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Summary book Psychopathology (Clinical Psychology)
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PsychopathologyChapter 1. an introduction to psychopathology: concepts, paradigms
and stigma
Introduction
- Psychopathology = the study of deviations from normal or everyday psychological or
behavioral functioning.
- Clinical psychology = the branch of psychology responsible for understanding and treating
psychopathology.
1.1 a brief history of psychopathology
- demonic possession = historical explanations of psychopathology such as demonic
possession often alluded to the fact that the individual had been possessed in some way.
- Medical model = an explanation of psychopathology in terms of underlying biological or
medical causes.
1.1.1 demonic possession
- demonology = many ancient civilizations such as those in Egypt, China, Babylon and Greece,
believed that those exhibiting symptoms of psychopathology were possessed by bad spirits.
- Cen = a form of spirit possession where the ghost of a decreased person visits the affected
individual and replaces his or her identity.
1.1.2 the medial or disease model
- general paresis = a brain disease occurring as a late consequence of syphilis, characterized by
dementia, progressive muscular weakness and paralysis.
- Somatogenic hypothesis = the hypothesis that the causes or explanations of psychological
problems can be found in physical or biological impairments.
- Psychiatry = a scientific method of treatment that is based on medicine, the primary
approach of which is to identify the biological causes of psychopathology and treat them
with medication or surgery.
- In contrast to the medical model, both psychodynamic and contemporary cognitive accounts
of psychopathology argue that many psychological problems are the result of the individual
acquiring dysfunctional ways of thinking and acting, and acquiring these characteristics
through normal, functional learning processes.
- Psychopathology can be viewed as being on a dimension rather than being a discrete
phenomenon that is separate from normal experience.
1.1.3 from asylums to community care
- asylums = in previous centuries asylums were hospices converted for the confinement of
individuals with mental health problems.
- Moral treatment = approach to the treatment of asylum inmates, developed by the Quaker
movement in the UK, which abandoned contemporary medical approaches in favour of
understanding, hope, moral responsibility, and occupational therapy.
- Social breakdown syndrome = consisting of confrontational and challenging behavior,
physical aggressiveness, and a lack of interest in personal welfare and hygiene.
- Milieu therapies = the first attempts to structure the hospital environment for patients,
which attempted to create a therapeutic community on the ward in order to develop
productivity, independence, responsibility and feelings of self-respect.
, - Token economy = a reward system which involves participants receiving tokens for engaging
in certain behaviors, which at a later time can be exchanged for a variety of reinforcing or
desired items.
1.2 defining psychopathology
- abnormal psychology = an alternative definition of psychopathology, albeit with stigmatizing
connotations relating to not being normal.
- Service user groups = groups of individuals who are end users of the mental health services
provided by, for example, government agencies such as the NHS.
- When considering how to define psychopathology we must consider not only whether a
definition is useful in the scientific and professional sense, but also whether it provides a
definition that will minimize the stigma experienced by sufferers, and facilitate the support
they need to function as inclusive members of society.
1.2.1 deviation from the statistical nor
- statistical norm= the mean, average or modal example of a behavior.
1.2.2 deviation from social and political norms
- reformist delusions = a belief that an improvement in social conditions can be achieved only
through the revision of people’s attitudes, in accordance with the individual’s own ideas for
the transformation of reality
- Litigation mania = a conviction, which does not have any basis in fact, that the individual’s
own rights as a human being are being violated and flouted
- Ataque de Nervios = a form of panic disorder found in Latinos from the Caribbean.
- Seizisman = a state of psychological paralysis found in the Haitian community.
1.2.3 maladaptive behavior and harmful dysfunction.
- Harmful dysfunction = assumption that psychopathology is defined by the dysfunction of a
normal process that has the consequence of being in some way harmful.
1.2.4 distress and disability
1.3 explanatory approaches to psychopathology
- these genetic, biological, behavioral and psychological processes are interdependent and
together make up our conception of the complete thinking and behaving human being.
1.3.1 biological models
genetics
- = the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics.
- Concordance studies = studies designed to investigate the probability with which family
members or relatives will develop a psychological disorder depending on how closely they
are related – or, more specifically, how much genetic material they have in common.
- Twin studies = studies in which researchers have compared the probability with which
monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins both develop symptoms indicative of a
psychopathology in order to assess genetic contributions to that psychopathology.
- Diathesis-stress model = model that suggests a mental health problem develops because of
an interaction between a genetic predisposition and our interactions with the environment
- Heritability = a measure of the degree to which symptoms can be accounted for by genetic
factors. It ranges from 0 to 1, and the nearer this figure is to 1, the more important are
genetic factors in explaining the symptoms.
, - Molecular genetics = genetic approach that seeks to identify individual genes that may be
involved in transmitting psychopathology symptoms.
Neuroscience
- The neuroscience paradigm seeks an understanding of psychopathology by identifying
aspects of the individual’s biology that may contribute to symptoms.
Brain structure and function
- Corpus callosum = a set of nerve fibers which connects the two mirror-image hemispheres of
the brain
- Cerebral cortex = the outer, convoluted area of the brain.
- Occipital lobe = brain area associated with visual perception
- Temporal lobe = the areas of the brain that lie at the side of the head behind the temples
and which are involved in hearing, memory, emotion, language, illusions, tastes and smells.
- Parietal lobe = brain region associated with visuo-motor coordination.
- Frontal lobe = one of four parts of the cerebrum that control voluntary movement, verbal
expressions, problem solving, will power and planning
- Limbic system = a brain system comprising the hippocampus, mammillary body, amygdala,
hypothalamus, fornix, and thalamus. It is situated beneath the cerebral cortex and is thought
to be critically involved in emotion and learning.
- Hippocampus = a part of the brain which is involved in special learning.
- Amygdala = the region of the brain responsible for coordinating and initiating responses to
fear.
Brain neurotransmitters
- = brain neurotransmitters are chemicals that help neurons to communicate with each other
and are essential components of the mechanisms that regulate efficient and effective brain
functioning
- Dopamine = a compound that exists in the body as a neurotransmitter and as a precursor of
other substances including adrenalin.
- Serotonin = an important brain neurotransmitter where low levels are associated with
depression
- Norepinephrine = a neurotransmitter thought to play a role in anxiety symptoms.
- Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) = a neurotransmitter thought to play a role in anxiety
symptoms.
1.3.2 psychological models
the psychoanalytical or psychodynamic model
- Sigmund Freud = an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic
school of psychology.
- Psychoanalysis = an influential psychological model of psychopathology based on the
theoretical works of Sigmund Freud.
- Freud argues that three psychological forces shape an individual’s personality and may also
generate psychopathology:
1. Id = in psychoanalysis, the concept used to describe innate instinctual needs – especially
sexual needs.
2. Ego = in psychoanalysis, a rational part of the psyche that attempts to control the
impulses of the id.
3. Superego = key concept in Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. The superego
develops out of both the Id (innate instinctual needs) and ego ( a rational part of the
, psyche that attempts to control the impulses of the id), and represents our attempts to
integrate values that we learn from our parents or society.
- Ego defence mechanisms = means by which the ego attempts to control unacceptable id
impulses and reduce the anxiety that id impulses may arouse.
- According to Freud, the id, ego, and superego are often in conflict, and psychological health
is maintained only when they are in balance.
- Defence mechanism = in psychoanalysis, the means by which individuals attempt to control
conflict between the id, ego, and superego and also reduce stress and conflict from external
events
- Stages of development = progressive periods of development from infancy to maturity.
- Oral stage= according to Freud, the first 18 months of life are based on the child’s need for
food from the mother. If the mother fails to satisfy these oral needs, the child may become
fixated at this stage and in later life display oral stage characteristics such as extreme
dependence on others.
- Other stages of development include the anal stage (18 months to 3 years), the phallic stage
(3 to 5 years), the latency stage (5 to 12 years), and the genital stage (12 years to adulthood)
The behavioral model
- = adopts the broad view that many examples of psychopathology reflect our learnt reactions
to life experiences.
- Learning theory = the body of knowledge encompassing principles of classical and operant
conditioning (and is frequently applied to explaining and treating psychopathology).
- Classical conditioning = the learning of an association between two stimuli, the first of which
(the CS) predicts the occurrence of the second (the UCS)
- Operant conditioning = the modification of behavior as a result of its consequences.
Rewarding consequences increase the frequency of the behavior, punishing consequences
reduce its frequency.
The cognitive model
- = perhaps the most widely adopted current psychological model of psychopathology.
- Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) = an intervention for changing both thoughts and behavior.
CBT represents an umbrella term for many different therapies that share the common aim of
changing both cognitions and behavior.
The humanist-existential approach
- = a model of psychopathology which aims to resolve psychological problems through insight,
personal development, and self-actualization
- Client-centered therapy = an approach to psychopathology stressing the goodness of human
nature, assuming that if individuals are unrestricted by fears and conflicts, they will develop
into well-adjusted, happy individuals.
- Empathy = to help understand the client’s feelings
- Unconditional positive regard = the therapist expresses their willingness to totally accept the
client for who he or she is.
1.4 mental health and stigma
1.4.1 what is mental health stigma?
- = can be divided into two distinct types; social stigma is characterized by prejudicial attitudes
and discriminating behavior directed towards individuals with mental health problems.
Perceived stigma or self-stigma is the internalizing by the mental health sufferer of their
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