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Psychology and Mental Health
Psychology is the study of mind through behaviour, based on how the
individual behaves assumption on different theories are made. A
psychological approach is a theory created by psychologist; this theory is
applied to various aspects of Psychology, explanations of a specific topic
from a certain point of view are being provided by the psychological
approach, the explanations and assumptions provided does not imply the
complete and definitive answer to the specific topic or ideas, due to several
factors' things are perceived differently (Answers,2023). In simple words an
approach is a perspective that involves certain beliefs about human
behaviour: the way they function, the essential aspects to study and the
appropriate methods for it study (Simply Psychology, 2023)
In psychology there are five major approaches, Psychodynamic approach
introduced by Freud, Behaviourism approach by Pavlov and Skinner, the
Humanistic approach by Maslow and Rogers and the Biological approach
(Miller T, 2023).
The Behaviourist perspective is one of the major approaches in Psychology,
it focusses on how environmental factors, referred to as “Stimuli” affect the
observable behaviour, referred to as “Response.” Behaviourism is different
from most of the other approaches as it assumes that all individuals are
controlled by their environment, and they are a result of what they learned
from their environment, by the two main processes “Classical conditioning
“and “Operant conditioning” (Simply Psychology,2023)
Classical conditioning involves learning by association, led by Ivan Pavlov
with his Dog experiment, through looking at how the dog salivates to the
sound of a bell through repeated association of the bell sound with the food.
The salivation of the dog is referred to as a natural reflex and the bell sound
is the neutral stimuli (Simply Psychology, 2023)
The Operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences of
behaviour, Skinner assumed that some behaviour could be explained by the
individual's motive and that there is always a reason behind each behaviour,
this motive can be either positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement,
and punishment. In his experiment “Skinner Box” Skinner showed how
positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in a box that
contained a lever that once pressed the food would come out.
The Behaviourist approach believe in scientific methodology, which is shown
through the controlled experiments, and that a validity of a study case is
, based on observable behaviour so it can be objectively measured.
Behaviourists deny the idea that people have free will and rely on the idea
that behaviour is only determined by the environment (Simply
Psychology,2023).
As any psychological approach, Behaviourism has been criticised on the
point that the animals used on experiments are hard to generalize and
compare to humans, and how the complexity of human behaviour is under-
estimated (Simply Psychology,2023).
Despite being criticised, the principles of classical conditioning have been
applied in many therapies, which include the systematic desensitization for
mental health conditions such as phobias (Simply psychology,2023).
A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, it is an extreme form of fear or
anxiety, triggered by a particular situation or object. The symptoms of
phobias can vary for everyone and depending on its severity. The symptoms
involve experiencing intense fear and anxiety which occurs in face of the
situation or the object being afraid of, it may generate physical symptoms
such as: pounding heart, palpitations or accelerated heart rate, chest pain
and tightness in the chest, sweating, hot or cold flushes...etc.
And in psychological symptoms such as: fear of fainting, fear of losing
control, fear of dying and feeling out of touch with reality known as
dissociation (Mind,2023).
The causes of Phobias can be related to past incidents or trauma such as
experiencing a bite from a dog long time ago that was developed into phobia
of dogs, in this case the due to the person’s experience with dogs and bite,
the motive of fear from dogs will be linked with pain of their bite therefore
the individual will assume that all dogs will bite, which create fear and
phobia. In this case the bite of dog is considered as a negative enforcement
according to the Operant conditioning of the Behaviourism approach.
Phobias treatment consists of medications such as Antidepressants,
Tranquillisers and Beta-blockers. As well as Talking treatments for phobias
such as Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that aims to identify
connections between thoughts, feelings and behaviour and help develop
practical skills. CBT can include a range of methods to treat phobias such as
exposure therapy (Desensitisation) and Hypnotherapy for phobias, using
hypnosis to change habits or treat certain conditions (Mind,2023).
Psychology can be approached by a biological perspective, one of the major
approaches to psychology is the biological approach, this last is a way of
looking at psychology issues by studying the physical basis of animals and
humans' behaviour, it is the only approach that study the brain, immune
system, nervous system, and genetics (Verywellmind,2023).
