100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Summary of psychopathology textbook $8.28
Add to cart

Summary

Summary of psychopathology textbook

 12 views  0 purchase
  • Course
  • Institution
  • Book

Comprehensive notes for PSPA Exam

Preview 4 out of 105  pages

  • No
  • Unknown
  • November 4, 2024
  • 105
  • 2024/2025
  • Summary
avatar-seller
Chapter 1
Origins and Causes of Psychopathology
Outcomes Description
LO1: Discuss 1. Biomedical Perspective
the various  Claims that all mental illness has a biological cause
perspectives  Does not account for additional factors such as environment,
of social pressures, parenting types
psychopatholo  Biological abnormalities occur in four areas:
gy A. Genetic Predisposition
 these are inherited from our parents
 most of us have 46 chromosomes
 abnormalities in genetic make-up can predispose some
individuals to specific mental illnesses
 plays a role in the development of mental illness such as
schizophrenia, mood disorders and alcoholism
B. Abnormal Functioning of Neurotransmitters
 neurotransmitters are chemical substances in the brain that are
responsible for the communication of nerve impulses among
the brain cells
 two types of neurotransmitters that are implicated in most
psychiatric disorders:
 Monoamine neurotransmitters (adrenaline, noradrenaline,
dopamine and serotonin)
 Amino acid neurotransmitters
 Psychiatrists still use “chemical imbalance” to explain mental
illness to patients
e.g. dopamine is overactive in schizophrenic brains
C. Endocrine Dysregulation
 Pathological alterations in the functioning of the neuro-
endocrine system
 Disorders like mood disorders and schizophrenia
D. Structural Abnormalities
 Structural abnormalities have traditionally been associated with
various disorders
 Structural abnormalities in the brain can impair a person’s
emotional control

2. Psychological Perspective
A. Psychodynamic Approaches
 Sigmund Freud
 Mental structure are influenced by childhood experiences
 Human actions and experiences are strongly influenced by
unconscious processes
 Freud believed that although these feelings are supressed, they
could still exert control over an individual through symptoms
 Personality is divided into three parts:
 ID: our instincts and desires
 EGO: tries to control expression of the ID
 SUPEREGO: conscious ability to differentiate between
what is right and wrong
 Psychopathology can occur for two reasons:
1. Psychological disorders emerge when conflict between the
© 2024 Danielle van Rooijen

, ID, EGO and SUPEREGO cause distressing symptoms
2. Mental disorders emerge when deficiencies in the EGO
hinder an individuals ability to repress instincts and drives


Contemporary Psychodynamic thinking

Internal Objects: (Melanie Klein)

-mental representations that are formed when significant others are internalised by the
individual, which adds to the nature of the personality

-these theories believe that early relationships with caregivers can shape personality and
lays a foundation for future relationships

Theory of Attachment (John Bowlby)

- bonding between the child and caregiver has long term effects on relationships

-early trauma or deprivation is used to understand the development of psychopathology
B. Behavioural/Learning Perspectives
 Psychologists: Pavlov/Skinner/Watson
 Behaviour is learned through various processes:
1. Habituation:
 The process by which a person ceases to respond to a
stimulus after repeated presentations
 The person adapts (becomes numb) to the stimuli
 E.g. Maladaptive stimuli: drugs
2. Sensitisation:
 An extreme response to a stimulus that holds
significant consequences
 Become sensitive to pain, sound, smell etc
3. Conditioning:
 A. Classical Conditioning: (Pavlov’s dogs)
pairing a neutral stimulus (bell) with an unconditioned
stimulus (food), eventually the neutral stimulus alone
will trigger the same response as the unconditioned
stimulus
 B. Operant Conditioning:
an individual learns to achieve a specific goal
through reward (repeat behaviour) or punishment
(avoid behaviour)
4. Modelling:
 learning takes place through observation or imitation alone
 Process:
1. Attention: noticing something
2. Retention: remembering what was noticed
3. Reproduction: producing an action that is a
copy of what
was noticed
 Dysfunctional behaviour results from learning ineffective
or dysfunctional responses or failing to learn adaptive
behaviour

C. Cognitive-Behavioural Perspective
 Central to this perspective is the idea that mental disorders are
© 2024 Danielle van Rooijen

, caused by aspects of the content of thoughts and information-
processing factors
 Believes that irrational beliefs and automatic thoughts are
primarily responsible for the development of psychopathology
 What we think and do impacts the way that we feel

D. Humanistic and Existential Perspectives
 Known as the “third force” of psychology
 Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
 Humanistic Perspective (Rogers):
 A person has free will and is able to choose how they
act in various contexts
 Phenomenal field: each induvial lives in a world of
their own making
 It is the perception of reality and not reality itself that
shapes life
 Most important element: the sense of self which is
constantly forming and reforming
 A fully functioning person has reached self-
actualisation, whereas psychopathology develops
when a person is blocked from achieving their full
potential
 Existential Perspective:
 Puts emphasis on the uniqueness of each individual,
the quest for values and meaning and the existences
of freedom for self-direction and fulfilment
 It is less optimistic than the humanistic approach – it
puts emphasis on the alienating and dehumanising
nature of sociopolitical contexts

3. Social Perspectives
A. Community Psychology Perspective
 Understanding people within their social worlds
 It is a psychology that is “for the people”
 FOCUS: is on preventing rather than treating dysfunction
 Emphasis is placed on creating sensitivity to under-represented
groups
 Factors included are socio-economic status, access to resources,
and the nature of the social interaction with the community
 Looks at social, political and cultural contexts
 E.g. a person presenting with schizophrenic symptoms may be
thought to be having an ancestral calling in some cultures
We can not truly explain a persons behaviour if we do not understand
their cultural background

B. Political Perspective
 Frantz Fanon
 Throughout history the field of psychology has been seen as
maintaining an oppressive system
 Mental healing starts at liberation, but postcolonial dilemmas
complicate the process
 Critical psychology has become very popular in SA as a way of
challenging dominant perspectives in psychology

© 2024 Danielle van Rooijen

, C. Cultural and Cross-Cultural Perspective
 Culture refers to the way that a lot of our behaviour is shared and
how behaviour is transmitted from one generation the next
 Culture provides the context that all other variables operate within
 Certain socio-cultural conditions may render some groups of
people more susceptible to psychopathology
 The effects of culture can be seen to:
 Pathogenic – directly cause mental disorders
 Pathofacilitative – promote the incidence of certain
mental disorders
 Pathoselective – influencing the reaction patterns
that result in mental disorders
 Pathoplastic – shaping the symptoms of mental
disorders
 Patho-elaborating – exaggerating behaviour
associated with mental disorders
 Pathoreactive – influencing societies reaction to
mental disorders
 Mental disorders that are largely caused by biological factors are
less likely to be influenced by cultural factors
- E.g. Schizophrenia does not have pathogenic effects of
culture, but it has pathofacilitative, pathoplastic and
pathoreactive
- In contrast personality disorders are an example where
culture exerts all six levels of influence (cultures often
define abnormalities in personality)
 Cultural differences can become handicaps when the induvial
moves out of their culture and has to function within another
culture
 The contribution of culture is being increasingly integrated into all
the fields of psychology
 Due to mobility and social forces there are very few societies that
have not become culturally diverse
 Skills and knowledge for multicultural assessment include:
 Recognising cultural diversity
 Understanding the role of culture, ethnicity and race in the
sociopolitical and economic development of diverse
populations
 Understanding the impact of socio-economic and political
factors on the social, political and economic development of
groups
 Helping clients to understand, maintain and resolve their
sociocultural identification
 Understanding the impact of the interaction of culture,
gender and sexual orientation on behaviour and needs
 In SA there is concern over the needs of culturally diverse societies
not being reached and that mental health services are still
Eurocentric
 Cultural insensitivity can often lead to misdiagnoses
 Ethnocentrism: judging other people from within ones own
cultural perspective (the problem arises when individuals view
their own culture as superior)
 An example of ethnocentrism is the tendency in western medicine
to discredit traditional African healing (traditional healers are
© 2024 Danielle van Rooijen

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller danivanrooijen41. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for $8.28. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

53022 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now

Start selling
$8.28
  • (0)
Add to cart
Added