OCR Psychology A Level Book 2 sample

Humanistic explanation of major depression Taking personal responsibility According to the humanistic perspective, it is only when an individual takes responsibility (self-determination) that personal growth becomes possible, resulting in psychological health. A mental illness such as depression occurs because external factors inhibit the potential growth of an individual. As long as a person remains controlled by other people or things, they cannot take responsibility for their behaviour and therefore cannot begin to change it—the outcome is depression. Reduced self-esteem If a person is failing to live up to their ideal self, they feel under constant threat, which reduces their self-esteem . To protect themselves from this threat they use defence mechanisms . One example of a defence mechanism is distortion . When a person perceives a threat to their self-concept, they distort their perception of the threat until it fits their self- concept. This defensive behaviour is self-defeating because it reduces the perception of the threat but not the threat itself. Distortions diminish a person’s contact with reality. This means it becomes more and more difficult for them to fulfil their ideal self. Downward spiral Threats to the self mount up and it becomes harder to defend against them. The person is trapped in a depressive downward spiral because they need to use more defence mechanisms with lessening effects. If this incongruence is persistent the defence mechanisms stop working altogether. The person finally becomes fully aware of the incongruence of their situation. They become depressed because they realise that they cannot bridge the gap between who they are and who they would like to be. Research evidence Liu Hui et al . (2012) found that 15 patients with symptoms of depression who were given humanistic nursing care displayed reduced symptoms after six weeks compared with a control group who just received regular nursing care. Patients also reported better quality of nursing and care. This suggests that if humanistic treatment can help reduce symptoms it is likely that a humanistic explanation is a valid explanation of symptoms of depression. Background Alternatives to the medical model Topic 3 Humanistic principles Self-actualisation Carl Rogers (1959) proposed a personality theory based on the concepts of self-determination (free will) and self- actualisation , a person’s drive to fulfil their potential. Humanistic psychologists suggest that this self-actualisation is one of the key characteristics of mental health —the ability to realise potential, accept ourselves, develop relationships with others and to find a meaning to life. Real self and unconditional positive regard Rogers identified the real self as the aspect of an individual that he or she strives to be and is able to be (if all goes well). If this is achieved then the individual will feel satisfied and is said to be a fully functioning person. This desire to be the best you can be is known as the actualising tendency . In order to reach this, you need unconditional positive regard from others—this means being loved, respected and valued by others without giving anything in return. You also need positive regard for yourself so that they feel you can realise your potential. You may struggle to reach your real self because rather than unconditional positive regard from others, you receive conditional positive regard which means that love from others has various conditions attached, often laid out by societal expectations—for example ‘I must be wealthy to be happy’. Ideal self and incongruence This desire to have more or to be more leads people to develop the ideal self because they feel like they should be striving for more in order to receive unconditional positive regard from others. The ideal self is always out of reach—this means that people are always striving for something that they can’t quite grasp, and are not satisfied with what they have. This striving for the ideal self causes incongruity (mismatch) between what an individual has and what they believe they should have. It means that people are always thinking about something else that they want or should have, or should be. The bigger the incongruity, the more unhappy people feel because they are not realising their potential. Therefore, anything that prevents fulfilling our ideal self can cause problems with well-being. The specification requires that you study explanations of mental illness that are alternatives to the medical model. Five alternative explanations are identified. You are required to know the behaviourist and cognitive explanations plus one other (humanistic, psychodynamic or cognitive neuroscience). On this spread we look at the humanistic explanation of mental illness. This spread covers the essential information you will need on background for the exam but you also need to link the background to issues and debates and to the key research. We will look at these links on page 46. The humanistic perspective One common criticism of explanations of mental illness (such as the medical model or behaviourist explanations) is that they are determinist —something outside the person has caused them to become mentally ill. The humanistic approach emphasises the importance of free will , believing that each person is responsible for themselves and has the capacity for self-direction. In fact self-direction is a healthier mental state. Another distinction between the humanistic approach and other explanations is that humanistic psychology is a holistic rather than reductionist approach—seeing the person as a whole rather than separate consitutent parts. The humanistic explanation of mental illness Chapter 1: Issues in mental health 38