effects ; SNRIs (serotonin- noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors), does the same but also works on neurotransmitter noradrenaline
• Biological approach to treatment for OCD A03

  Effective (Soomro tested against placebo) ; drugs can be costly ; drugs can have side effects (aggression, disruption to blood pressure and heart rhythm)