Psychopathology Flashcards
(100 cards)
1
Q
what is OCD?
A
an anxiety disorder caused by obsession which is an internal thought
2
Q
what is a compulsion?
A
repetitive/ rigid behaviour that reduces anxiety
3
Q
what is anxiety?
A
a negative state of high arousal
4
Q
how common is schizophrenia?
A
1/100
5
Q
name the four definitions of abnormality?
A
- statistical infrequency
- deviation from social norms
- failure to function adequately
- deviation from ideal mental health
6
Q
explanation of statistical infrequency?
A
when a persons behaviour is statistically rare
7
Q
explanation of deviation from social norms?
A
if the behaviour deviates from the unwritten rules of society
8
Q
explanation of failure to function adequately?
A
people are abnormal it they are unable to cope with the demands of everyday life and this causes personal suffering
9
Q
explanation of deviation of ideal mental health?
A
people are abnormal if they don’t meet the criteria of perfect mental health
10
Q
what are norms?
A
standards of acceptable behaviour
11
Q
what are some demands of everyday life?
A
brush teeth, socialise, make food
12
Q
apply statistical infrequency to real life?
A
intellectual disability disorder (IDD)
- average IQ is 100
- 2% of population have IQ less than 70 = statistically rare = IDD
13
Q
evaluate statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality?
A
+ easy to analyse (quantitive data)
- no understanding of patients
- many mental illnesses are common (depression 1/6)
- cut off point is too fine (people might not get the help they need)
- too simplistic
14
Q
apply deviation of social norms to real life ?
A
homosexuality
- regarded as a mental illness till 1973
- against the law until 1967
- historically seen as deviating from the norm of heterosexuality
15
Q
what are the weaknesses of deviation from social norm as a definition of abnormality?
A
- norms are context dependant
- norms change over cultures and time
- has lead to groups being discriminated against
16
Q
apply failure to function adequately to real life?
A
- IDD - low IQ and failure to function with life
17
Q
evaluate failure to function adequately?
A
+ joined together makes it more adequate
- perception of not coping is different
- dif demands of life
- eg travelling not got a home etc but your not failing to function
18
Q
name the Jahodas criteria of ideal mental health?
A
- no symptoms of distress
- we are rational and can perceive ourself accurately
- we self actualise
- we can cope with stress
- we have a realistic view of the world
- we have good self esteem and lack guilt
- we are independent of other people (autonomy)
- we can successfully work love and enjoy leisure (environmental mastery)
19
Q
evaluate deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality?
A
- criteria too unrealistic (too many relate, we all cope with stress)
- criteria is unmeasurable
- cultural bias - western bias (self actualisation)
20
Q
what is cultural bias?
A
judging someone based off of your own culture
21
Q
what is cultural relativism
A
behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture in which it originates
22
Q
what are the DSM categories for phobias?
A
• all phobias are characteristics by excessive dear and anxiety triggered by an object place or situation
• specific phobia (object, body part, animal)
• social anxiety (social situation)
• agoraphobia (being in public)
23
Q
what are the behavioural symptoms for phobias?
A
• panic
• avoidance
• endurance
24
Q
what are the emotional symptoms for phobias?
A
anxiety and fear
25
what are the cognitive symptoms for phobias?
• selective attention to the phobic stimulus
• irrational beliefs
• cognitive distortions
26
what is a phobia?
an anxiety disorder of an irrational fear of an object or situation that interferes with daily life
27
what are the DSM categories for depression?
• characterised by changes to the mood
• major depressive disorder
• persistent depressive disorder
• disruptive mood disorder
• premenstrual dysphoric disorder
28
what are the behavioural symptoms for depression?
• acitivity levels
• disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
• aggression and self harm
29
what are the emotional symptoms for depression?
• lowered mood
• anger
• lowered self esteem
30
what are the cognitive symptoms for depression?
• poor concentration
• attending to and dwelling on the negative
• absolutist thinking
31
what is depression
a mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels
32
what are the behavioural symptoms for OCD?
• compulsions
• avoidance
33
what are the emotional symptoms for OCD?
• anxiety and distress
• accompanying depression
• guilt and disgust
34
what are the cognitive symptoms for OCD?
• obsessive thoughts
• cognitive strategies to deal with obsession
• insight into excessive anxiety (aware they aren’t rational)
35
what is the model in the behaviourist approach to explaining phobias?
the two process model by mowrer
36
explain the first stage of the two process model?
• acquisition by classical conditioning
- learning to associate something of which we initially have no fear for (NS)
37
explain acquisition using little albert?
initially, the white rat didn’t evoke a fear response (NS) however the loud noise (UCS) naturally evoke a fear response so when the rat was paired with the loud noise in a association pairing six times. Little Albert developed a fear response (CR) to the white rat (CS). He also developed fear to similar stimulus due to stimulus generalisation occurring - he feared rabbits and dogs etc.
38
explain the second stage in the two process model?
• maintenance via operant conditioning
• shows why individuals continue to avoid a feared stimulus
39
how is negative reinforcement used in maintenance of a phobia?
when avoided something unpleasant theres a positive outcome
• avoid phobia stimulus = escape the anxiety
= avoidance behaviour repeated and phobia is maintained
40
what are the behavioural characteristics of OCD?
• compulsions -
they are repititive
and they reduce anxiety
• avoidance - keeping away from situations that trigger the anxiety
41
summarise flooding?
• immediate exposure to their fear
• one session lasts for 2/3 hours and usually only one is needed
• patient has no option to avoid situation so the learn that the phobic stimulus is harmless (extinction)
42
is flooding unethical?
no as long as patients give fully informed consent
43
explain the strength of flooding?
• cost effective treatment for phobias
• takes much less time for positive results (1 session usually)
• health service providers or clients don’t have to fund and pap for longer options of treatment
44
explain the two weaknesses of flooding?
• highly traumatic got the patient
- purposely elicits a high level of anxiety - high attrition drop out rates - some hospitalised from anxiety (ethics?!)
• less effective for other types of phobias eg social phobia - if not learn, cant be unlearnt (eg irrational thinking not learnt)
45
explain symptom substitution for flooding weakness?
• one phobia removed and replaced with another bc underlying cause remains and is show in other ways
46
who developed systematic desensitisation?
wolpe 1958
47
what does systematic desensitisation aim to do??
extinguish a phobia by eradicating an undesirable behaviour (fear) and replacing it with a more desirable one (relaxation) - counter conditioning
48
what is the principle called where one person cannot feel feat and relaxation at the same time? - its what systematic desensitisation works on!!
reciprocal inhibition
49
what are the three stages of systematic desensitisation?
• hierarchy
• relaxation
• exposure
50
explain the first stage of systematic desensitisation?
hierarchy -
• therapist and client work together to construct a hierarchy of fear with situations each one causing more anxiety than the previous
51
explain the second stage of systematic desensitisation?
relaxation -
• client given training in relaxation techniques (breathing exercises, mental imagery techniques or even drugs eg valium)
52
explain the third stage of systematic desensitisation?
exposure -
• patient gradually works through the hierarchy (least to most fear inducing) while utilising the relaxation techniques
• due to reciprocal inhibition, after a while they should be able to remain relaxed in the stressful situation
• if they stay relaxed they move up the hierarchy and continue as the event no longer causes them stress
• once reached the top of the hierarchy, the fear stimulus no longer initiates a fear response
53
what does in vitro mean?
visualisation
54
what does in vivo mean?
direct experience
55
true or false:
they use a mixture of in vivo and vitro now for most phobias?
TRUE
56
what is the negative of systematic desensitisation
if phobias aren’t learnt they cannot be unlearnt so would NOT work for evolutionary phobias with an innate bias!!!
57
explain the strengths of systematic desensitisation?
(effectiveness)
• 75% of patients with phobias successfully treated especially and using in vivo - direct experiences (McGrath et al 1990)
• great long term results - Gilroy et al 2002 - 42 patients with arachnophobia treated with 3 x 45min sessions, 33 months later less fearful than control group!!!
58
explain the strengths of systematic desensitisation?
(less traumatic)
• more ethical and people choose it because it doesn’t cause same levels of distress to flooding
• high n of patients who persist with treatment
• more appropriate for eg learning disabilities or high anxiety people
• learning relaxation techniques can be helpful and positive experience
59
compare flooding and systematic desensitisation in terms of overall effectiveness?
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION!!
• flooding is more cost and time effective at face value!!! 1 sessions need !!!!
• 10 sessions for systematic
• flooding too high attrition rate too traumatic and only adults!!!
• 75% success rate for systematic and more gradual so less traumatic/anxiety inducing
60
what does the cognitive approach say??
• disorder arises due to faulty information processing leads to irrational thinking
61
who proposed the ABC model?
Ellis
62
who proposed the idea of a negative triad?
Beck
63
whats the most important part of the ABC model?
Belief
64
explain Ellis’ ABC model?
• Activating Event -> the trigger/ something that happens (eg. fail an exam)
• Belief -> the way you deal with the trigger: rational (i can use it to improve) or irrational (I’m going to fail the real exams)
• Consequence -> irrational leads to unhealthy emotions such as depression, rational belief leads to healthy emotions
65
explain musturbatory thinking?
“source of irrational beliefs”
- absolutist thinking
- i must do/be etc
- if outcome doesn’t happen as needed may become depressed
66
explain Beck’s negative triad?
• three kinds of negative thinking that contribute to becoming depressed: negative view of the world, yourself and the future
67
which part of the negative triad is most important? and why?
• the self
• leads to neg view of world and future
• links to the negative self schema
• all info about ourselves perceived in a negative way
68
name the two strengths of the cognitive approach to explaining depression?
- the role of irrational thinking is supported by research
- successfully applied in therapy (CBT)
69
name the two weaknesses of cog approach to explain depression?
- blames client rather than situational factors
- does not take into account alternative explanations such as biological
70
explain what CBT aims to do?
change the thought process which consequently changes the abnormal behaviour and then feelings
-> replace irrational thought with rational
71
what did Ellis expand his model to and explain what it means and what you call it?
abcDEF:
D - dispute (challenge the irrational thoughts)
E - effects (rational belief replaced irrational)
F - new feeling (sadness to no depression)
CALLED: REBT
(rational emotional behavioural therapy)
subtype of CBT
72
what are the three types of disputing?
- logical
- empirical
- pragmatic
73
what does logical disputing do?
challenging whether it makes sense
74
what does empirical disputing do?
- challenge whether its consistent with reality (reality testing)
- uses evidence to support the disputing argument
75
what are elements/ methods within CBT?
• homework =
- record events to test the irrational beliefs
- “client as scientist” client collects evidence of a positive event to be used in empirical disputing
• behavioural activation =
- encouraging clients to be more active and engage in pleasurable activities
- aiming to gradually decrease isolation and avoidance
- being active acts as an antidote to depression
76
what are the strengths of cog approach to treat depression?
- research evidence to support the effectiveness of REBT/CBT
77
what are the weaknesses of CBT/REBT?
- individual differences (such as the severity of symptoms of learning difficulties) means CBT is more effective for some individuals than others
- high relapse rates
- other treatment options such as biological - anti depressant drugs
78
what are the two parte of the biological approach to explaining OCD
genetics
neural
79
what is OCD?
an anxiety disorder caused by obsession which is temporarily relieved by compulsions
80
what is the difference between obsessions and compulsions ?
- obsession is an internal component (thought)
-> is a persistent thought experienced repeatedly, feels intrusive and causes anxiety
- compulsions are an external component (behaviour)
-> repetitive behaviour that a person feels driven to perform in order to prevent or reduce anxiety
81
what is the name for one specific gene? (eg SERT)
candidate
82
what is dopamine ?
pleasure neurotransmitter, if too high can cause addiction -> compulsions
83
what is seratonin?
mood neurotransmitter - affects happiness levels
if low = depression
affected by sunlight etc
84
what are the four genetic explanations of ocd?
- SERT gene
- COMT gene
- OCD may be a polygenic condition
- diathesis stress model
85
explain SERT gene as an genetic explanation for OCD?
- candidate gene
• affects the transportation of serotonin
• low levels of serotonin implicated with OCD + depression
86
explain COMT gene as an genetic explanation for OCD?
- candidate gene
• supposed to regulate the production of neurotransmitter dopamine
• a variation of the COMT gene results in high levels of dopamine
-> more common in OCD patients
87
explain OCD as a polygenic condition as an genetic explanation for OCD?
- OCD may not be caused by one singular gene but a combo of genetic variations that together increase the vunerability
- Taylor - up to 230 genes
88
explain diathesis stress model as an genetic explanation for OCD?
- interactionist approach
- genetic vulnerability + environmental trigger
- explains how identical twins have one with OCD and one without even with 100% DNA shared
89
explain neurotransmitters role as an neural explanation for OCD?
low serotonin and high dopamine can be implicated with the disorder separately of the gene (SERT or COMT)
90
explain the worry circuit as an neural explanation for OCD?
- caudate nucleus (in the basal ganglia) normally suppresses signals from the orbito frontal context
• caudate nucleaus found damaged in OCD patients
-> fails to suppress minor worries + thalamus is detected always
-> creates a worry circuit
91
CN role?
role to differentiate between minor and manor worries to send signals to thalamus for only major ones
92
what do biological treatments for OCD aim to do?
restore neuro chemical imbalances in the brain
93
what are the main antidepressants called used to treat OCD?
selective serotonin reuptake inhibition
94
explain how antidepressants such as SSRIs work?
• increase the level of serotonin in the synapse by inhibiting it from being reabsorbed into the sending cell (pre synaptic neurons)
• serotonin cab therefore continue to stimulate the post synaptic neuron
95
whats the name, dosage and time of use of an antidepressant?
fluoxetine - 20mg - capsule or liquid - 3/4 months for an impact on symptoms
96
example of anti anxiety drugs?
benzodiazepines
97
explain how benzodiazepines work????
• release GABA - which locks onto the GABA receptor sites located on the post synaptic membrane
• when GABA locked on to the sites it opens a channel which increase the flow of chloride ions making it difficult for the post synaptic neuron’s go he further stimulated by other neurotransmitters -> calming effect on mind
98
what efffects does GABA have?
inhibitory - stops other neurotransmitters firing
99
what are the positives of drug therapy?
effective and cost effective and non distruptive
100
what are the negs of drug therapy?
side effects n treat symptoms not cause
