Psychology - Psychopathology

Statistical Infrequency

Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic

Deviation From Social Norms

Concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society

Intellectual Disability Disorder

• 68% of people have an average score of between 85-115

• 2% of people score below 70 and they are liable to an IDD diagnosis

• An example of statistical infrequency

Failure To Function Adequately

Occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living

Deviation From Ideal Mental Health

Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health

Rosenhan and Seligman - Failure to Function

Proposed additional signs which can be used to determine functioning failure:

• When a person no longer conforms to standard interpersonal rules

• Experiences of severe personal distress

• When behaviour becomes erratic and dangerous to themselves and others

Jahoda - Ideal Mental Health Criteria

• No symptoms or distress

• Rational and accurate self perception

• Self-actualise

• Coping with stress

• Realistic view of the world

• Good self-esteem and lack of guilt

• Independent

• Success in work, love and leisure

Phobia

An irrational fear of an object or situation

Behavioural

Ways in which people act

Emotional

Related to a persons feelings or mood

Cognitive

Refers to the process of ‘knowing’

DSM-5 Categories Of Phobias

• Specific phobias - phobia of an object or a situation

• Social phobia - phobia of a social situation

• Agoraphobia - phobia of being outside or in a public space

Behavioural Characteristics of Phobias

• Panic

• Avoidance

• Endurance

Emotional Characteristics of Phobias

• Anxiety

• Fear

• Unreasonable emotional response

Cognitive Characteristics of Phobias

• Selective attention

• Irrational beliefs

• Cognitive distortions

Depression

A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels

DSM-5 Categories of Depression

• Major depressive disorder - severe but often short-term depression

• Persistent depressive disorder - long term recurring depression

• Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder - childhood temper tantrums

• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder - disruption to mood prior to and/or during menstruation

Behavioural Characteristics of Depression

• Activity levels

• Disruption to sleep and eating

• Aggression and self-harm

Emotional Characteristics of Depression

• Lowered mood

• Anger

• Lowered self-esteem

Cognitive Characteristics of Depression

• Poor concentration

• Focus on negatives

• Absolutist thinking (black and white)

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

A condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsions

Compulsion

A behavioural urge

Obsession

A cognitive event that results in obsessive thoughts

DSM-5 Categories of OCD

• OCD

• Trichotillomania - compulsive hair pulling

• Hoarding disorder - compulsive gathering of possessions

• Excoriation disorder - compulsive skin picking

Behavioural Characteristics of OCD

• Repetition of compulsions

• Compulsions are completed to reduce anxiety

• Avoidance

Emotional Characteristics of OCD

• Anxiety and distress

• Accompanying depression

• Guilt and disgust

Cognitive Characteristics of OCD

• Obsessive thoughts

• Cognitive coping strategies

• Insight into excessive anxiety

Two-Process Model

An explanation for the onset and persistence of disorders that create anxiety. The two-processes are classical conditioning for onset and operant conditioning for persistence

Watson and Rayner - Classical Conditioning (Little Albert)

• Created a phobia in a 9-month-old baby

• Showed no unusual anxiety when shown a white rat

• A loud noise was then made every time the rat was then shown frightening the child

• White furry objects were then able to cause an anxiety response

Systematic Desensitisation

A behavioural therapy designed to reduce an unwanted response such as anxiety. SD involves drawing a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations related to a person’s phobic stimulus, teaching the person to relax, and then exposing them to the phobic stimulus

Flooding

A behavioural therapy in which a person with a phobia is exposed to an extreme form of a phobic stimulus in order to reduce anxiety triggered by that stimulus. This takes place across a small number of long therapy sessions

Negative Triad

Beck proposed that there are three kinds of negative thinking that contribute towards becoming depressed: negative view of the world, future and self. This creates a higher vulnerability to depression

ABC Model

Ellis proposed that depression occurs when an activating agent (A) triggers an irrational belief (B) which produces a consequence (C)

Cognitive Vulnerability

A set of beliefs or attitudes thought to make a person vulnerable to emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy

Aims to help a person challenge unhelpful thoughts to avoid negative emotions or behaviours

Irrational Thoughts

In Ellis’s model and therapy, these are defined as thoughts that are likely to interfere with a person’s happiness. Such dysfunctional thoughts lead to mental disorders such as depression

Behavioural Activation

Working with depressed individuals to gradually decrease their avoidance and isolation, and increase their engagement in activities that have been shown to improve moods

March Et Al - CBT Effectiveness

• Compared CBT to antidepressants and a combination of both with 327 depressed adolescents

• After 36 weeks, 81% of the CBT and antidepressant group improved

• 86% of the combined

Ali Et Al - Depression Relapse Rates

• Assessed depression in 439 clients every month for a year following a CBT course

• 42% relapsed within 6 months

• 53% within a year

Lewis - Genetic Explanation for OCD

• 37% of patients had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with it

• Suggests OCD is genetic providing evidence for genetic vulnerability

Cromer Et Al - Environmental OCD Risk Factors

• Found that over half the OCD clients in the sample had experienced a traumatic event in their past

• OCD was more severe in those with multiple traumas

• Evidence of genetic vulnerability only being a partial explanation

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

SSRIs effectively increase levels of serotonin in the synapse by preventing the reabsorption and breakdown

Drug Therapy

Treatment involving drugs, usually affecting neurotransmitter levels effecting the functioning of the brain

Alternatives to SSRIs

• Tricyclics - same effect as SSRIs with more serious side-effects

• SNRIs (serotonin-noadrenaline reuptake inhibitors) - increase level of serotonin as well as noadrenaline

Soomro Et Al - SSRI Evidence

• Reviewed17 studies which showed significantly better outcomes than the placebo conditions

• Symptoms typically reduced by 70%