Psychopathology Flashcards
(14 cards)
Evaluation of statistical infrequency
+ Objective, based on numbers, which removes subjectivity of clinical diagnosis.
+ Application - intellectual disability
- Not everyone benefits from being labelled ‘abnormal’ e.g. high IQ
- Some ‘abnormalities’ are positive and therefore don’t need to be diagnosed.
Evaluation of deviation from social norms
+ Considers desirability of behaviour e.g. high IQ
+ Real life application - antisocial personality disorder
- Culturally relative
- Can lead to human rights abuses - anyone who is different may be controlled as a result, diagnoses used to control minorities.
Evaluation of failure to function adequately
+ Attempts to include patient’s perspective and therefore considers individual subjective experience
- Difference between failure to function adequately and deviation from social norms?
- Judgements are subjective - it is someone’s job to decide if someone is suffering and they could therefore be mistaken
- Some dysfunctional behaviours can actually be adaptive and functional for the individual e.g. some EDs get attention for the individual which can be seen as functional
Evaluation of deviation from ideal mental health
+ Comprehensive
+ Positive idea of mental health, focuses on the positives rather than negatives and desirable rather than what is undesirable
- May be specific to western cultures e.g. individual success compared to good family relationships
- Sets unrealistically high standards for mental health - does anyone meet all the standards all the time?
Evaluation of the two-process model
+ Good application with real life treatment of phobias
+ Little Albert - research support
- Some phobias don’t follow a trauma
- Bounton (2007) says two process model ignores evolutionary factors of phobias
Evaluation of systematic desensitisation
+ Build up to worst fear which is more ethical
- Time-consuming, as people may drop out
- Cannot gradually expose some phobias e.g. flying
- Öhman et al (1975) suggests that SD may not be as effective in treating phobias that have an underlying evolutionary survival component e.g. fear of the dark
Evaluation of flooding
+ Ougrin (2011) found it is highly effective and quicker than alternatives
+ Less time consuming (done in like 2 hours)
- Symptom substitution - Little Hans by Freud, you have to treat the underlying cause
- Flooding can be a highly traumatic procedure
Evaluation of Ellis’ ABC model
+ Application, has led to CBT as a treatment, which is the best treatment for depression especially when used with drug therapies (Cujipers et al, 2013)
- Some patients may not have a clear trigger (non-reactive depression)
- Doesn’t account for all aspects of depression e.g. hallucinations
- Causes the client or therapist to overlook situational factors of depression rather than considering how life events or family problems may have contributed to the mental disorder.
Evaluation of Beck’s cognitive explanation of depression
+ Better at explaining non-reactive depression as it doesn’t focus on any one specific situation
+ Grazioli and Terry found pregnant mothers who expressed high cognitive vulnerability were more likely to have postnatal depression.
+ Application in CBT as it explains how depression is formed.
- Doesn’t account for all aspects of depression e.g. hallucinations
Evaluation of CBT
+ March et al - 81% of patients with CBT improved, 86% with CBT and antidepressants
+ Can be tailored to individuals as is very versatile
- Doesn’t consider biological factors such as impairment of serotonin system
- May not work for severe cases as it requires proactivity of patient.
Evaluation of genetic explanations of OCD
+ Nestadt et al (2010) found 68% of MZ twins shared OCD compared with 31% of DZ
- Psychologists have been very unsuccessful in finding genes involved because several genes are involved and each variation only increases risk by a fraction
- Diathesis-stress model argues that stress can trigger OCD. Cromer et al (2007) ound that over half OCD patients had a traumatic events in their past
- Two-process model could also be associated with OCD
Evaluation of neural explanations of OCD
+ Some antidepressants work solely on serotonin and lead to a decrease in OCD symptoms - they also form part of other biological conditions e.g. Parkinsons
- There is no singular system that always plays a role in OCD
- Cannot assume that the mechanisms in the brain cause OCD (cause and effect)
- Two-process model could also be associated with OCD.
Evaluation of biological treatments of OCD
+ Soomro et al (2009) did a meta-analysis of 17 studies comparing SSRIs vs placebos (70% decrease in symptoms when using SSRIs)
+ Less timeconsuming and more cost effective
- 1/10 suffer from erection problems, tremors and weight gain so may be more inclined to stop
- Some OCD may follow a trauma so a biological treatment is not applicable.
Symptoms of phobias
Hyperventilating Panic attacks Rapid heart rate Nausea and vomiting Dry mouth Shaking Sweating
