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Summary alevel psychology clinical psychology and mental health notes

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My A-Level Psychology Clinical Psychology & Mental Health notes are just a clean, straight-to-the-point set made for the AQA spec. They cover definitions of abnormality, explanations (like behavioural, cognitive and biological), and treatments in a simple layout that’s easy to revise from. No long essays — just key studies, evaluation points, and the exact terms examiners look for. Ideal for quick recap before a test or when you want everything clear in one place.

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​Clinical psychology and mental health summary sheets/notes​


​Deviation from ideal mental health​ ​Deviation from social norms​ ​Failure to function adequately​ ​Statistical infrequency​

​ ahoda (1958): We are in good mental health if we​
J ​ ehaviour that's different from the accepted standards​
B ​ hen someone is unable to cope with ordinary​
W ​ ccurs when an individual has a less common​
O
​meet this criteria:​ ​in our community or cultural groups​ ​demands of day to day living​ ​characteristic​
​●​ ​We have no symptoms or distress​ ​●​ ​Abnormality is statistically rare​
​●​ ​We are rational and can perceive ourselves​ ​Examples:​ ​●​ ​People who are 2 standard deviations above or​
​accurately​ ​●​ ​Not maintaining basic standards of hygiene​ ​below the mean are abnormal​
​●​ ​We self-actualise (reach our potential)​ ​●​ ​Cannot keep a job​
​●​ ​We can cope with stress​ ​●​ ​Cannot maintain a relationship​
​●​ ​We have good self-esteem and lack guilt​
​●​ ​We are independent of other people​
​●​ ​We can successfully work, love and enjoy our​
​leisure​
​E.g depression as they cannot self-actualise​


​AO3​ ​AO3​ ​AO3​ ​AO3​

​Strength​​- its a comprehensive definition​ ​Strength​​- Real life application​ ​ trength​​- patient perspective​
S ​ trength​​- real-life application when diagnosing​
S
​●​ ​It’s broad, it covers most of the reasons​ ​●​ ​In the diagnosis of antisocial personality​ ​●​ ​It acknowledges that the experience of the​ ​intellectual disability disorder​
​someone would seek or be referred to help for​ ​disorder​ ​patient is important and captures the experience​ ​●​ ​Iq can be used to access intellectual disability​
​mental health reasons​ ​Weakness​​- cultural realism (social norms change​ ​of many who need help​ ​disorder as they usually have low iq​
​Weakness​​- unrealistically high judgement​ ​generationally/geographically)​ ​Weakness​​- requires subjective judgement​ ​Weakness​​- unusual characteristics can be positive​
​●​ ​The criteria states you would need to meet the​ ​●​ ​Something normal in 2025 might be abnormal in​ ​●​ ​A person has to make a judgement of whether​ ​●​ ​IQ scores over 130 are just as unusual as below​
​full criteria to be stated as normal​ ​1919​ ​the individual is distressed - subjective/bia​ ​70 so is super-intelligence an undesirable​
​characteristic ?​




​topic​ ​ bsessive Compulsive Disorder - explained/treated with​
O ​Depression - explained/treated with the cognitive approach​ ​Phobias - explained/treated with the behaviourist approach​
​biological approach​

​overview​ ​ condition characterised by obsessions and/or compulsive​
A ​A mental disorder characterised by low mood and low energy levels​ ​An extreme and irrational fear of an object or situation​
​behaviour​
​Obsessions = persistent and recurrent thoughts or impulses​ ​ xamples:​
E ​ xamples:​
E
​which cause anxiety​ ​Major depressive episode​​- severe but often short term depression​ ​Specific phobias​​- sufferers are anxious of the particular​
​Compulsions = repetitive behaviours or mental acts the person​ ​Persistent depressive episode​​- long term or recurring depression,​ ​stimulus/object​
​feels driven to perform in response to an obsession​ ​including sustained major depression and what used to be called dysthymia​ ​Social anxiety​​- sufferers experience inappropriate anxiety in social​
​Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder​​- childhood temper tantrums​ ​situations​
​ xamples:​
E ​Agoraphobia​​- sufferers are anxious when in a situation that they​
​Trichotillomania​​- compulsive hair pulling​ ​Behavioural​ ​cannot easily leave (crowds and open spaces)​
​Hoarding disorder​​- the compulsive gathering of possessions​ ​●​ ​Activity levels drop​
​and the inability to part with anything, regardless of its value​ ​●​ ​Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour​ ​Behavioural​
​Excoriation disorde​​r - compulsive skin picking​ ​●​ ​Aggression and self-harm​ ​●​ ​Panic​
​Emotional​ ​●​ ​Avoidance​
​Behavioural characteristics (how we act)​ ​●​ ​Anger​ ​●​ ​Endurance​
​●​ ​Compulsions​ ​●​ ​Sadness​ ​Emotional​
​●​ ​Avoidance​ ​Cognitive​ ​●​ ​Anxiety​
​Emotional characteristics (how we think)​ ​●​ ​Poor concentration​ ​●​ ​Emotional responses are unreasonable​
​●​ ​Anxiety and distress​ ​●​ ​Dwelling on the negative​ ​Cognitive​
​●​ ​Accompanying depression​ ​●​ ​Absolutive thinking​ ​●​ ​Selective attention to the phobic stimulus​
​●​ ​Guilt and disgust​ ​●​ ​Irrational beliefs​
​Cognitive characteristics (how we feel)​ ​●​ ​Cognitive distortion​
​●​ ​Obsessive thoughts​
​●​ ​Cognitive strategies to deal with the obsessions​
​●​ ​Insight into excessive anxiety​

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