1. T H E T H R E E D E F I N I T I O N S O F
A B N O R M A L I T Y
Psychological
abnormality
2. Definitions
Deviating
from social
norms
Deviating from
ideal mental
health
Failure to
function
Strengths Distinction between
desirable and
undesirable
behaviour. Social
roles are considered
as helpful to living
together
Behaving not according
to what is desirable, but
what is according to a
mental health prone
attitudes is a positive
way to recognise
normality from
abnormality
The person in need has
the first saying,
perspective of an
individuals
experiencing
abnormality becomes
the judge of personal
behaviour
Weaknesses •Susceptible to
abuse
•Cultural relativism
•Deviance is related
to context and
degree
•Eccentric and
abnormal
•Changes in time
•Who can achieve this
•Cultural relativism
•Changes over time
•Subjective criteria
•Difficulty of self-
actualizing, not everyone
achieves their full
potential
•Not the whole picture-
just determining the
extent of a persons
problems
•Cultural relativism
•Exceptions to the rule
– Everyone is different,
doesn't meant their
abnormal
Description Expected way of
behaving in society
Marie Jahoda:
1) Personal growth
2) Reality perception
3) Autonomy
4) Integration
5) Self-attitudes
6) Environment
mastery
Unable to cope with
everyday life
3. A B N O R M A L I T Y I S C A U S E D B Y
P S Y C H I C A L F A C T O R S
Biological approaches
to psychopathology
4. Biological approaches to
psychopathology
Genetics
Some people are genetically at risk of developing a mental
disorder
There is strong evidence relating to mental disorders such as
bipolar, depression and schizophrenia
Schizophrenia; a first degree relative e.g- son or daughter, of
someone suffering the disorder has a 10% chance of also
developing it whereas the general population only have a 1%
chance
Gottesman – meta analysis of 40 twin studies, found a
concordance rate for schizophrenia of 48% in monozygotic twins
and a 17% in dizygotic twins
Heston –did an adoption study. Used 47 adopted children who's
mothers had schizophrenia and 50 adopted children who's
mothers did not have it. 5 children from the first group also got
schizophrenia whereas 0 children from the second group got it.
Neurotransmitters
Dopamine
Too much of this causes schizophrenia and an imbalance of levels
in the neurotransmitter can explain the onset of schizophrenia
5. Biological approaches to
psychopathology
Serotonin
Too little of this can cause depression and an imbalance of these
can explain the mental disorder of depression
Noradrenaline
Too little of this neurotransmitter is linked to anxiety disorders
such as phobias and an imbalance of noradrenaline can cause the
onset of phobias
Infection
Bacteria viruses can cause physical and psychological conditions
such as syphilis and influenza virus
Syphilis bacteria causes STI’s which causes general paresis:
forgetfulness, mental deterioration and delusions
Influenza virus in pregnant women, this exposes the foetus to the
virus which then lies in the child's brain causing schizophrenia
Infection explains psychopathology (mental disorders) as a result
of syphilis or influenza
6. Biological approaches to
psychopathology
Strengths
Techniques have shown that there are biological component's
Research shows there could be a genetic link
Drugs can work as treatment options
It is scientific
Weaknesses
Reductionist
Genetics don’t provide a complete explanation
Drugs don’t work for everyone
Focuses on curing symptoms not the actual cause
7. M E N T A L D I S O R D E R I S A R E S U L T
O F P S Y C H O L O G I C A L R A T H E R
T H A N P H Y S I C A L
The psychodynamic
approach
Psychopathology
8. The psychodynamic approach
Psychopathology
Conscious thoughts
Conscious – Something you can think about where you are fully aware
of everything around us
Preconscious - Something that we have stored in our memories that is
about something in the past and can bring back to the conscious mind
Unconscious – A place in our mind where we store shameful
experiences, sexual desires, fears and violent motives, we do not have
access to this mind. Issues form childhood can be stored in the
unconscious mind. We do not have access to the mind. Access comes
in the form of dreams or slip of the tongue. The unconscious mind
could lead to distress because the person does not understand why it
is that they think this way
Freud's personality theory
ID
Pleasure principal, present at birth
Wants everything now
Money, food and sex
No morals
Superego
The conscience which as morals
Develops at the age 5
Ego
Develops at the age of 3
Decides between ID or the superego
Reality principle
9. The psychodynamic approach
Psychopathology
Cause of abnormality
In childhood, the ego is not developed enough to deal with
traumas so these events re repressed
In order to balance the demands it employs a defence
mechanisms to protect themselves such as denial, projection,
regression or repression
Strengths
The psychodynamic model reminds us that experiences in
childhood can effect us throughout our lives
No need for medication
Weaknesses
Cannot scientifically test it, its just a theory
Evidence is through a therapist which causes bias and
misinterpretation
Retrospective data, looking back on data
Lack of evidence
Sexism, Freud focused his research on men or boys
10. A L L M A L A D A P T I V E B E H A V I O U R
I S A C Q U I R E D I N T H E S A M E W A Y
The behavioural
approach to
psychopathology
11. The behavioural approach to
psychopathology
Abnormal behaviour is learnt through conditioning or social
learning, for example, classical and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning; unconditioned stimulus has an
unconditioned response. When the conditioned stimulus is
combined with an unconditioned stimulus, it creates and
unconditioned response. Therefore the conditioned stimulus
becomes the conditioned response.
Operant conditioning is where you learn through reinforcement,
this could be through a reward and being rewarded for doing
something good, right or well and/or through a punishment, for
punishing behaviour which is not good or right.
Social learning theory
Imitation of role models and reinforcement can also lead to
abnormal behaviour
Modelling – coping the behaviour of role models
Attention; noticing the behaviour
Retention; remembering the behaviour
Motor reproduction; it has to be psychically possible
Motivation; has to be a reason why they want to copy
12. The behavioural approach to
psychopathology
Albert Bondura – bobo doll
Studying the effects of observation of a model on subsequent
behaviour
It was suggested that watching aggressive behaviour might diffuse the
inner aggression of the watcher
After the child watched the adult play around hitting the doll, the child
copied and did similar things
Variations:
1) Aggression was rewarded (Vicarious reinforcement)
2) Aggression was punished (Vicarious punishment)
3) Adult neither rewarded nor punished (No reinforcement)
The results found that when the child was rewarded behaviour was
most likely to be copied
When it was punished, behaviour was least likely to be copied
Strengths
Behaviour approaches when combined with cognitive approach have
proved to be effective in treating clients with phobias and neurotic
disorders (OCD)
Weaknesses
Only behaviour is considered, the thoughts and feelings f cognition are
not taken into account
Symptoms not cause, limited view (reductionist)
13. A B N O R M A L I T Y I S C A U S E D Y
F A U L T Y T H I N K I N G
Cognitive approach to
psychopathology
14. Cognitive approach to
psychopathology
Ellis’ ABC model:
A – activating events
B – beliefs are affected
C – consequences of the thoughts
These result in rational and irrational beliefs
The cognitive model assumes that thinking expectations and attitudes
result in mental illness
Becks cognitive triad:
Having a negative view of the self
Having a negative view of the world
Having a negative view of the future
Strengths:
Concentrates on current thought processes which means a patients
remembers in more detail
Cognitive and behavioural therapies when mixed together have a high
success rate
Weaknesses:
Focusing only on a persons cognition may be too narrow
Situational factors
Consequence not cause
Not all irrational beliefs are actually irrational
16. Biological therapies
Drugs:
Anti-anxiety drugs (BZ’s)
Reduce tension and anxiety
Enhance action of GABA -> reduction of brain activity -> calm
Side effects can include: drowsiness, fatigue and weight gain
Anti-depressive drugs
Increase levels of serotonin
SSRI (e.g. Prozac) interferes with re-absorption of serotonin
Side effects can include: dizziness, dry mouth and nausea]
Anti-psychotic drugs (Neuoleptics)
Decrease in the production of neurotransmitter dopamine
Relieves hallucinations
Close supervision is needed
Side effects can include: Weight gain, constipation, dizziness and
nausea
Evaluation of drugs
Strengths:
Effectiveness – WHO reported that relapse rates after one year of
using placebo drugs for schizophrenic patients was 55%
Ease of use – chemotherapy requires little effort of the user
17. Biological therapies
Weaknesses:
Placebo effects – Patients who receive placebos found it almost as
effective as those receiving the real drug
Tackles symptom rather than problem
Side effects – SSRI’s cause anxiety , sexual dysfunction, insomnia,
nausea etc.
Addiction – BZ’s should be limited to only taking them for 4
weeks because they become very addictive
ECT – Electroconvulsive therapy
This therapy is used when drugs fail to treat depressive disorders
22,000 peoples receive this treatment per year
Patient is given a muscle relaxant as a 110mv shock in passed
through the brain causing a seizure
The therapy increases a neurotransmitter which increases a
patients mood
The therapy can cause brain damage or substantial memory loss
Usually given 3 times a week and the patient will require 3-15
treatments
18. Biological therapies
Evaluation of ECT
Strengths:
Effective treatment for depression
Can be life saving to patients who are suicidal
60%-70% 0f patients improve after therapy
Weaknesses:
84% of patients relapse after 6 months
Huge side effects including: Impaired memory, cardiovascular
changes, irregular heartbeat, headaches and anxiety
When a placebo ECT was done and was compared with a real
ECT. The results were that those who did the placebo ECT
recovered almost as well as the patients from the real one
19. P S Y C H O A N A L Y S I S , S D
( S Y S T E M A T I C D E S E N S I T I S A T I O N
A N D R E B T ( R A T I O N A L - E M O T I V E
T H E R A P Y )
Psychological therapies
20. Psychological therapies
Psychoanalysis
Free association:
A client is asked to express anything which comes into mind
which could extend back to childhood
The therapist will only interfere occasionally perhaps to
encourage some reflection on a particular experience
The therapist will then try to interpret what the client has said
and try to draw conclusions
Freud believes that these associations are determined by
unconscious factors which analysis tries to uncover
Dream analysis:
Freud felt that during dreams are the barrier into the unconscious
mind
The therapist will analyse the patients dream and might be able
to identify significant conflicts repressed into the unconscious
mind
The meaning of the dream can only be revealed by therapist
interpretation
The therapist and client will then analyse the dream together
resolving the source of the anxieties
21. Psychological therapies
Evaluation of psychoanalysis
Strengths:
Effectiveness – 80% of patients benefit from psychoanalysis
compared to 65% of electric therapies
Length – The longer the treatment, the more beneficial patients
found it and psychoanalysis can last years
Weaknesses:
False memories – Some therapists are not helping patients to
recover repressed memories but are planting ‘False memories’
Appropriateness - Fails to appreciate the differences between
individuals
22. Psychological therapies
Systematic desensitisation
Used to treat phobias
Extinguishes undesirable behaviour by replacing it with a more desirable
one; relaxation
The client will work out a hierarchy of fear from least to most frightening
about their phobia
The client works through each stage of the hierarchy starting with the least
frightening, becoming relaxed with that stage and then moving up
Example of spiders:
Think about spider
See a picture of a spider
Be in the same room as a glass tank with a spider in
Sit next to the tank with lid shut
Sit next to the tank with lid open
Put hand in the tank
Hold the spider
Strengths:
Appropriateness – quick and require little effort
Effectiveness – successful for a range of anxiety disorders as 75% of
patients with phobias respond well to SD
Weaknesses:
Symptom substitution – SD may appear to resolve the problem but they
only elimate or supress symptoms
Reduced effectiveness – some suggest that SD may not be as effective in
treating some anxiety problems; fear of heights or animals
23. Psychological therapies
Rational-emotive behaviour therapy
Helps patients understand irrationality and consequences of this
way of thinking
REBT helps a person substitute these thoughts with a more
effective problem-solving method
Challenging irrational beliefs
Client and therapist decide how the clients beliefs can be reality
tested
The aim is for the client to become more self-sufficient and
recognise the consequences of their faulty cognitions
The client and therapist will then set new goals for the client in
order to become more realistic
Because it is not activating events themselves it can cause
unproductive consequences therefore the patient is encouraged to
dispute these beliefs by:
Logical disputing – Self-deflating beliefs do not follow logically
from the information available (Does this information make
sense?)
Empirical disputing – Self-deflating beliefs may not be consistent
with reality (Where is the proof that this is accurate?)
Pragmatic disputing – Emphasises the lack of usefulness of self-
deflating beliefs (How is this belief likely to help me?)
24. Psychological therapies
ABC model and REBT
A (activating event) B (belief about event) C (emotional
consequences) D (disputations take place) E (effective
beliefs replace irrational ones)
Strengths
Effectiveness – It is an effective treatment for a number of different
types of disorders
Appropriateness – It is useful for clinical population (mental
disorders) and non-clinical populations (anxiety)
Weaknesses
Irrational environments – REBT cannot control outside factors
such as marriage, bullying or jobs etc and as a result, these
environments reinforce these irrational beliefs
Not suitable for all – REBT does not always work for everyone and
is not always what everyone wants, some just don’t want the advice
that a therapist will have to offer