Part of this theory stems from much research into the major neurotransmitterserotoninwhich seems to show that major psychological illnesses such as bipolar disorder and anorexia nervosa are caused by abnormally reduced levels of Serotonin in the brain. Electroconvulsive therapy has also proved to be a successful short-term treatment for depressive symptoms of bipolar disorder and related illnesses, although the reasons for its success are almost completely unknown. There is also evidence for a genetic factor in causing psychological illness. The main cures for psychological illness under this model:
The Biological Approach to explain abnormality The biological approach is also known as the biomedical model. The basic premise is that psychological abnormality has a physical cause such as illness or disease. Behaviour is shaped by internal, physiological factors. Genetics I has been suggested that abnormality may be linked to genetics.
Family and twin studies have been carried out to assess the importance of genetics in abnormality. Infection Infection has been found to be related to abnormal behaviour and may explain why people develop abnormalities. The flu virus has been linked to schizophrenia.
These women appear to have contracted the flu virus during the first trimester of pregnancy and this has led to poor neural development and schizophrenia Secondly Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that has been known to cause brain damage and therefore can be shown to lead to abnormality.
Biochemistry Neurotransmitters are thought to be imbalanced in the nervous system of people suffering from psychological disorders. Excessive amounts of dopamine have been associated with schizophrenia.
What illness has been associated with low levels of serotonin? Depression Which hormone is associated with depression? Cortisol Brain structure Abnormal behaviour can occur if the structure of the brain is damaged in some way.
An example is that of enlarged ventricles. Ventricles are sacks of fluid in our brain, people with schizophrenia tend to have larger ventricles than the normal population.
Evaluation of the Biological Approach 1. One problem with the biological Approach is that the premise lays no blame with the individual. A second criticism to the biological approach is that it relinquishes responsibility from the suffer. When using a medical model the individual is encouraged to be passive in their treatment.
This will only treat the symptoms of the abnormality not the psychological cause. A final weakness is that the biological approach is reductionist. The biological approach tends to break down explanations to the most basic simple level.
The biological approach states that psychological abnormality has a physical cause this explanation does not consider the cognitions, learned behaviour or early psychosexual experiences.
McGuffin et al investigated the genetic component of depression. This suggests that there is a genetic component in depression. They claim that abnormal behaviour is learned through experience, and even if something has a physical or biological predisposition, the behaviour is maintained by environmental reinforcement.
Watson and Rayner proposed that children learn phobias through paired associations. It is suggested that through classical conditioning people can learn to associate an unconditioned response with a neutral stimulus. Therefore resulting in a conditioned response that can lead to a phobia.
Operant Conditioning as an explanation of abnormality Skinner explains that behaviour is influenced by the consequences of our actions in terms of positive and negative reinforcement.
Also, anxiety or depression might receive reward in the form of attention and concern, also making the behaviour be repeated. This positive reinforcement means that the person will repeat that behaviour in the future as they want the positive attention. Therefore allowing the individual to learn that avoiding situations will reduce the negative emotions.
Another example is when people suffer with addictions the removal of the w