Psychopathology flashcards

deviation from social norms

behaviour is defined as abnormal because it goes against what society sees as the norm

cultural relativism

the idea that social norms vary between cultures and situations

statistical infrequency

a behaviour is defined as abnormal if it is statistically unusual

failure to function adequately

an inability to carry out everyday tasks and lead what would be considered a normal life

Rosenhan and Seligman’s signs of failure to function adequately

when someone no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules/experiences severe personal distress/demonstrates irrational or dangerous behaviour

Deviation from ideal mental health

behaviour defined as abnormal if it doesn’t meet Jahoda’s 6 criteria

phobia

an irrational fear of an object or situation

specific phobia

the fear of a specific object/situation

social phobia

the fear of humiliation in public places

agoraphobia

the fear of public places

panic in response to the phobic stimulus/avoidance of the phobic stimulus/endurance to remain in the presence of the phobic stimulus

a behavioural characteristic of a phobia

anxiety/fear/unreasonable response (disproportionate to the tyrear)

an emotional characteristic of a phobia

selective attention

a cognitive characteristic of a phobia

irrational beliefs

a cognitive characteristic of a phobia

cognitive distortions

a cognitive characteristic of a phobia

depression

a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels

unipolar depression

when someone has constant feelings of depression

bipolar depression

when someone has feelings of depression as well as joy/mania

reduced activity levels

a behavioural characteristic of depression

disruption to sleep and eating behaviours

a behavioural characteristic of depression

agression and self-harm

a behavioural characteristic of depression

low mood

an emotional characteristic of depression

anger towards self and others

an emotional characteristic of depression

low self-esteem

an emotional characteristic of depression

poor concentration

a cognitive characteristic of depression

dwelling on the negative

a cognitive characteristic of depression

absolutist (black and white) thinking

a cognitive characteristic of depression

OCD

a mental disorder characterised by intrusive obsessions and compulsions

compulsion

carrying out a specific behaviour

obsession

the fixation on a certain intrusive thought/idea

classical conditioning

Learning to associate a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response

Watson and Rayner

Little Albert study

Describe little Albert study

He was conditioned to fear rats by being continually presented with a rat and a loud noise, this fear was generalised onto similar stimuli e.g. a rabbit and the fear was still evident months later

Operant conditioning

How are phobias reinforced

Positive reinforcement of phobias

Reduced anxiety levels caused by avoiding the phobic stimuli

Negative reinforcement of phobias

Avoiding the phobic stimuli to avoid increasing anxiety levels

Systematic desensitisation

Used to reduce phobic anxiety through classical conditioning specifically counter conditioning

Reciprocal inhibition

Fear response is replaced by anxiety because they cannot coexist

3 stages of systematic desensitisation

Anxiety hierarchy, relaxation and exposure

Anxiety hierarchy

A hierarchy of fear where the most frightening stimuli are at the top and the least on the bottom

Relaxation

The participant is taught relaxation techniques such as deep breathing which they practise until they can achieve the relaxed state consistently on command

Exposure

The participant is exposed to every stage of their anxiety hierarchy starting from the bottom using relaxation techniques

Flooding therapy

Someone is instantly exposed to the phobic stimuli to get rid of their phobia

How does flooding work

People are directly exposed to their phobic stimuli repeatedly allowing their phobia to be extinguished due to the presence of the conditioned stimuli without the unconditioned stimulus

Negatives of flooding

It’s unethical and may lead to symptom substitution

Positives of flooding

It’s cost effective

Positives of systematic desensitisation

It’s effective and is suitable for a diverse range of patients

Negatives of systematic desensitisation and flooding

It doesn’t work on all phobias

3 components of Beck’s cognitive theory of depression

Faulty information processing, negative self-schemas and the negative triad

Faulty information processing

Individuals pay more attention to the negative aspects of situations and think in black and white terms

Negative self-schemas

interpreting all information about yourself negatively

3 parts of the negative triad

Negative view about the self, negative view about the world, negative view about the future

What’s are the 3 components of Ellis’ model of depression

Activating event, beliefs and consequence

Cognitive behavioural therapy

A talking therapy aimed at challenging irrational thoughts to treat anxiety and depression

Dysfunctional thought diary

A method used in CBT where you write your immediate response to a challenge and then find an alternative more rational response

Challenging dysfunctional thoughts

A component of CBT where the therapists asks questions to try and prove the thoughts are irrational

Rational emotive behavioural therapy

An extension of Ellis’s ABC model used to treat depression

What are the additional components in REBT from the ABC model

Disputing irrational thoughts and replacing irrational beliefs with new and effective ones

What are the different types of disputing proposed by Ellis

Empirical, logical and pragmatic

Empirical disputing

Disputing whether there is evidence to support the negative belief

Logical disputing

Disputing whether the negative thought logically follows from the facts

Pragmatic disputing

Disputing how the negative thought is going to help the person

Diathesis stress model

Suggests people must be have a genetic predisposition and experience an environmental trigger to develop a disorder

Lewis (1936)

Found 37% of patients with OCD had a parent with OCD and 21% had a sibling with OCD

Candidate genes in OCD

Research has found genes specifically those linked to regulating the production of serotonin could be responsible for OCD

OCD is aetiologically heterogeneous

there are many different genes variations responsible for different types of OCD

Gene 5HT1-D

Involved in the transportation of serotonin across the synaptic cleft linked to OCD

Nestadt (2010)

68% of MZ twins were both diagnosed with OCD compared to 31% of dz twins

Serotonin explanation of OCD

Suggests that low lodgers of serotonin affects the transmission of mood and mental processes causing OCD

Decision making systems as an explanation for OCD

OCD can be associated with abnormal decision making caused by abnormal functioning of the frontal lobes especially the orbitofrontal cortex

Drug therapy for OCD

SSRI’s can be used to test OCD by blocking the serotonin reuptake pump reducing reabsorption, increasing serotonin levels

Alternative drugs to SSRI’s

Tricyclics and SNRI’s

Tricyclics

Drugs used to treat depression which increase norepinephrine and serotonin by blocking receptors on the post synaptic neuron

SNRI’S

Increase norepinephrine and serotonin levels by blocking the reuptake pump on the pre-synaptic neuron

Soo do (2009)

Reviewed 17 studies comparing SRRI’s with placebos to treat OCD and found that in all the studies SSRI’s were more effective than the placebo (around a 70% reduction in symptoms)