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Psychopathology Flashcards

1
Q

What are the four ways to define abnormality

A

Statistical infrequency

Deviation from social norms

Failure to function adequately

Deviation from ideal mental health

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2
Q

What is statistical infrequency, with example

A

Defining abnormality in terms of number of times it has been observed.
Behaviour that is rarely seen is abnormal.
e.g, average IQ is between 85 and 115. 2% of people score below 70. This 2% would be seen as intellectually abnormal, and be diagnosed with intellectual disability disorder.

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3
Q

What is a strength of statistical infrequency

A

RWA
Useful in diagnosing things like depression (using BDI) and intellectual disability disorder.

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4
Q

What are two negatives of statistical infrequency

A

Abnormal does not always mean negative
IQ scores above 130 are just as rare as below 70, but this is not regarded as undesirable or requiring treatment.

Social stigma
Abnormality through not fitting with the majority could lead to social consequences for the patient.
This means labelling someone as abnormal just because they are statistically unusual

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5
Q

What is deviation from social norms

A

When a person behaves in a way that is different from how they’re expected to behave.

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6
Q

What is an example of deviating from social norms

A

Laughing at a funeral

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7
Q

What is a strength of deviation from social norms

A

Flexibility
It is flexible dependent on situation and age.
A social norm is to wear full clothing whilst out, but a bikini is acceptable on a beach.

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8
Q

What is a limitation of deviation from social norms

A

Cultural relativity
Norms vary across cultures.
Hearing voices is acceptable in some cultures, but in the Western world, this is seen as abnormality.
This means it is difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different contexts.

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9
Q

What is failure to function

A

An inability to deal with demands of everyday life.

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10
Q

What is an example of failure to function

A

Not being able to maintain basic hygiene or nutrition.

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11
Q

What are 2 advantages of failure to function

A

Behaviour is easily observable
Failure to function adequately can be seen by others around the individual because they may not get out of bed on a morning.
This means that problems can be picked up by others and they can help intervene.

Consideration of how the individual feels
This definition is focused on the individual and how they are managing in everyday life from their perspective.
If someone feels as though they are struggling they will be deemed abnormal and get help.

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12
Q

What is a limitation of failure to function adequately

A

Failure to function may not be a sign of abnormality
In some cases, failure to function is a normal response, for example in bereavement.
It is unfair to give someone a label for reacting normally to difficult circumstances

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13
Q

What is ideal mental health

A

A criteria that a person should have to be in a state of ‘ideal mental health’

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14
Q

Who theorised ideal mental health

A

Jahoda (1958)

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15
Q

What is the criteria for ideal mental health

A

Positive attitude towards self
Self-actualisation
Autonomy
Resistance to stress
Environmental mastery
Accurate perception of reality

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16
Q

What are 2 strengths of ideal mental health

A

Comprehensive
Includes a range of criteria for mental health, covering most reasons why someone may need help.
This gives professionals the opportunity to have meaningful discussions with patients on their mental health.

Clear goals
Gives a clear checklist for patients to try to reach in order to have an ideal mental health.
This can help treatment and recovery plans for those with mental disorders

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17
Q

What are 2 limitations of ideal mental health

A

Cultural relativity
Differing value placed on different criteria across different countries.
e.g, in Germany, there is high value placed on independence, while low value placed in Italy.
This means it is difficult to generalise ideal mental health to all people.

Unrealistic standards
Very few people will tick all of Jahoda’s criteria, and almost nobody will maintain them for long.
This makes majority of the population abnormal, which is paradoxical as then that would be normal.

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18
Q

What is a phobia

A

A type of anxiety disorder.
An strong, irrational fear of something.

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19
Q

What are the three types of reaction a person can have to a phobia

A

Behavioural
Cognitive
Emotional

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20
Q

What happens with behavioural response to a phobia

A

Panic - crying/screaming
Avoidance - considerable effort to avoid contact with phobic stimulus.
Endurance - alternative to avoidance, involves remaining with phobic stimulus and continuing to experience anxiety

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21
Q

What are some emotional responses to a phobia

A

Anxiety - unpleasant state of high arousal

Fear - immediate response when phobic stimulus is thought of

Unreasonable emotional response - disproportionate reaction to the stimulus, e.g an arachnophobic having strong emotional response to very small spider.

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22
Q

What are cognitive responses to a phobia

A

Selective attention to phobic stimulus - hard to look away from it

Irrational beliefs

Cognitive distortions - e.g, a fear of belly buttons as they are ‘ugly’

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23
Q

What is depression

A

Depression is a mood disorder, where the suffering experiences low mood and low energy levels.

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24
Q

What are behavioural characteristics of depression

A

Decreased activity levels
Disruption to sleep and eating levels
Aggression and self harm

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25
Q

What are emotional characteristics of depression

A

Lowered mood
Anger
Lowered self-esteem

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26
Q

What is OCD

A

An anxiety disorder and is characterised by experiencing persistent and intrusive thoughts which occur as obsessions, compulsions or sometimes both.

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27
Q

What are behavioural characteristics of OCD

A

Repetitive compulsions
Compulsions reduce anxiety
Avoidance of anxiety triggering situations

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28
Q

What are emotional characteristics of OCD

A

Anxiety and distress
Depression
Guilt and disgust

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29
Q

What are cognitive characteristics of OCD

A

Obsessive thoughts
Cognitive coping strategies, like meditation
Poor concentration
Focus on negatives
Absolutist thinking

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30
Q

What does behaviourist explanation for phobias believe

A

That phobias are learned through classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning (Mowrer 1960)

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31
Q

What is the two process model

A

Classical and operant conditioning working together to learn and affirm a phobia

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32
Q

What is a research support for behavioural explanation for phobias

A

Watson and Rayner (1920) ‘Little Albert’ study

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33
Q

What was Watson and Rayners study called

A

‘Little Albert’ study

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34
Q

What was the process of Watson and Rayners study

A

Whenever Albert played with a white rat, a loud noise was made close to his ear (UCS), creating a fear response (UCR).
Rat (NS) did not create a fear response until the noise and rat were paired together several times.
Albert showed a fear response (CS) every time he came into contact with the rat (now a CS)
Albert also had generalised fear to other white furry objects

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35
Q

How does operant conditioning maintain phobias

A

Avoiding situations with the stimulus negatively reinforces the phobia, e.g a person scared of lifts takes the stairs, which relieves anxiety.

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36
Q

What are 2 strengths of the two-process model/behavioural approach to explaining phobias

A

RWA
Idea that phobias are maintained by avoidance helps to explain why exposure therapies work, as it removes the negative conditioning used to maintain phobias.

Evidence linking phobias to bad experiences
De Jognh et al (2006) found 73% of dental phobics had experienced a trauma to do with dentistry.
This suggests that NS of dentistry with the UCS of pain lead to the phobia.

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37
Q

What are 2 limitations of the behavioural approach to explain phobias

A

Unable to explain cognitive aspects of phobias
Behavioural explanation is geared towards explaining behaviour, such as avoidance, while ignoring the significant cognitive components like irrational beliefs.

Not all phobias are learnt
Many people have a phobia of snakes in places where very very few people have any experiences with snakes, e.g UK. Additionally, not all frightening experiences lead to phobias.
This means behavioural explanation cannot explain all phobias.

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38
Q

What are the two behavioural approaches to treating phobias

A

Systematic desensitisation (SD)

Flooding

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39
Q

What is systematic desensitisation based on

A

Classical conditioning

40
Q

What does systematic desensitisation therapy aim to do

A

Gradually reduce anxiety through counterconditioning

41
Q

What is the process of systematic desensitisation

A

Therapist and client design an anxiety hierarchy.
Client is taught relaxation techniques like deep breathing.
Works through the anxiety hierarchy with the following process for each step.
Phobia is learned and becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS)
The patient has the CS paired with relaxation, and this feeling becomes the new CR.
Relies on reciprocal inhibition.

42
Q

What is reciprocal inhibition

A

The idea that it is not possible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time, so one emotion prevents the other.

43
Q

What is the anxiety hierarchy

A

Fearful stimuli arranged in order from least to most frightening, e.g a small spider up to a tarantula

44
Q

What is flooding

A

Exposing a person with a phobia to the phobic object with no gradual build up.

45
Q

What is an example of flooding

A

Person with arachnophobia having a tarantula crawl over their hand until they can relax fully.

46
Q

What is a strength of systematic desensitisation (SD)

A

Evidence of effectiveness
Gilroy et al (2003)
Followed 42 people who went through SD for arachnophobia. On follow up, those that had SD were less fearful than a control group.

47
Q

What is a limitation of systematic desensitisation

A

Time consuming
Takes a long time to complete all stages, from anxiety hierarchy, breathing techniques and working up the hierarchy.
This then means the therapy is more expensive, making it less accessible to lower income patients.

48
Q

What is a strength of flooding

A

Cost effective and quick
Flooding can work in just 1-3 hours, meaning patients do not need to pay as much or donate as much time in comparison to other treatments like SD.

49
Q

What is a limitation of flooding

A

Can be traumatic
Schumacher et al (2015) found that both participants and therapists rated flooding as more stressful than SD.
Thus, there can be ethical concerns about willingly causing stress (which can be offset with informed consent). This suggests that therapist may avoid using this treatment.

50
Q

What does the cognitive approach believe to explain depression

A

Depression is due to irrational thoughts from maladaptive internal mental processes

51
Q

What did Beck (1957) theorise

A

Negative triads

52
Q

What does Beck believe causes depression

A

That some people were more prone to depression because of faulty information processing.

Negative self schema, which interprets all information about themselves in a bad way.

53
Q

What are the three negative schemas of the negative triad

A

The self - feeling inadequate or unworthy

The world - thinking people are always hostile

The future - ‘things will always turn out badly’

54
Q

What is Beck’s negative triad and when is it developed

A

Three schemas with an automatic negative bias

Developed in childhood to give persistent biases in adulthood, leading to cognitive distortions

55
Q

What are 2 cognitive distortions in depression

A

Overgeneralisation - the belief that one negative experience causes assumption that same thing will always happen

Selective abstraction - mentally filtering out positive experiences and focusing on the negative. e.g, posting on social media and getting lots of positive attention, but focusing on the one negative comment.

56
Q

Who theorised the ABC model

A

Ellis

57
Q

What does ABC stand for in ABC model

A

Activating event - can be anything that happens to someone

Belief - people without depression have rational beliefs about A, depressed people have irrational beliefs about A.

Consequence - rational beliefs lead to positive consequences, irrational leads to negative

58
Q

What is an example of a rational ABC model

A

A - Break up

B - Weren’t right for each other, want different things, etc

C - Look for new healthy relationship

59
Q

What is an example of an irrational ABC model

A

A - Break up

B - Fundamentally unlovable, never be able to find someone

C - Avoid relationships altogether, or get into a new unhealthy one

60
Q

What is mustabatory thinking

A

Irrational thinking where person does not accept we don’t live in a perfect world.

61
Q

What are the three musts in mustabatory thinking

A

I must do well
You must treat me well
The world must be easy

62
Q

What is a research support of Becks model

A

Clark and Beck (1999)
Concluded negative vulnerabilities like negative schema are more common in depressed people.
Shows there is an association between cognitive vulnerability and depression

63
Q

What is a second strength of Becks model (not research support)

A

RWA
Screening for depression by assessing cognitive vulnerability
Understanding this cognitive vulnerability can allow those with high risk of depression to be monitored, and can be applied to CBT to alter these cognitions.

64
Q

What is a strength of Ellis’ model

A

RWA in REBT therapy
Rational emotive behaviour therapy can change negative beliefs and relieve symptoms of depression.

65
Q

What are two limitations of Ellis’ model

A

Only explains reactive depression
In many cases, depression has no obvious triggers, which is endogenous depression.

Places blame on patient
Can further depression as patient may feel responsible for their own condition

66
Q

What is reactive depression

A

A form of depression triggered by activating events.

67
Q

What is endogenous depression

A

Depression with no clear root trigger

68
Q

What is CBT

A

Cognitive behaviour therapy
Most common psychological treatment for depression
Cognitive - challenge irrational thoughts
Behaviour - change behaviour so it is more effective

69
Q

What is the process of CBT

A

Challenge negative thoughts
Client encouraged to test reality of irrational beliefs through ‘homework’
Taught mindful meditation to combat depression

70
Q

What is REBT

A

Ellis’ therapy
Rational emotive behaviour therapy
Extends ABC model to ‘ABCDE’ model by adding dispute and effect

71
Q

What is the two parts to REBT therapy

A

Challenge irrational thoughts:
- Empirical argument; disputing evidence to support the irrational belief
- Logical argument; disputing whether negative thought actually follows the facts

Behavioural activation:
When individuals are depressed they tend to avoid difficult situations.
Behavioural activation helps to gradually reduce avoidance and isolation, and increase engagement in activities to improve mood

72
Q

What is a strength of CBT

A

March et al (2007)
Evidence of effectiveness
Compared CBT against antidepressants and a combination of CBT and antidepressants against a control group.
After 36 weeks, 81% of CBT group, 81% of antidepressant group and 86% of combination group were significantly improved.
This makes CBT a good choice for first treatment of depression

73
Q

What is 2 limitations of CBT

A

High relapse rates
Ali et al (2017)
Assessed depression for one year following a CBT course
42% relapsed in 6 months and 53% relapsed within a year.
This means CBT may not be a permanent fix

Time and money
CBT requires patient to give up at least an hour a week for the duration of the course, and pay usually a large sum of money (unless NHS treatment is taken).
This means it may not be possible for everybody.

74
Q

What is the two biological explanations for OCD

A

Genetic explanation

Neural explanation

75
Q

What is the genetic explanation for OCD

A

Believing that OCD is inherited from our parents through ‘candidate genes’ that may cause the illness

76
Q

What are the two candidate genes for OCD

A

COMT gene

SERT gene

77
Q

What is the COMT gene

A

Associated with production and regulation of dopamine.

78
Q

What is different about COMT gene in OCD sufferers

A

Overactive, producing higher levels of dopamine.

79
Q

What is the SERT gene

A

Associated with transport of serotonin

80
Q

What is different about SERT gene in OCD patients

A

Causes lower levels of serotonin

81
Q

What is the neural explanation for OCD

A

Focus on neurotransmitters and brain structures

82
Q

What neurotransmitters are implicated in OCD

A

Abnormal levels of dopamine and serotonin

83
Q

What is serotonins function

A

To regulate mood

84
Q

What levels are dopamine/serotonin at to influence OCD

A

Serotonin - very low

Dopamine - very high

85
Q

How can brain structures influence OCD

A

Damaged or faulty frontal lobes

86
Q

What is frontal lobe responsible for

A

Decision making and logical thinking

87
Q

What is a strength of genetic explanation for OCD

A

Twin studies
Nestadt et al (2010)
Found concordance rates of 68% in identical twins (MZ) and 31% in non identical twins (DZ)
This means people who are genetically similar are more likely to share OCD, supporting idea of genetic vulnerability.

88
Q

What is a limitation of genetic explanation for OCD

A

Does not account for environmental risk factors
Cromer et al (2007) found over 50% of OCD sufferers experienced a traumatic event.
This means genetic vulnerability only offers a partial explanation for OCD.

89
Q

What is a strength of neural explanation

A

Antidepressant research
Antidepressants that are based on serotonin (SSRIs) reduce OCD symptoms. This suggests that neurochemical factors, specifically serotonin, is a factor in OCD

90
Q

What is a limitation of neural explanation

A

Correlation and causality
While we can see that brain structures and neurochemical levels are altered in patients with OCD, we cannot know if these changes are due to OCD, or were the cause of it.

91
Q

What does SSRI stand for

A

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

92
Q

What do SSRIs do

A

Prevent reabsorption and breakdown of serotonin in the brain.
This increases its levels in the synapse and so serotonin continues to stimulate.
This compensates for the decrease of serotonin causing OCD

93
Q

What are drug treatments (SSRIs) usually combined with when treating OCD

A

CBT

94
Q

What are alternatives to SSRIs

A

Tricyclics
SNRIs

95
Q

What are two strengths of drug therapy

A

Effectiveness
Soomro et al (2009)
Reviewed 17 studies of SSRIs for treatment of OCD. All 17 studies showed better outcomes following SSRIs than placebos.
Typically symptoms were reduced by around 70%.
This shows drugs are highly effective and can be used widely

Low money and time
In general cheaper than psychological treatments, meaning it is good value for the NHS and patients. SSRIs also do not disrupt patients lives as they don’t require time and energy like therapy.
This means both doctors and patients may prefer drug therapy.

96
Q

What is a limitation of drug therapy

A

Side effects
A minority of people experience no benefit from SSRIs, and have side effects like indigestion and blurred vision, though these are usually temporary.
This means that it can reduce quality of life, reducing patients will to carry on with the treatment.

Psych (10 decks)

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