Psychopathology

Psychopathology

Psycho means ‘mind’ and pathology means ‘disease. So essentially, a disease of the mind .

Social Norm

An unwritten rule made by society that everyone is expected to follow.

What does it mean to deviate from social norms?

-Behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society.

-Going against the unwritten rules of society

Normal distribution

A symmetrical spread of frequency data that forms a bell-shaped pattern. The mean, median and mode are all located at the highest peak.

Statistical deviation

Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic.

If it is statistically unusual, then it is classed as abnormal.

Failure to function adequately

When an individual is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living, such as basic nutrition, hygiene and social interactions.

What did Rosenhan and Seligman propose, to determine when someone is not coping.

-No longer conforming to standard interpersonal rules, such as maintaining eye contact, and respecting personal space.

-Experiencing severe personal distress

-Irrational behaviour that is dangerous to themselves or others

Deviation from ideal mental health

Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health, as outlined by Jahoda

What was Jahoda’s criteria for ideal mental health? (IS SPAM good?)

-Integration

-Self esteem

-Self actualisation

-Perception of reality

-Autonomy

-Mastery of the environment

What is the explanation for integration? (Jahoda’s criteria)

We can cope with stress appropriately and effectively.

What is the explanation for self-esteem?(Jahoda’s criteria)

We have good self-esteem and don’t feel guilty.

What is the explanation for self actualisation?(Jahoda’s criteria)

We can reach or are striving to reach our potential.

What is the explanation of perception of reality? (Jahoda’s criteria)

We have an accurate, realistic view of the work, and don’t search for negatives.

What is the explanation of autonomy? (Jahoda’s criteria)

We are independent of others, and self-sufficient.

What is the explanation for mastery of the environment?(Jahoda’s criteria)

We can successfully work, maintain relationships, and take part in hobbies/activities.

Phobia

An irrational response to an object, place or situation, that includes feelings of excessive fear and anxiety. The reaction is disproportionate to the threat of the phobic stimulus.

what are the 3 types of characteristics of phobias?

-behavioural (how someone might act)

-emotional (how someone might feel)

-cognitive (how someone might think)

what are the types of behavioural characteristics (within the characteristics of phobias)?

avoidance, endurance and panic

what is avoidance? (behavioural characteristics of phobias)

Unless making an effort to tackle their fear, people with phobias tend to do anything they can to avoid their phobia. This can make it hard to go about daily life, i.e. avoiding public toilets.

what is endurance? (behavioural characteristics of phobias)

If a phobia can't be avoided, the individual might have to endure it. Someone might face their phobia but experiences high levels of anxiety.

what is panic? (behavioural characteristics of phobias)

someone with a phobia might panic in response to seeing their phobia. This might include crying, screaming or trying to escape.

Children might react differently by freezing or clinging to someone.

what are the three types of emotional characteristics? (characteristics of phobias)

unreasonable, fear, and anxiety

what is unreasonable? (emotional characteristics of phobias)

the emotional responses we experience in relation to phobias aren't reasonable or ogical. For example, being scared of a tiny spider is unreasonable because it is disproportionate to the danger posed (i.e. no danger at all).

what is fear? (emotional characteristics of phobias)

someone with a phobia will immediately feel extremely unpleasant responses when presented with their stimulus such as being frightened. Fear is short-term.

what is anxiety ? (emotional characteristics of phobias)

phobias are classed as anxiety disorders. The individual might experience high levels of arousal, making it difficult to experience any positive emotions.

Anxiety is long-term.

what are the cognitive characteristics? (characteristics of phobias)

selective attention, irrational beliefs, cognitive distortions

what is selective attention ? (cognitive characteristics of phobias)

if the individual can see the phobic stimulus, they find it hard to look away because they think they have the best chance of escaping if it suddenly poses a large threat.

what is irrational beliefs ? (cognitive characteristics of phobias)

someone with a phobia might have irrational beliefs.

For example, someone with social phobias think that "If I blush people will think I'm weak". Someone with a phobia of spiders will think a tiny spider could kill them.

what is cognitive distortions ? (cognitive characteristics of phobias)

the perception of a phobic stimulus might be distorted. For example, someone with a phobia of snakes will see them as aggressive and ugly.

what case study was used to explain phobias, using classical conditioning?

Watson and Rayner’s research on Little Albert

How to explain phobias using classical conditioning.

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How long does it take for a phobia to be created?

When phobias are created, the ‘during’ stage doesn’t need to happen more than once, it can be a one time experience.

two-process model

An explanation for the creation and continuation of a phobia. The two processes are classical conditioning, and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning explains creation of a phobia, and operant conditioning explains the continuation of a phobia.

what is the classical conditioning explanation of phobias?

-Classical conditioning is used to explain how phobias are created. It involves learning to associate something we have no fear of with something that doesn’t trigger a fear.

-Over time, the conditioning becomes generalised to similar objects, as Little Albert began showing fear at other furry objects, such as rabbits and fur coats

How are phobias maintained through operant conditioning ?

-Phobias are maintained through negative reinforcement (removing an unpleasant feeling, such as anxiety)

-For example, someone with a phobia of spiders might avoid all places, where a spider might be (gardens, sheds, lofts, etc.), and therefore do not experience any feelings of anxiety.

-Because the person doesn’t feel any anxiety, the behaviours are repeated and reinforced.

systematic desensitisation

A therapy used to treat phobias. It is a gradual process that uses a hierarchy of fears, which the patient goes through ensuring they are relaxed at each stage before moving on.

flooding

A therapy used to treat phobias. It is an instant process, and the patient is exposed to an extreme form of their phobia in order to reduce the anxiety triggered by phobia.

depression

A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels. It lasts for a long amount of time, and can be triggered by stressful events, but that is not always the case.

What are the characteristics of depression?

-behavioural (how someone might act)

-emotional (how someone might feel)

-cognitive (how someone might think)

what are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

Activity levels, sleeping and eating patterns, self-harm

what is anxiety levels (behavioural characteristics of depression )?

Individuals with depression may have reduced levels of energy, making them lethargic. In some cases, activity levels are extreme (psychomotor agitation- struggling to relax, pacing)

what is sleeping and eating patterns (behavioural characteristics of depression)?

Someone might experience reduced sleep (insomnia) or increased sleep (hypersomnia). Appetite might also increase or decrease.

what is self harm? (behavioural characteristics of depression)

The anger felt by someone with depression can sometimes lead to physical aggression, which can be directed at the self. This might lead to self-harm or even suicide attempts.

what is lowered mood? (emotional characteristics of depression)

Someone with depression is more than ‘sad’, they have feelings of worthiness and emptiness.

what is anger (emotional characteristics of depression)?

People with depression frequently experience anger, which can be directed at themselves or others. Sometimes this anger can be extreme.

what is lowered self-esteem (emotional characteristics of depression)?

Self-esteem is about how much we like ourselves. People with depression often report low self esteem and can be as extreme as self loathing.

what is poor concentration (cognitive characteristics of depression)?

The individual might find themselves unable to stick to a task or make decisions that they would normally find straightforward.

what is attending to the negative (cognitive characteristics of depression)?

An individual would pay more attention to negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positives. They recall unhappy events rather than happy ones.

what is absolutist thinking (cognitive characteristics of depression)?

The individual would see situations as good or bad with no in-between. Sometimes described as catastrophic thinking, the bad situations are viewed as absolute disasters.

What is Beck’s cognitive theory of depression?

Beck stated that the following can make someone vulnerable to depression. This includes fault information processing, negative self schema, negative triad.

What is faulty information processing? (Beck’s cognitive theory of depression)

When depressed, we focus on the negative aspects of a situation and ignore the positive.

i.e. if someone with depression won £1 million on the lottery, they would focus on the fact that someone won £10 million in the previous week

What is negative self schema ? (Beck’s cognitive theory of depression)

A schema is a package of information developed from experience.

A self- schema is information we hold about ourselves.

Someone with depression has a negative self-schema, leading to interpreting information about themselves in a negative way

What is negative triad ? (Beck’s cognitive theory of depression)

A person develops a dysfunctional view about themselves because of the three types of automatic negative thinking:

1. Negative view of the world - thinking that the world is a 'cold hard place'

2. Negative view of the future - thinking that 'there isn't much chance things will get better'

3. Negative view of the self - thinking 'I am a failure'

What is Ellis’ ABC model?

Ellis proposed that irrational thoughts cause depression and explains them in 3 steps: this includes activating event, beliefs, and consequences.

What is activating event(Ellis’ ABC model)?

Beck's emphasis was on automatic thoughts (i.e. no trigger) whereas Ellis stated there are situations that trigger our thoughts. An example of an activating event might be ending a relationship.

What is beliefs (Ellis’ ABC model)?

The activating event leads to irrational beliefs. There are a range of irrational beliefs, i.e. musturbation (we must always achieve perfection) or utopianism (life is always meant to be fair).

What is consequences (Ellis’ ABC model)?

The irrational beliefs lead to emotional and behavioural consequences. For example, having musturbation (always achieving perfection) and then failing a test might trigger depression. Having utopianism (life is meant to be fair) and then going through an unlucky event might trigger depression.

What is cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)?

Most commonly used psychological treatment for depression and other mental health problems.

Cognitive = identifying the negative, irrational thoughts

Behavioural = changing the negative, irrational thoughts

What are characteristics for only Beck’s CBT?

The therapists and patient work together to identify and challenge the negative thoughts in this triad (self, future and world).

They might be set homework to keep a diary of positive events (i.e when someone was nice to them).

In future, if they say no one is nice to them, there is evidence to disprove their irrational belief (from their homework)

What are characteristics of Beck’s CBT AND Ellis’ REBT?

Aims to identify and replace negative, irrational thoughts.

Begins with an assessment in which the patient and therapist work together to identify the patients’ problems.

Therapist also encourages patients to be more active and engage in enjoyable activities (behavioural activation).

Can be delivered face-to-face or through video call sessions. Some CBT therapists also work over the phone.

5-20 sessions are often enough and take place weekly or fortnightly for 30-60 minutes.

What are characteristics for only Ellis’ REBT?

The central technique is to dispute irrational thoughts.

A patient might talk about how unlucky they are. The therapist would identify that as utopianism and challenge this irrational belief with a vigorous argument.

Disputing can be through empirical arguments is there any evidence?) or logical arguments (based on the facts, is this a logical way of thinking?).

What is OCD?

A mental health problem in which a person has certain thoughts repeatedly (obsessions) or feels the need to perform certain routines repeatedly (compulsions) to an extent where it causes distress or limits functioning.

What are the characteristics of OCD?

-behavioural (how someone might act)

-emotional (how someone might feel)

-cognitive (how someone might think)

What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?

Repeating compulsions

Compulsions to reduce anxiety

Avoidance

What is repeating compulsions ? (behavioural characteristic of OCD)

People with OCD feel compelled to repeat a behaviour such as hand-washing, counting, praying or tidying groups of objects.

What are compulsions to reduce anxiety? (behavioural characteristic of OCD)

The individual will carry out the behaviour repeatedly in an attempt to manage the anxiety produced by the obsessions i.e. excessive handwashing in a response to the obsession about germs.

What is avoidance? (behavioural characteristic of OCD)

OCD sufferers might avoid certain situations that 'trigger their OCD, for example people who have a fear of germs might avoid emptying the rubbish bin or go outside at all.

What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?

Anxiety and distress

Depression

Guilt and disgust

What is anxiety and distress? (emotional characteristic of OCD)

OCD is regarded as a particularly unpleasant emotional experience because of the powerful anxiety that comes with it.

The urge to carry out a compulsion creates anxiety.

What is depression ? (emotional characteristic of OCD)

Due to avoiding situations and carrying out compulsions, OCD can lead to low mood, lack of enjoyment and social withdrawal with means OCD is often accompanied by depression.

What is guilt and disgust? (emotional characteristic of OCD)

OCD involves other negative emotions such as guilt over minor moral issues or even disgust directed at the sufferer or something external like dirt.

What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?

Obsessive thoughts

Cognitive coping strategies

Irrational thoughts

What are the obsessive thoughts? (cognitive characteristic of OCD)

Thoughts that recur over and over again are known as obsessions. People with OCD have obsessions about certain things i.e. worrying about a door being unlocked.

What are the cognitive coping strategies ? (cognitive characteristic of OCD)

People with OCD develop coping strategies in order to deal with the obsessions they have. This might include praying, meditating or practicing mindfulness.

What are irrational thoughts ? (cognitive characteristic of OCD)

People with OCD know that their obsessions and compulsions are completely irrational. However, they will still remain hyper vigilant, i.e. maintaining constant attention on potential hazards.