4.1.4 Psychopathology Flashcards
four definitions of abnormality
- deviation from social norms
- failure to function adequately
- statistical infrequency / deviation
- deviation from ideal mental health
deviation from social norms
when someone’s behaviour goes against the unwritten rules in society (social norms), they’re considered socially deviant and their behaviour is abnormal
deviation from social norms - strengths
- gives a social dimension to the idea of abnormality
- flexible to account for the individual and situation, e.g. a toddler tantrum is normal but wouldn’t be if it was an adult tantrum
- seeks to protect society from a person’s abnormal behaviour
- has a clear indication of what’s considered normal and abnormal as most of us understand socials norms in our own culture
deviation from social norms - limitations
- social norms change over time, so what is considered a mental disorder today may not be in the future, e.g homosexuality was once not socially acceptable
- social norms aren’t objective facts, but are subjective rules created by others
- social norms vary between cultures, e.g. walking barefoot in London would be seen as abnormal but in a tribal community this is the norm
- ethnocentric as it’s based on western societal norms
- doesn’t account for individualistic or eccentric people who simply don’t wish to conform to social norms
failure to function adequately
states that individuals are abnormal when they’re unable to cope with everyday life and may cause distress to others
Rosenhan and Seligman (1989)’s features of dyfunction
- personal distress (e.g. anxiety, depression)
- maladaptive behaviour (behaviour which prevents the person achieving goals)
- unpredictability
- irrationality
- observer discomfort (discomfort to others)
- violations of moral standards (violating social norms)
Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale
provides a way to quantify the extent to which a mental disorder affects an individual’s ability to function adequately, from 0-100, with a lower score meaning they’ll struggle more
failure to function adequately - strengths
- focuses on observable behaviours
- R&S provide a practical checklist / criteria for individuals to check their own behaviours
- individuals can seek professional help themselves
- GAF provides a practical and measurable way of quantifying abnormality
failure to function adequately - limitations
- not everyone with a mental disorder is unable to function normally in society
- doesn’t consider when it can be normal to behave abnormally, e.g. when grieving
- subjective as the person judging whether behaviour is abnormal may have a different view than someone else
- reflects cultural bias as it’ll inevitably be related to how one’s culture believes an individual should live their life
statistical infrequency
defines abnormality as statistically rare characteristics / behaviours, i.e. those which deviate from the mean average or norm
statistical infrequency - strengths
- an objective measure of abnormality which can be quantified and plotted on a graph
- doesn’t imply any value judgements about abnormal behaviours as they just fall outside a statistical range
statistical infrequency - limitations
- infrequency doesn’t always mean abnormality or mental disorder, e.g. having a higher IQ would actually be a desirable trait
- so fails to distinguish between desirable and undesirable traits
- abnormality isn’t necessarily infrequent, e.g. abnormal mental conditions such as anxiety, depression, etc. are quite common
- some psychological disorders are hard to measure objectively
- culture bias is present as some behaviours may be statistically infrequent in one culture but more common in another, e.g. schizophrenia
deviation from ideal mental health
Jahoda (1958) identified 6 features of ideal mental health, and the absence of any of these would indicate abnormality
Jahoda’s characteristics of ideal mental health
- positive self-attitudes (having self-respect and self-esteem)
- self actualisation (personal growth and development)
- autonomy (being independent and self-reliant)
- integration (resisting stress & coping in stressful situations)
- accurate perception of reality (being realistic about oneself and the world)
- environment mastery (successfully adapting to different environments)
deviation from ideal mental health - strengths
- a holistic approach as it looks at the whole person rather than focusing on specific behaviours
- focuses on positive behaviours and what’s desirable - provides a positive goal
- comprehensive as it includes a range of reasons an individual may need help with their mental health
deviation from ideal mental health - limitations
- too idealistic as very few people meet all 6 of the criteria all the time
- the criteria are somewhat subjective and hard to measure
- what is understood as ideal mental health may differ between cultures and change over time
phobias
an anxiety disorder characterised by extreme and irrational fear of a stimuli
categories of phobias
the DSM-5 recognised;
- specific (simple) phobia
- social phobia
- agoraphobia
specific phobia
when a person fears a specific object, e.g. animals, injuries, natural elements, or situations
social phobia
fear of social situations, e.g. performances, interactions, or general situations such as large crowds
agoraphobia
a fear of open or public spaces
behavioural characteristics of phobias
- displaying panic through screaming, crying, running away, etc.
- avoiding the stimulus, which can make daily life complicated
- or the individual may endure it but continue to suffer high levels of anxiety which isn’t good for their mental health
emotional characteristics of phobias
- immediate emotion would be fear
- may act unreasonably and irrationally
- the person will suffer from anxiety which will stop them from being able to relax or feel any other emotion
cognitive characteristics of phobias
- paying selective attention to the phobia, i.e. the person can’t focus on anything else
- the person’s perception of their phobia can often be distorted
behaviourist approach to phobias
explains phobias through observations of the environment, and behavioural responses (learning), i.e. explains phobias through the two-process model
the two-process model
proposed by Mowrer (1960), and states that phobias are first learnt (acquired) through classical conditioning and then maintained via operant conditioning
classical conditioning (acquisition of phobia)
- phobia is formed through association of a fear response with a stimulus
- phobic objects are a neutral stimulus (NS) at first which don’t produce a fear response
- when the NS is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that causes an unconditioned response (UCR), the NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) associated with the conditioned response (CR)
- e.g. a dog (NS) paired with pain from a dog bite (UCS) causes fear (UCR), so the dog becomes a CS linked to fear (CR)