Psychopathology Flashcards
(31 cards)
What is psychopathology
The study of ‘abnormal’ thoughts, behaviours and feelings
Definitions of abnormality: statistical infrequency
- defines abnormality behaviour using statistical measures
- focuses on quantity of behavior measured in standard deviations from the mean
- any rare/uncommon behaviour is seen as abnormal
Example of statistical infrequency: IQ and intellectual disability disorder
- the statistical approach is easily used here as IQ is measured objectively and reliably
- the average IQ is 100, most people (68%) have an IQ between 85 and 115
- only 2% score below 70
- those scoring below 70 are very unusual and are liable to receive a diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder
Evaluation of statistical infrequency
✅ real life application - used in clinical practice as part of diagnosis and assessing severity of symptoms, for example intellectual disability disorder
✅ benefit from label - some unusual people benefits from being classed as abnormal as they can access support services
❌ COUNTERPOINT - however not everyone does benefit as they may experience discrimination and social stigma
❌ positive and negative - unusual characteristics can be positive and negative, for example if you have an IQ above 130 you are just as rare as someone having an IQ below 70, therefore can form part of assessment and diagnosis but cannot be the sole basis
Definitions of abnormality: deviation from social norms
- Social norms are a set of unwritten rules which people use in order to abide by what is deemed ‘normal’ behaviour
- If a behaviour goes against social norms it may be viewed as abnormal
- we notice when people behave in a way that is different to what we would expect
- some people describe abnormal behaviour on the basis that it offends their sense of what is right or wrong
- social norms vary between cultures
Example of deviation from social norms: antisocial personality disorder
- a person with antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy) is impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible and has an absense of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or cuturally normal ethical behaviour
- therefore because they do not conform to our moral standards, psychopathic behaviour would be considered abnormal in a wide range of cultures
Evaluation of deviation from social norms
✅ real life application - used in clinical practices of diagnosis and assessments, for example diagnosing antisocial personality disorder, failure to conform to culturally acceptable ethical behaviour, these signs all deviate from social norms, shows value in psychiatry
❌ variability between cultures - a person in 1 cultural group may label someone from another group as abnormal, for example hearing voices in some cultures is seen as a message from ancestors but is abnormal in the UK
❌ can lead to human rights abuses - carries risk of unfair labelling and leaving them open to human rights abuse, for example the diagnosis of nymphomania has been used to control women
Definitions of abnormality: failure to function adequately
- when they can no longer cope with the demands of everyday life such as:
- being unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene
- or if they cannot hold a job and keep relationship
- Individuals who experience FTFA are likely to have increased absences from work which in turn may result in: a reduction in income, job loss, lack of contact with colleagues
- FTFA can have damaging effects on relationships, for example: increased conflict with friends and family as a result of an individual’s increasingly erratic, disturbing behaviour, work colleagues may distance themselves from the person who is experiencing FTFA
Rosenhan & Seligman (1989) identified the distinct signs that indicate FTFA, including:
- no longer conform to interpersonal rules
- experience severe distress
- behaviour becomes dangerous or irrational
Evaluation of failure to function adequately
✅ attempts to include subjective experiences - acknowledges patients personal experiences and feelings are important, useful criterion for assessing abnormality
❌ tricky to identify - hard to say when failing to function adequately and deviating from social norms, classing and labelling behaviours as failures can lead to discrimination
❌ have to judge when someone is distressed - some may say they are distressed but may not be judged as suffering, subjective measure can make it inaccurate and unreliable
Definitions of abnormality: deviation from ideal mental health
- based on the idea that there are distinct markers that signal ‘wellness’ or ideal mental health
- the absence of good criteria for good mental health
- once we have a picture of how we should be psychologically healthy we can see who deviates from this
Jahodas criteria: - we have no distress
- we are rational
- perceive ourselves accurately
- we self actualise
- realistic world view
- good self esteem
Evaluation of deviation from ideal mental health
✅ very comprehensive - covers a broad range of criteria for mental health and most reasons would seek help, makes it a good tool for psychiatrists
❌ specific to western culture (culture bound) - eg. Emphasis on personal achievement on personal achievement in self actualisation would be considered self indulgent in collectivist cultures
❌ very few of us obtain all of Jahodas criteria, none of us have at same time there we would all be labelled as abnormal
COUNTERPOINT: ✅ however it makes clear to people the ways that they could benefit from treatment
What is a phobia
- a type of anxiety disorder which comes with a strong , excessive and irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger
- can be triggered by an object or situation with individuals restricting their life to avoid the phobic stimulus
What are the categories of phobias according to DSM 5
- specific: phobia of an object or situation
- social: phobia of a social situation
- agoraphobia: phobia of being outside/ in public
Behavioural characteristics of phobias
- panic: to presence of phobic stimulus
- avoidance: can make it hard to go about daily life
- endurance: remain in the presence of phobic stimulus but continue to experience anxiety
Emotional characteristics of phobias
- anxiety: fear/worry is the immediate response we experience when we think about or encounter the phobic stimulus
- emotional responses are unreasonable: disproportional to danger
Cognitive characteristics of phobias
- selective attention: can be hard to divert attention form the phobic stimulus, this helps us react quickly to any danger posed
- irrational beliefs: overthinking increases pressure on the sufferer
- cognitive distortions: perception of the phobic stimulus may become distorted
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias - two process model
- proposed by mowrer
- states that phobias are acquired by classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning
- the behavioural approach wants to explain the behavioural characteristics of phobias (panic, endurance and avoidance)
Behaviourist approach for exiplaining phobias: Acquisition by classical conditioning
Learning to associate something we initially have no fear (neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear response (unconditioned stimulus)
Behaviourist approach for exiplaining phobias: Maintenance by operant conditioning
- takes place when our behaviour is reinforced or punishment
- reinforcement tends to increase frequency of behaviour
- mowrer suggested when we avoid a phobic stimulus we escape the fear and anxiety that we would have experienced if we remained
- this reduction in fear reinforces the avoidant behaviour so our fear is maintained
Evaluation of the behaviourist approach for explaining phobias
✅ good explanatory power, explained how their maintained and learnt, implications for therapy as explains why patients need to be exposed to prevent avoidance
❌ not all avoidance behaviour is due to anxiety, agoraphobia avoidance is motivated by positive feelings of safety, explains why people can go out with a trusted person
❌ evolutionary factors have an important role, we learn phobias that have been a source of danger in the past, it is adaptive to aquire fears. shows more to aquiring phobias than conditioning
Systematic desensitisation
- gradually reduces phobic anxiety through classical conditioning
- if a person can relax in the presence of their phobic stimulus they are cured as a new response to the phobic stimulus is learned (counter conditioning)
- anxiety hierarchy: a list of situations related to the phobic stimulus that provoke anxiety arranged from least to most frightening
- relaxation: therapist teaches client relaxation techniques as its impossible to be afraid and relaxed at the same time so one emotion prevents the others (reciprocal inhibition)
- exposure: client exposed to the phobic stimulus while in a relaxed state starting at the bottom of the anxiety hierarchy and asking the way up
Evaluation of systematic desensitisation
✅ evidence showing its effectiveness, Gilroy et al followed up 42 people who had SD for spider phobia, after both 3 and 33 months the SD group were less fearful than a control group, this means thai it is helpful
✅ suitable for a diverse range of patients including people with a learning disability, as alternative treatments may not be accessible as they may struggle with the traumatic experience of flooding
❌ may only be a temporary fix, patient may struggle to deal with it outside of therapy, can’t apply guidance to real life without therapist, reduces external validity
Flooding
- involves exposing people with a phobia to their phobic stimulus without a gradual buildup in the anxiety hierarchy
- works by stopping phobic responses very quickly may be because without the option of avoidance the client learns that the phobic stimulus is harmless
- a learned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus (eg dog) is encountered without the unconditioned stimulus (eg being bitten)
- the conditioned stimulus no longer produced the conditioned response
Flooding evaluation
✅ highly cost effective, can work in as little as one session compared to systematic desensitisatin which can take 10 to achieve same result, more peopie can be treated at the same cost
❌ highly unpleasant, schaumacher et al found that participants / therapists rated flooding as more stressful than SD, raises einical issues, drop out rates higher
❌ less effective for complex phobias like social phobias, because they have complex cognitive aspects, not applicable to everyone
