Psychology- Abnormal

Psychopathology is the scientific studying of abnormal behaviour, which concentrates on behaviour and cognitive- empirical data to describe nature of disorder, what causes abnormal behaviour mechanisms/cause, apply research to find best treatment.

• - Deviates from the norm
• - Causes distress
• - Culturally unacceptable

• - stigma
• - mislabelling

• - identify specific symptoms
• - describe onset; acute/chronic
• - course
• - epidemology

Diagnostic and Statistical manual of mental disorders

• I- most major disorders
• II- stable, enduring problems
• III- Medical conditions relevant to each disorder
• IV- psychosocial and environmental factors including specific sources
• V- global assessment of current functioning

validity, reliability, standardisation

supernatural, biological, psychological

Freud highlighted that the imbalances of the unconcious part of the mind (id, ego, superego) at different psychosexual phases caused abnormal behaviour and to treat it, the conflict must be brought to light in that psychosexual phase.

Unresolved conflicts are repressed into the unconcious via defense mechanisms: denial, transference, and repression

Based on self actualisation: All individuals can reach their full potential in all areas of functioning if they have the freedom to grow. Lower needs must be fulfilled before higher needs can be reached.

• 1. Environment imposes conditions of worth
• 2. Person’s own experience, emotions, needs are blocked
• 3. Self-actualisation is not reached because yourself actualised personal needs are blocked by yourdesire to fulfil others hopes for you.

• 1. Classic conditioning (Pavlov)
• 2. Operant conditioning
• 3. Observational modelling

Classical condition is when a unconditioned stimulus (which produces a unconditioned response) is paired with a neutral stimulus repeatedly. After time, the neutral stimulus, and alone, it can produce a conditioned response.

• Operant conditioning is when consequences of behaviour influence its likelihood of occuring again.
• - reinforcement: is a consequence that causes a behavior to occur with greater frequency.
• - punishment: is a consequence that causes a behavior to occur with less frequency.
• - extinction- is the lack of any consequence following a behavior which leads to a decline in the response.

• - Positive reinforcement- occurs when a behaviour is followed by a reward increasing the frequency of that behaviour
• - negative reinforcement- occurs when a behaviour is followed when an aversive stimulus is removed to increase the frequency of that behaviour
• - positive punishment- occurs when a behavior is followed by a stimulus, resulting in a decrease in that behavior.
• - negative punishment- occurs when a behavior is followed by the removal of a stimulus, resulting in a decrease in that behavior.

Learning through the experiences of others by watching them

• - Acquisition of new behaviour
• - Change incidence of existing behaviour
• - Indirect effects of behaviour that are unrelated to modelling e.g. emotional arousal

• - wrong associative learning
• - inappropriate role models
• - reinforcing maladaptive behaviours

what we think influences what we feel and do

irrational thoughts and core beliefs- negative automatic thoughts, overgeneralisation, catastrophising, personalising, selective attention, magnification

• - Aim: Reduce defences and gain insight into hidden intrapsychic conflict which leads to improvement
• - free association
• - dream analysis
• - transference nature of client patient relationship
• - counter transference
• - drawbacks: intensive, expensive, little empirical basis, not much supportive evidence of success

• - very minimal therapist interpretation
• - "client-centred therapy": Ultimate aim: eliminate unrealistic conditions of worth and allow self-actualisation
• - uses three techniques:
• 1. empathic understanding
• 2. treating client as equal
• 3. integration of self concept is consistent with experience
• - little empirical basis

• - Aim: change overt, observable maladaptive behaviou
• - Empirical research based and evaluated based on qualitative data

• - based on cognitive restructuring: client aims to identify the irrational thoughts and then persuades theclient to recognise them for what they are
• - strategies are: behavioural experiments
• socratic questioning
• cognitive restrcturing
• strong evidence of effectiveness

• Schizophrenia is charaterised by:
• - delusions and hallucinations
• - disorganised speech and behaviour
• - inappropriate emotions
• - devastating the lives of themselves and loved ones around them

• Positive symptoms:- delusions, hallucinations
• negative symptoms- avolition, alogia, anhedonia, flat affect
• disorganised symptoms- illogical speech, tangentiality

• paranoid- positive symptoms
• disorganised- flat or inappropriate, early signs + chronic
• catatonic- remain in a fixed position for a long time, odd mannerisms, echolalia, echopraxia

• • Schizophreniform Disorder- temporary schizophrenia
• • Schizoaffective Disorder- mood disorders+ schizophrenia
• • Delusional Disorder- reality delusion, may remain in isolation
• • Brief Psychotic Disorder- brief positive symptoms
• • Shared Psychotic Disorder- development of delusions as a result of a close relationship with a delusional person

• - large genetic component
• - neurochemicals- dopamine?
• - neuroanatomical- structural abnormalities: enlarged ventricles, depressed metabolism, decreased lateralisation

• - major life stressful events
• - early family instability
• - expressed emotion

• High EE- overinvolved, more boundaries, critical
• Low EE- more accepting and supportive

• - Historical: insulin coma therapy, psychosurgery, ECT
• - Neuroleptic drugs

• Psychologists can help prevent relapse:- Symptom management
• • Identify and cope with warning signs of relapse
• • Identify and cope with persistent symptoms
• • Identify benefits of resisting alcohol and street drugs, learn how to refuse offers- Medication compliance is crucial
• • Understand how drugs work and why you need to keep taking
• • Follow appropriate procedures for taking medication
• • Evaluate responses to medication daily;
• • Knowing specific side effects, what to do when they occur
• • How to obtain assistance from health care providers when problems occur with medication
• • Psychologists can help prevent relapse:- Independent living skills, social skills:
• • Token economies: operant conditioning principles
• • Encourage socialisation, participation in group sessions
• • Self care (bed making, cleaning), living skills
• • Discourage inappropriate behaviours- Family stress management:
• • Information about schizophrenia, causes
• • Practical facts about medication and management
• • Communication skills (empathic listening, expressing negative feelings constructively)
• • Problem solving skills to deal with conflict situations
• • Also promising emerging evidence for cognitive approaches

• Experiencing recurrent major depressive episodes:
• - Extremely depressed mood and/or anhedonia
• - Cognitive symptoms: indecisiveness
• - Somatic symptoms: fatigue, sleep or appetite change
• - Recurrent thoughts about death, suicide

Persistently depressed mood milder than major depression over a long period of time

Dysthymia+depression

alternating between depressive and manic states

• - Persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood
• - Grandiosity, talkativeness, low need for sleep, distractibility, flight of ideas, excessive involvement in pleasurable activities with potentially negative consequences

Lesser time frame than manic episode

• BPI- alternations between full manic and depressive episodes
• BPII- alternations between hypomanic and depressive episodes
• CYC- alternations between long persisting hypomanic and depressive episodes

• family studies- high rate in first degree relatives
• adoption studies- mixed results
• twin studies- Concordance rates for mood disorders are high in identical twins

neutrotransmitter dysfunction

Learned helplessness

• - humans respond helplessnessly when they make the attribution that their actions cannot control their circumstances
• - Types of attributions: Internal- explains the cause of something related to yourself, stable- assignscauses that are permanent, global – assigns causes that are temporary and not permanent
• - Depression results from a tendency towards negative interpretations of events

• drugs- negative side affects
• ECT- applying brief electircal current to the brain

• • cognitive therapy
• • Interpersonal Psychotherapy- Focuses on problematic interpersonal relationships