Psychopathology
DSM

Abnormality

1. Deviation from social norm

  • breaks unwritten rules of society
  • lacks culture bias/ changes over time
  • easy to distinguish normal from abnormal

2. Deviation from statistical norms

  • rare behaviour e.g. high IQ
  • lacks culture bias/ some are desirable
  • objective measure/real life application

3. Failure to function adequately

  • unabe to cope with demands of daily life
  • difficult to define
  • real life application

4. Deviation from “ideal mental health”

  • johodas 6 criteria to be met
  • unrealistic/culture bias
  • positive/ holistic

Depression mood disorder characterised by strong emotions.
Clinical characteristics:

  • physical: sleep disturbance, changed appetite, pain, lack of acitivity.
  • emotional: low mood, anger, low self esteem
  • cognitive: suicide, negative thinking, slower thoughts/poor concentration.

1. Major depression

  • Sudden, episodes, unipolar
  • Can be reactive which is caused by external factors
  • Can be edogenous caused by internal factors

2. Manic depression

  • cycles, bipolar, alternation between extreme moods of mania and depression.
  • Manic is overeactivity, rapid speech and extreme happiness of agitation.
  • Depression

Phobias anxiety disorder irrational fear to a specific object or situation

  • positive self view
  • self actualise
  • resistance to stress
  • autonomy
  • accurate view of society
  • being able to master your environment

1. Specific phobia
2. Agoraphobia- open spaces, public transport not being home
3. Social phobia

Characteristics PEA AF IS
1. behavioural:

  • panic
  • avoidance
  • endurance
    2. Emotional
  • fear
    • anxiety
      3. Cognitive
  • selective attention
  • irrational beliefs

OCD: obsessive thoughts and/or compulsions

  • obsessions are a cognition
  • compulsions are a behaviour

Characteristics
1. Behavioural

  1. They are repetitive- feel compelled
  2. Reduce anxiety
  • avoidance
    2. Emotional
  • anxiety and distress
  • accompanying depressions
  • guilt and disgust
    3. Cognitive characteristics
  1. Obsessive thoughts
  • hyper vigilant
  • catastrophic thoughts

behavioural explanation

Systematic desensitisation

  • gradually reduce anxiety relaxed and scared at the same time reciprocal inhibition, counter conditioning to unlearn the fear.
    Key points
  • anxiety hierarchy
  • relaxation
  • exposure
    Evaluation
  • students with fear of snakes 11 sessions 6 months later anxiety heirachry score significantly reduced
  • more ethical
  • may not treat all phobias

flooding
over period of time safe controlled manner unable to avoid
Evaluation

  • cost- effective
  • research to support- produced the same or fewer side effects as other treatment
  • can cause extreme anxiety high dropout rate

Phonias are learned through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

Biological treatment

  • SSRI antidepressant works on increasing serotonin.
  • blocks the re absorption and break down of serotonin
  • SSRI blocks it at the presynapse, stays active in the synapse better chance of binding with receptor and stimulating post synaptic neurone
  • placebo vs SSRI showed significant difference
  • cost effective non disruptive
  • side effects
  • not effective fro everyone
    CBT
    — often used alongside to reduce symptoms (anxiety+depression)
    ALternatives to SSRI
    BZs anti-anxiety (GABA enhancing)

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One strength of the cognitive explination of depression is that there is research to support from Boury that depressed people are more likely to misinterpret negatively highlighting that there is evidence of cognitive bias’ in depressed people extorting reality. Furthermore, they felt hopeless about their future which supports the negative triad (becks research) which links self, world (negative misinterpretations) and future (hopeless).

ABC model
Triad