Psychopathologhy Flashcards
(57 cards)
Define statistical infrequency
Behaviour that is statistically infrequent or very rarely seen in the general population
Define failure to function adequately
Behaviour that means that the person is unable to engage or cope with the activities in normal day to day life
Define deviation from ideal mental health
When someone does not meet a set of criteria for mental well being e.g. Being unable to make their own decisions or having low self-esteem
Define deviation from social norms
Behaviour that is seen as socially unacceptable or undesirable within society
Advantages and disadvantages of statistical infrequent
:) it’s very valuable as it enables us to see how common conditions are
:) very objective
:( does not distinguish between infrequent characteristics that are desirable from those that are undesirable
:( fails to take into account the severity of someone’s condition or the impact it does have on their life
Advantages and disadvantages of deviation from social norms
:( can result in a form of social control and even persecution
:( may result in ethnocentric biases if psychiatrists do not understand a patients culture
:) can protect society from behaviour that is unacceptable and offensive
:) behaviour that is odd can often be one of the signs that brings someone’s mental illness to the attention of others
Advantages and disadvantages of the failure to function adequately
:( many people with mental disorders are functioning quite well
:( people may not be functioning adequately but this does not always mean they have a mental disorder
:) most people seek treatment only when this mental condition is affecting their day to day life
:) allows the severity of abnormal behaviour to be assessed by establishing the extent to which the persons life is affected using a scale like the GAF
Advantages and disadvantages of deviation from ideal mental health
:( it would categorise almost everyone as being mentally ill because no one meets all 6 of the criteria
:( difficult to objectively assess people on all six criteria
:) give an outline what individuals and societies should be aiming for in terms of maximising people’s well being
What is autonomy
Feeling that you have control of your own future and being able to do what you want and make your own decisions freely
Define a phobia
A persistent, intense and irrational fear of certain situations or objects
The fear is out of proportion to the danger posed
The person goes to great lengths to avoid the object or situation that they are afraid of
What are the three main type of phobia
Specific- spiders
Social- fear of embarrassment/ humiliation in a public or social situation
Agoraphobia- persistent fear of certain environments
What are behaviour symptoms of a phobia
The person will go to great lengths to avoid the phobic situation or to escape from it as soon as possible.
If the person cannot avoid the situation then behaviour signs of the fear may be seen eg shaking, crying, screaming
What are the cognitive symptoms of a phobia
The person may show distorted thinking about the phobic stimulus
The person is aware that their fear is irrational
Define depression (unipolar)
The two core symptoms of depression are depressed mood most or all of the day and diminished interest in or pleasure in activities
The person must experience at least 5 key symptoms of depression every day for st least two weeks before a diagnosis of depression would be considered
What is bipolar depression
The person has periods of weeks where they experience depressed mood with symptoms already described
But they also have phases of mania where the person may show symptoms such as an excessively high or elated mood
What are the behaviour symptoms of depression
Lack energy and are very inactive
Sleep problems
Changes in appetite
What are the emotion symptoms of depression
Low mood
Irritability- when depressed some people will be more angry then normal
What are the cognitive symptoms of OCD
Repetitive and intrusive thoughts and images
Realisation that the thoughts are irrational and self generated
What are the behavioural symptoms of OCD
Time spent on it can have serious effects on a persons ability to work/ have relationships
Avoidance- the person may go to great lengths to avoid things that may trigger their obsessional thinking
What is Mowrers tow-process model
Acquiring a phobia
Learn to associate the phobic object due to a frightening experience
Classical conditioning
Learns to avoid or escape from the object
Fears reduces when they get away from it
Operant conditioning
Reduction in fear reinforces their avoidance
What is generalisation of a phobia
Fear will start to generalise to other objects similar to the one that created the fear
The person who choked on a button may start to have a fear of other small objects
What is observational learning of phobias
People may learn to be afraid indirectly by witnessing someone else experiencing intense fear
Children may acquire a fear of spiders if they witness a parent being terrified
Called vicarious learning
What is systematic desensitisation
Before exposing the patient to their phobia they are trained in relaxation techniques
1) trained in deep muscle relaxation
2) draw up a fear hierarchy
3) get into relaxed state
4) asked to imagine the first step of their hierarchy
5) move to next step- real life exposure
Evaluation of systematic desensitisation
:) acceptable to patients
:) easier to explain- more appropriate than flooding for children
:( time consuming
