Psychopathology Flashcards
Definitions of abnormality - Statistical Infrequency
A person’s traits, behaviour or thinking is classed as abnormal if it is rare or statistically unusual. However, IQ could be classed as an abnormal trait, but this is desirable.
Strengths:
Objective, based on data.
No value judgements are made.
Limitations:
Unable to distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviour. For desirable traits, abnormal isn’t the appropriate way to describe it.
Many rare behaviours or characteristics (e.g. left handedness) have no bearing on normality or abnormality. Some characteristics are regarded as abnormal even though they are quite frequent.
DOF Deviation from social norms
A person’s thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it violates the (unwritten) rules about what is expected or acceptable behaviour in a particular social group and society.
Strengths:
Comprehensive, covers a broad range of criteria.
Gives people a basis on what to base their mental health on.
Limitations:
Social norms differ from culture to culture, cultural relativism.
Social norms can also change over time so set definitions can’t be used as definite.
DOF Failure to function adaquately
Abnormality that prevents the person from carrying out the range of behaviours that society would expect from them, such as getting out of bed each day, holding down a job.
To assess how well individuals cope with everyday life, clinician use the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF), which rates their level of social, occupational and psychological functioning.
Strengths:
Provides a checklist of seven criteria individuals can use to check their level of abnormity.
It matches the sufferers’ perceptions. As most people seeking clinical help believe that they are suffering from psychological problems that interfere with the ability to function properly, it supports the definition.
Limitations:
Cultural relativism is one limitation; what may be seen as functioning adequately in one culture may not be adequate in another. This is likely to result in different diagnoses in different cultures.
FFA is context dependent; not eating can be seen as failing to function adequately but prisoners on hunger strikes making a protest can be seen in a different light.
Deviation from ideal mental health
Jahoda suggested criteria necessary for ideal mental health. An absence of any of these characteristics indicate individuals as being abnormal, in other words displaying deviation from ideal mental health.
Resistance to stress: Having effective coping strategies and being able to cope with everyday anxiety provoking situations.
Growth, development or self-actualisation: Experiencing personal growth and becoming everything one is capable of becoming.
High self-esteem and a strong sense of identity: Having self-respect and a positive self-concept.
Autonomy: Being independent, self-reliant and being able to make personal decisions.
Accurate perception of reality: Having an objective and realistic view of the world.
Limitations:
Difficulty of meeting all criteria, very few people would be able to do so and this suggests that very few people are psychologically healthy.
Cultural relativism: these ideas are culture-bound, based on a Western idea of ideal mental health, and should not be used to judge other cultures.
Biological approach to OCD
Cognitive (What do you THINK?): Obsessions dominate ones thinking and are persistent and recurrent thoughts images or beliefs entering the mind uninvited and which cannot be removed.
Emotional (How do you FEEL?): Obsessive thoughts often lead to anxiety, worry and distress.
Behavioural (How do you BEHAVE?): Compulsions are the repetitive behavioural responses intended to neutralize these obsessions, often involving rigidly applied rules.
Strengths: This approach includes testability via neuroscience research, evidence for genetic and neurotransmitter involvement in conditions such as schizophrenia. For example, the dopamine hypothesis argues that elevated levels of dopamine are related to symptoms of schizophrenia.
Weaknesses: Biological explanations are reductionist as they focus on only one factor and at present our understanding of biochemistry is oversimplified. This means other psychological factors, such as cognitions are ignored.
Genetic explanations
= Study of genes and inheritance.
Family and twin studies suggest the involvement of genetic factors. The prevalence of OCD in the random population (about 2–3%) is the baseline against which the concordance rates can be compared.
SERT gene
The SERT gene = appears to be different in individuals with OCD. The mutation causes an increase in transporter proteins at a neuron’s membrane. This then leads to an increase in the reuptake of serotonin which decreases the level of serotonin in the synapse
The COMT gene
COMT gene = Regulates the function of dopamine. It appears that this gene is also mutated in people with OCD. However, the mutated variation of COMT gene found in OCD individuals causes a decrease in the COMT activity and therefore a higher level of dopamine.
Carey and Gottesman (1981)
Carey and Gottesman (1981) found that identical twins showed a concordance rate of 87% for obsessive symptoms and features compared to 47% in fraternal twins. This difference suggests that genetic factors are moderately important. The higher concordance rate found for identical twins may be due to nurture as identical twins are likely to experience a more similar environment than fraternal twins since they tend to be treated the same.
Neural explanations
Neural mechanisms refer to regions of the brain, structures such as neurons and the neurotransmitters involved in sending messages through the nervous system.
Whether low serotonin causes OCD is unknown. All that’s known is that low serotonin and OCD are related. It is difficult to establish whether the low levels of neurotransmitters cause OCD, are an effect of having the disorder, or are merely associated. Causation cannot be inferred as only associations (i.e. correlations) have been identified.
Biological treatment, drugs + EVAL
Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIS)
Both drugs mainly affect neurotransmitters other than serotonin are of no value in treating OCD.
Evaluation:
Studies using drugs have shown a reduction in dopamine levels, which correlates with a reduction in OCD symptoms.
Experiments which have tested on animals with drugs which increased dopamine levels have caused said animals to have OCD symptoms.
Drugs (anti-depressants such as SSRIs) have been shown to reduce OCD symptoms. Soomro et al found that SSRIs were significantly better than placebos in reducing symptoms.
However, results relating to serotonin are varied, sometimes symptoms are made worse. There is a lot of contradictory research.
Characteristics of depression (3)
Behavioural - No care for personal appearance, loss of appetite, disturbed sleep patterns, loss of energy withdrawl
Emotional - Intense sadness, irritable, loss of enjoyment, feelings of worthlessness etc
Cognitive - Negative thoughts, lack of concentration, low self-esteem, poor memory, thoughts of suicide
Beck’s negative triad
Three forms of negative thinking that are typical for individuals who have depression, mostly negative thoughts about the world, self and their future. Interacts with negative schema sand cognitive biases to produce depressive thinking.
Might be acquired in childhood as a result of a traumatic event.
Ellis’ ABC model -
Everyone holds assumptions about ourselves and the world which help us get through life and determine our reactions.
However, some people’s assumptions are not rational which affects the way they might react. Ellis calls these basic irrational assumptions.
Doesn’t believe that depression is a direct result of negative event but is a product by irrational thoughts which are triggered by negative events.
Ellis’ ABC model eval
Sometimes these negative cognitions are in fact a more accurate view of the world, depressive realism.
The precise role of cognitive processes is yet to be determined. It is not clear whether faulty cognitions are a cause of the psychopathology or a consequence of it.
