psychopathology

• abnormality 


  a psychological or behavioural state leading to impairment of interpersonal functioning and / or distress to others
• 4 definitions of abnormality

  -the deviation from social norms

  -the failure to function adequately

  -deviation from the ideal mental health

  -the statistical infrequency
• the deviation from social norms 


  behaviour violating accepted social roles and unwritten rules for acceptable behaviour in society
• the failure to function adequately 


  an inability to cope with everyday living
• deviation from the ideal mental health 


  failure to meet the criteria for perfect psychological wellbeing
• the statistical infrequency 


  behaviours that are rare
• which psychologists suggested features of personal disfunction (the failure to function adequately)


  Rosenham and Seligman (1989) <3
• which psychologist suggested characteristics for ideal mental health (deviation from ideal mental health)

  Jahoda (1958)
• personal distress 


  abnormality includes depression and anxiety disorders
• maladaptive behaviour 


  behaviour stopping individuals from obtaining life goals (eg socially, work)
• unpredictability 


  unexpected behaviours due to loss of control like attempting suicide due to failing a test
• irrationality 


  behaviour unexplained in a rational way
• observer discomfort 


  behaviour causing discomfort to others
• violation of moral standards

  behaviour violating societies moral standards
• unconventionality 


  behaviours that are not the norm
• Harold Shipman 


  -attended Leeds School of Medicine + began working as a physician in 1970

  -arrested in 1998 for killing at least 215 (possibly as many as 260) of his patients by injecting them with lethal doses of painkillers

  -never seen as abnormal/didn’t display features of dysfunction which is why he was able to lead a relatively normal life without being caught.

  -criticism of the failure to function adequately
• features of personal dysfunction (failure to function adequately)

  -personal distress

  -maladaptive behaviour

  -unpredictability

  -irrationality

  -observer discomfort

  -violation of moral standards

  -unconventionality
• characteristics of ideal mental health

  -positive attitude towards one self

  -self actualisation

  -autonomy

  -resisting stress

  -accurate perception of reality

  -environmental mastery
• positive attitude towards one self 


  having self respect and a positive self concept
• self actualisation 


  experiencing growth and development ‘becoming everything you are capable of’
• autonomy 


  independent , self reliant, and able to make personal decisions
• resisting stress 


  having coping strategies and coping with anxiety provoking situations
• accurate perception of reality 


  having an objective and realistic view of the world
• environmental mastery 


  competent in all areas of life and flexible to change
• strengths of failure to function adequately (1)

  ~matches sufferers perceptions-supports the definition as most people seeking help believe they can’t function properly

  ~assesses the degree of abnormality-GAF scored on a continuous scale, allows clinicians to see the level of abnormality of individuals and decide who need psychiatric help
• strengths of failure to function adequately (2)

  ~observable behaviour-allows others to judge if individuals are functioning adequately as behaviours are observable

  ~personal perspective-recognises sufferers personal experiences so allows mental disorders to be regarded from perception of the individual suffering
• limitations of failure to function adequately

  ~normal abnormality-it can be normal at points in life to suffer distress like grieving

  ~distress to others-behaviour may be regarded as dysfunctional to others whilst the person feels no distress
• strengths of deviation from ideal mental health

  ~holistic-considers individual as a whole person rather than their behaviour

  ~positivity-emphasises positive achievements rather than failures

  ~targets areas of dysfunction-allows targeting which areas to work on when treating abnormality, important when treating different disorders, also allows individuals to create goals facilitating self growth