Psychopatholgy Notees

Deviation from social norms

Social norms are expected ways of behaving they consist of implicit rules known
as unspoken rules such as mannerism and Personal Hygiene and Explicit rules
which are the law. So according to this definition anyone who doesnt act like
everyone else is considered abnormal. And May cause people observer
discomfort and unpredictable behaviour.
However there are several criticisms of this definition one is that it is subjective,
there are no fixed set of social norms as norms differ across time For example
the Gay rights movement and social norms vary between cultures and countries
so its difficult to establish what a norm meaning the definition is culturally
relative and also lacks historical validity
Furthermore looking solely at ones behaviour isnt enough to judge someone as
abnormal as context has to also be considered as it can determine of one is
abnormal or not. For example if you saw a nudist man blah He wouldnt be
Considered abnormal if he was in a nudist beach thus this definition is too vague
and simplistic
Also another weakness of this definition is that powerful social groups and create
social norms themselves and decide who is abnormal who ever opposes them
such as Nazi Germany so it comes a poetenail abuse of power.

Failure to function adequately

It has been suggested that people with mental disorders will often struggle to
cope with their professional and social lives. Rosenham & Seligman suggested
that people who are unable to function adequately can cause observer
discomfort, are unpredictable, irrational and are unable to cope well with change
and their behaviour affects their daily lives. Here, if you are display this
behaviour, or are unable to go on about life normally, this definition states you
are abnormal.
The problem with this definition is that it is extremely subjective what is
adequate or inadequate functioning social judgement is different for everyone so
who has the right to judge that a person isnt functioning adequately. Judging can
lead to controversy!
The individual may believe that they are not failing to function and may believe
that they are acting in a way to help them cope or unaware they are not coping.
thus People may be forced to get help for unusal rather than abnormal also
culturally relative
Jahodas six Criteria

Postive self atitiude and high self esteem

Resistance to stress
Personal autonmy

Accurate perception of reality

Adaptation of the environment
Self actualisation

Difficult and near impossible to meet all the criteria so according to the definition
most people are considered abnormal. Futhermore the definition is too vague it
doesnt state how many of the criteria need to be met 5 or 3.
The definition is too idealistic it doesnt always apply for example some people
work better when they are stressed.
Another weakness is that this definition is largely culture bond. Personal
autonomy and self-actualisation wont be valued in collectivist culture sues it
would be regarded as selfish so it preferable they didnt have them so its based
on western ideals.

Biological model of abnormality

Biological model states that all mental illness is from biological origin therefore it
is seen as no different from bodily illness..
States that abnormal behaviour can have four causes
Neurotransmitters an unbalance in neurotransmitters can cause abnormal
behaviour as research as show that High levels of dopamine as been found to be
linked to schizophrenia and low levels of serotonin have been found to be linked
to depression
Brain injury alzhermier has been shown to be caused by loss of brain cells and
and malformation of the brain. Example is Phineas cage who experienced a brain
injury his frontal lobes got destroyed and then became aggressive and had a
change in personality impulsive.
Infection can cause mental illness and example is a sexually transmitter illness
called general parsies which causes delusions and paralysis and death and mood
swings caused by syphilis.
It also assumes that mental disorders have been inherited by biological parents
Genetics Gottsman has shown there to be a genetic basis to schizophrenia.
Pros and cons of Biological model
Pros is that the model is supported by a lot of scientific research such as brain
scans and biochemistry that give the model extreme scientic credabilty
It also doesnt blame the patient for their mental illness as it is seen as out of
their control so its a humane and ethical approach to abnormality .
Objective evidence shows that Schizo is associated with high levels of DOP
Weakness is that

The model is considered largely reuctionist as it doesnt take any other factors
into account such as envrioment and experiences it is too simplistic as it focuses
solely on biological factors when the environment should also be considered
Psychiatrics zaiang and szaz object to the medical approach as they see lables
such as mentally ill as ways of pathologising peoples behaviour we do not like or
cannot explain.
Also there may be problems in in the reliability and validity of diagnosing the
type of abnormality as there is frequently an overlap of symptoms of diff
disorders making diagnosis unreliable.
Treatments for the Biological model
Drugs Anti-Psychotic- used to treat server disorders such as schizophrenia by
reducing delusions paranoia and thought disorders they work by blocking
dopamine receptors so they reduce its effect. As high levels are associated with
it. Side effects include tremors and tiredness.
Anti-depressants- they are used to treat quick symptoms by reducing the
reabsorption of neurotransmitters and block enzymes that break them down
serotonin and noradrenaline so their activity is heightened redeucing depression
Antianxity drugs- valium and beta blockers they are designed to bring anxiety
under control beta blockers reduce heart rate and blood pressure.
Advantage
They are quick and guaranteed to work unlike other therapies
More economical as drugs are cheaper than therapies
ECT- the client is injected with an atheistic and nerve blocking agent and
electrodes are placed on the scalp of the patient and an electric current of 70130 volts is passed for 0.5 of a second and experiences a seizure lasting 2 mins
and wakes up 10 mins later. The therapy is thought to increase serotonin levels
but no one knows how it works
However it has side effects such as memory impairment headaches
Also some ethical issues governing the use of the therapy is that as severely
mentally ill people are unable to give consent

Behaviour therapy states that all behaviour is learnt even abnormal behaviour is
learnt and is under the principle that behaviour can be unlearnt.
3 ways in which abnormal behaviour can be learnt
Classical conditioning is learning through association this can be used to
understand phobia, this was demonstrated by Watson and Rayner on the case
study of little albert initially the baby was shown a white rat and he showed no
fear albert then heard a loud noise at which he did show fear. During
conditioning the white rat is shown at the same time as the loud noise and then
he showed signs of fear. Overtime he only had to see the white rat to

demonstrate fear he had therefore already associated the far with the loud noise
which he associated with fear and displayed the crying response.
Operant conditioning. This is learning through reinforcement abnormal behaviour
may be learned then reinforced or rewarded a number of times can become a
phobia. An example would be a child who shows fear of a dog the parent might
give him a treat or attention this acts as reward and reinforces the abnormal
behaviour so its likely to repeat to get these reactions. This then often turns into
a phobia. Rewards are often attention.

Vicarious condition. Social teach though others this is when people learn by
imitating and observing role models we are more likely to imitate a behaviour if
we see them get positive reinforcement. In the same way we can learn abnormal
behaviour by imitating them. This can be used to explain disorders. Girls see
beautiful celebrities who are thin and get complimented for their figure therefore
the girls might want to lose weight to imitate their figure they may receive
compliments but this can develop in anorexia.

Strengths

Doesnt blame the person suffering the disorder as it isnt their fault they
learnt the behaviour more the fact that its due to their upbringing and
environment so the client isnt stigmatised. Thus its an ethical and
humane approach to abnormaity
It extremely scientific as it only focuses on observable behaviour which
can be precisely operationalised and measured its easy to come to
objective conclusions and research is carried out with high precision and
control.
The research is easy to be falsified so it enjoys extreme scientific
credibility.
Focuses on current events and doesnt focus too much on retrospective
data like the Psychodynamic model this is good because memory is
unreliable and the most important aspect is the patients current
condition.

Weakness

Is that it focuses on the symptoms of the patient rather than the

underlying cause for example if a phobia appears the model attempts to
unlearn it instead of figure out where it cropped up from and in addition
most of the time when a phobia is cured another one crops up this is
known as symptom substitution.
Is that the model is reductionist as it ignores all other factors and reduces
complex abnormal behaviours into the idea that they are merely learnt. In
actuality there may be many factors that contribute to the abnormal
behaviour such as genetics.
Also its to deterministic it sees humans are passive creatures with no free
will and cant think for themselves. It assumes abnormality determined by

the environment and a person has no control this is too simplistic and
pessimistic and can bring about important moral. Which can bring about
important moral implications

Systematic desentisation
Developed by Wolpe especially for phobia and anxiety. The aim is to take the
fear response and replace it with relaxation by systematically making a person
immune to their stress. This is called counter conditioning. Its based on
reciprocal inhibition the fact that 2 opposite emotions cant be experienced at
the same time and one must replace the other this is like fear and relaxation.

First is relaxation the client is taught relaxation techniques such as deep

breathing and progressive muscle relaxation so it relaxes the client
Second is the client and therapist construct a series of scenarios involving
the thing they fear most and put them in order of the about of fear theyll
cause from low to high. Each scenario should cause more anxiety than the
last
Through the aid of the therapist the client works through the scenarios
whilst remaining completely relaxed by using the techniques they had
learnt by the therapist.
The client must go through each stage whilst maintaining a state of
calmness. Each stage is repeated until the client can maintain completely
calm throughout the scenario this is repeated for each stage.

Weakness + Strengths of SD
It has been found to be extremely successful at treating simple and specific
phobia Yeager ackerman etal found that it was 70% successful with flying and
spider phobias.
Even if a person uses an invirto method they have reduced anxiety in real life
therefore it has high ecological validity
SD is a relatively quick therapy that requires less time and effort when compared
to other therapies such as psychoanalysis and is is more economical less time
consuming and convenient.
However it not effective at treating other mental disorders other than phobia do
its effectiveness is limited and is unflexable unlike psycho analysis.
Furthermore SD is not the fastest behavioural therapy flooding has found to be
more effective and less time consuming then SD
SD also raises some ethical issues as the patient is subjected to great stress and
anxiety so levels can reach high levels so the patient needs to give full consent
And monitored carefully.

Cognitive Model all mental disorders and abnormal behaviour are as a result of
faulty and irrational thinking it focuses on the way people thin rather than the

problem because they believe its the causes the disorder. Faulty cognitions stop
People from functioning adequately.
2 Theories
Ellis ABC model to explain this
A is an activating event that brings about a belief this belief can be rational or
irrational and this brings about a consequence which is either rational or
irrational which can lead to abnormal behaviour
Beck believed that depression can be explained using the cognitive model and
that its a result from underlying negative thoughts and thought up two Theories
Cognitive triad Negtive thoughts about word future and self
And errors in logic
Beck said that people who are depressed will use faulty logic they will make
sweeping nonsensical overgeneralisations over something small. If you have
negative thoughts it can lead to negative emotions which can lead to depression
Strengths of cognitive model.
Believes that the patient has free will so it is not deterministic this is empowering
for a person as they can take control and make their own decisions on their
abnormality.
Also it focuses on the persons beliefs and emotions rather than relying on
interpretations of other people
Also it focuses on the present condition and not the past like psychodynamic so
focuses on changing them as memory is not reliable and the most important
thing is the clients current condition.
Weakness however
It holds people responsible for their illness and they are in control thus places
great blame on the person suffering it as the abnormality is caused by their own
thoughts soo the person can be stigmatised thus making it an unethical and
inhumane .
Another weakness it is unclear wheater
Faulty thinking causes abnormal behaviour
Or abnormal behaviour causes faluty thinking it can thus be argued that this
model focuses on a symptoms a person is showing rather than dealing with the
underlying cause as it focuses only on changing the faluty thought and not
where it came from
Furthermore its critised of being reductionist as it doesnt take into account other
factors such as genetics and experiences but instead takes complex abnormal
behaviour and exaplains it in the terma od bad thinking
CBT: Aim is to replace faulty irrational and dysfunctional thoughts with rational
ones

Step 1 is developing a good relationship between therapist and client it is

impotant they have mutual trust and respect each other as later on the
therapist will strongly argue and challenge the clients thoughts
Step 2 identifying the negative thoughts Client is encouraged to keep a
dairy and note down all the neg and self-defeating thoughts that cross
their head so the client is able to acknowledge the problem.
Step 3 Reviewing the Dairy mointering the challenging thoughts the
therapist takes a look at the dairy and challenges the thoughts outlined
the arguments are reallt strong as so this therapy is more confrontational
and involves heated debate si neg thoughts can be indentified and
destroyed and so the client is exposed to their irrationality the client is
enougraed to use reality testing to accept more honest and truthful ideas.

Strength of CBT is that it has been shown to be extremely effective with

depressions and OCD and social anxiety therefore its extremely flexible and has
diverse applications as it can be applied to many disorders

Its short and usually involves a couple of sessions thus its not that expensive and
convenient when compared to psycho Ana
Its used by the NHS so its relibality is recognised

Also the Client is also actively involved so this can give them a sense of control
over their disorder which can be empowering,
Weakness is that despite it being cost effective and short its still longer and more
expenise than drugs
Also despite being flexible its very useless when it comes to treating
schizophrenia as these patients are unable to mointer and change their irrational
thoughts.

However, the therapy can create ethical issues as there is an

element of insight which can damage the client. Also, the client may
feel blame as they are technically responsible for their disorder and if
they are unable to change, this causes even more distress (negative
thoughts may be rational (for example, if someone feels they have
failed, and they actually have failed everything.) and in this case, CBT
and REBT can be obsolete.
PSYCHODYNAMIC MODEL.

Cognitive Model.

Weakness of the Cognitive Model + STRENGTHS

CBT Stages
Weakness and Strengths of CBT
Psychodyanamic
Physchosexual stages
The Ego defence mechanisms
Weakness+ strengths of Psycho
Psycho analysis Free Association and Dream analysis
Weakness and Strength