Psychopathology

Question 1

What are the definitions of abnormality?

Answer 1

• Statistical Infrequency
• Deviation from Social Norms
• Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
• Failure to Function Adequately

Question 2

What is ‘Statistical Infrequency’?

Answer 2

• Any behaviour or characteristic that isn’t seen normally in terms of statistics

Question 3

What is a ‘Deviation from Social Norms’?

Answer 3

• Behaviour that is different from how most people behave due to social ideas and norms

Question 4

What is ‘Failure to Function Adequately’?

Answer 4

• Can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life

Question 5

What is a ‘Deviation from Ideal Mental Health’?

Answer 5

• Proposed by Jahoda (1958)
• No distress, rational, perceive ourselves accurately, can cope with stress, can successfully work

Question 6

What does the DSM categorise Phobias?

Answer 6

Excessive fear and anxiety, triggered by an object, place or situation, that is out of proportion to any real danger posed by it

Question 7

What are the behavioural characteristics of phobias?

Answer 7

Panic
Avoidance
Endurance

Question 8

What are the emotional characteristics of phobias?

Answer 8

Anxiety
Fear

Question 9

What are the cognitive characteristics of phobias?

Answer 9

Selective attention to stimulus
Cognitive distortions

Question 10

What is the behavioural explanation to to phobias?

Answer 10

• Acquisition by classical conditioning
• Maintained by operant conditioning

Question 11

What is the behavioural treatments?

Answer 11

• Systematic Desensitisation
  Use classical conditioning to gradually reduce phobic anxiety (anxiety hierarchy)
• Flooding
  Exposing to their phobic stimulus without a gradual build-up

Question 12

What are the DSM-5 categories of depression?

Answer 12

• Major depressive disorder - severe but mostly short-term depression
• Persistent depressive disorder - long-term or recurring depression
• Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder - childhood temper tantrums
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder - disruption to mood prior to/during menstruation

Question 13

What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 13

Reduced activity levels
Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
Aggression and self-harm

Question 14

What are the emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 14

Lowered mood
Anger
Lowered self-esteem

Question 15

What are the cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 15

Poor concentration
Attending to and dwelling on the negative
Absolutist thinking

Question 16

What is Beck’s Negative Triad?

Answer 16

• Cognitive explanation for depression
• Faulty information processing, negative self-schema
• Negative triad - negative view of the world, negative view of the future, negative view of the self

Question 17

What is Ellis’s ABC Model?

Answer 17

• Cognitive explanation for depression
  Activating Event - Experience a negative event
  Beliefs - Identified a range of irrational beliefs
  Consequences - Irrational beliefs cause emotional and behavioural consequences

Question 18

What is a cognitive treatment to depression?
(combining two approaches)

Answer 18

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
- Cognitive - Client is assessed where the therapist and client work together to clarify the clients problems
- Behaviour - Involves trying to change negative and irrational thoughts and put more effective behaviours into place

Question 19

What is Beck’s Cognitive Therapy?

Answer 19

• Focuses on his negative triad
• Work to challenge thoughts directly, aiming to test the reality of their negative beliefs
• Such as recording when they enjoyed an event

Question 20

What is Ellis’s Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy?

Answer 20

• Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy extends the ABC model to an ABCDE model - D for Dispute, E for Effect
• This is done to identify and despite irrational thoughts

Question 21

What is the DSM-5 categories of OCD?

Answer 21

OCD is characterised by either obsessions (recurring thoughts etc) and/or compulsions (repetitive behaviour)

Question 22

What are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?

Answer 22

1) Compulsions are repetitive
2) Compulsions reduce anxiety
3) Avoidance from situations that trigger compulsions

Question 23

What are the emotional characteristics of OCD?

Answer 23

1) Anxiety and Distress
Accompanies obsessions and compulsions
2) Accompanying Depression
Lack of enjoyment in activities
3) Guilt and Disgust
Can involve other negative emotions like guilt

Question 24

What are the cognitive characteristics of OCD?

Answer 24

1) Obsessive Thoughts
Vary considerably from person to person
2) Cognitive Coping Strategies
People can also respond by adopting cognitive coping strategies
3) Insight into Excessive Anxiety
People that are aware that their obsessions and compulsions are not rational

Question 25

What is the biological explanation of OCD?

Answer 25

• Genes - researchers have found genes, which create vulnerability for OCD, called candidate genes, often involved in regulating serotonin
• Neural - role of serotonin - some cases of OCD are due to a reduction in the functioning of the serotonin system in the brain

Question 26

What are the biological treatments for OCD?

Answer 26

SSRIs
- Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors
- By preventing the reabsorption and breakdown, SSRIs effectively increase levels of serotonin in the synapse and regulates serotonin as a whole
Alternatives to SSRIs

Combining SSRIs to other treatments
- Drugs are often used alongside CBT to treat OCD
- Drugs reduce a person’s emotional symptoms, thus engage more effectively with the CBT