Psychopathology

definitions of abnormality

Deviation from Social Norms

Statistical infrequency

Failure to function adequately

Deviation from idea mental health

Evaluation Deviation from social norms

+flexible and depends on context. for example being naked in a shop isnt acceptable but bikini on the beach is

-Changes over time - temporal validity. eg homosexuality

-Cultural differences for example some cultures Hallucinations are seen as spiritual

Evaluation of statistical infrequency

+uses objective data

-unusual characteristics are not always undesirable

-not all abnormal behaviours are infrequent. 1 in 4 people suffer from mental health conditions in their life

-what is frequent in one culture may not be the same as another

Failure to Function adequately evaluation

+Considers how the individual feels, and how they are managing everyday life

+measurable - the GAF scales allows for extent of failure to function adequately to be measured

-too much focus on individual. Some abnormal behaviours may not be an issue for the individual but those around them

-abnormality does not always stop someone functioning. they may appear to be fine however have issues

Deviation from Ideal mental health evaluation

+positive and comprehensive. detailed and focuses on factors which are important in life

-unrealistic standards. a lot of us would wrongfully be viewed as abnormal

-culture bias of jahodas criteria

-subjective criteria

Rosenhan and Seligman’s 7 features of dysfunction - failure to function adequately

Suffering

Unpredictability

Irrationality

Maladaptiveness

Observer discomfort - causes distress to others

Vividness & Unconventionality - differs substantially from the way most people behave

Violates moral/social standards

Jahoda’s 6 Categories - ideal mental health

Self attitudes

Personal growth and Self actualisation

Resistance to stress

Autonomy

Perception of Reality

Mastery of the environment

Phobias

anxiety disorders. Fear of something it is not beneficial to be in fear of. It negatively impacts someones everyday life.
Irrational fear of a person, object or situation

Types of phobias

Simple - person fears specific object in environment eg spider

Situational - phobia of a specific scenario eg fliying

Social - involving specific social situations eg giving speech

Characteristics of Phobias

^Behavioural

Avoidance

Panic

^Emotional

Anxiety

Fear

^Cognitive

Irrational beliefs

worries

selective attention

cognitive bias

two process model for phobias - Behaviourist approach

classical and operant conditioning

Evaluation of Behaviourist approach to phobias

-not everyone experiences a traumatic event

+support from behavioural treatments eg flooding or systematic desensitisation

+research support Di Gallo 20% of people in car crash developed phobia of travelling in car. - however only 20%

Behaviourist approach to treating phobias

Systematic Desensitisation

Flooding

Systematic desensitisation

Counter conditioning - learning new response to feared stimulus

Developed by Wolpe 1958

according to theory a person cannot be two emotional states at the same time eg anxious and relaxed. - reciprocal inhibition

1. Relaxation techniques taught

2. Fear hierarchy

3. Therapist confronts client in each step of hierarchy

Evaluation Systematic Desensitisation

+Considered more effective than other therapies. Gilroy found it more effective against spider phobias than just relaxation therapy

-ethical issues - protection from harm +however better than flooding

-Time consuming and expensive, clients may give up

Flooding

Involves exposing patients to feared stimulus without gradual build up.

Immediate exposure to phobic stimulus,

Allowing them exposure to feared stimulus, shows them how there is no basis for their phobia - negative reinforcement.

leads to extinction of fear

in vivo - actual exposure to stimulus

In vitro - imaginary exposure

Evaluation of flooding

+Quick and cost effective only 1-2 sessions needed

-Wolpe one patient became so distressed during therapy they had to go to hospital

-ethical issues

Depression

mood or affective disorder

prolonged and fundamental disturbance of mood and emotion. most common of all psychopathical disorders

unipolar and bipolar despression

Characteristics of Depression

Behavioural

low activity

Disrupted sleep and eating

Aggression and self-harm

Emotional

Low mood

Anger

Low self-esteem

Cognitive

Focus on negative

struggle to focus

Cognitive approach to explaining depression

Becks negative triad

Ellis ABC mode

Ellis ABC model

lies in irrational beliefs

shows how disordered thinking lies in irrational beliefs

Activating event eg sacked from work

Belief eg I was sacked because they never liked me

Consequence eg depression

Becks negative triad

Negative views of the self, the world, the future lead to depression

Evaluation of Cognitive explanation for Depression

-Fails to establish where irrational thoughts come from

+practical application in therapy CBT

-blames client rather than situational factors which could result in depression

-may not be able to explain depression in all sufferers. other approaches may be more appropriate

+research support from Boury et al found patient with depression were more likely to missinterpret information negatively and feel hopeless about the future. - negative triad

the cognitive approach to treating depresion

CBT

Becks ABCDE model

CBT cognitive behavioural therapy

Cognitive - aims to identify irrational and negative thoughts. and the aim is to replace these with positive thoughts

Behavioural - aims for patients to test these negative beliefs

1.initial assessment

2.Goal setting

3.Identifying negative/irrational thoughts

4.Homework - such as mood diary, activity diary to record things you do. or behavioural experiments to test out behaviours and disprove irrational thoughts

Ellis ABCDE model

Dispute and effect

aim is to challenge negative thoughts by disputing them

Challenging irrational thoughts

Logical disputing - does the way you think about this make sense?

Empirical - Is there evidence this is true?

Pragmatic - Are these thoughts helping you?

Cognitive treatment to depression evaluation

-might not work for all pateints. some suffer from severe depression and habe very irrational beliefs so find it hard to engage in set tasks

-Can take time to be affective

-Focuses on thoughts too much, it may be down to living circumstances

+research support, March 2007 shows CBT is 81% affective and 86% alongside drug therapy