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[1] Abnormal Behaviour
What is abnormal psychology? - ✅ • Abnormal psychology is the scientific study whose objectives are to describe, explain, predict, and modify behaviors that are considered strange or unusual. What criteria are used to determine normal and abnormal behaviors? - ✅ • Nearly all definitions include statistical deviation from some normative standard. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders definition is used by most mental health practitioners. Abnormality is often determined by four criteria: distress, deviance, dysfunction, and dangerousness. How do context, sociopolitical experiences, and cultural differences affect definitions of abnormality? - ✅ • Criteria used to define normality or abnormality must be considered in light of community standards and changes over time. What is considered acceptable behavior in urban environments, for example, may not be considered acceptable in rural communities. With the increasing diversity in our society, we have also become very sensitive to how culture and unique group characteristics affect the definition of psychopathology as well. How common are mental disorders? - ✅ • Over the course of a year, approximately 25 percent of adults in the United States suffer from mental health problems; the human and economic costs are enormous. In addition, two-thirds of all people suffering from diagnosable mental disorders are not receiving or seeking mental health services. What are some common misconceptions about the mentally disturbed? - ✅ • Unfortunately, many myths and stereotypes have emerged regarding people who suffer from mental disorders. Beliefs that mental disorders are inherited, incurable, and the result of a weak will and that those who suffer from them will never contribute to society have caused undue worry and harm to many. The reality is that most people who have mental disorders improve, are little different from those without mental disorders, and go on to lead normal productive lives. How have explanations of abnormal behaviour changed over time? - ✅ (+) Ancient = demonology & attributed abnormal behaviour to evil spirits that inhabited the victim's body. Treatments: trephining, exorcism, and bodily assaults. (+) Rational and scientific explanations of abnormality emerged during the Greco-Roman era. Hippocrates, who believed that abnormal behaviour was due to organic, or biological, causes, such as a dysfunction or disease of the brain. Treatment became more humane. (+) Collapse of the Roman Empire and the increased influence of the church and its emphasis on divine will and the hereafter, rationalist thought was suppressed and belief in the supernatural again flourished. Middle Ages= famine, pestilence, and dynastic
wars caused enormous social upheaval. Forms of mass hysteria affected groups of people. IFifteenth century= some of those killed in church endorsed witch hunts were people we would today call mentally ill. (+) The Renaissance = return to rational and scientific inquiry, along with a heightened interest in humanitarian methods of treating the mentally ill. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were a period characterized by reform movements. What were early viewpoints on the causes of mental disorders? - ✅ • Nineteenth and twentieth centuries, major medical breakthroughs fostered a belief in the biological roots of mental illness. An especially important discovery of this period was the microorganism that causes general paresis. Scientists believed that they would eventually find organic causes for all mental disorders.
- The uncovering of a relationship between hypnosis and hysteria corroborated the belief that psychological processes could produce emotional disturbances. What are some contemporary trends in abnormal psychology? - ✅ Three major contemporary developments have had or are having important influence in the mental health professions: (1) the multicultural psychology movement, (2) positive psychology and optimal human functioning (3) changes in the therapeutic landscape (drug revolution, prescription privileges for psychologists, managed care, and evidence-based practice). mental disorder - ✅ psychological symptoms or behavioral patterns that reflect an underlying psychobiological dysfunction, are associated with distress or disability, and are not merely an expectable response to common stressors or losses mental illness - ✅ a mental health condition that negatively affects a person's emotions, thinking, behavior, relationships with others, or overall functioning abnormal psychology - ✅ the scientific study whose objectives are to describe, explain, predict, and modify behaviors associated with mental disorders psychopathology - ✅ the study of the symptoms, causes, and treatments of mental disorders Describing Behavior - ✅ (+) experiencing emotional distress, you might decide to seek help from a mental health professional (+) use observations, paired with information you share about your background and symptoms, to formulate a psychodiagnosis (+) After gaining a better understanding of your situation, you and the professional would work together to develop a treatment plan
✅ • Holds an M.D. degree; can prescribe medication.
- Completes the 4 years of medical school required for an M.D., and an additional 3 or 4 years of training in psychiatry. Psychiatric nurse - ✅ • Holds an R.n. degree from a nursing program, plus specialized psychiatric training.
- Some are advanced practice registered nurses (APRns) who have completed master's or doctoral degrees and are allowed to prescribe medication.
- Specializes in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation of mental illness. Psychiatric social worker - ✅ • Holds a master's degree from a social work graduate program.
- Specializes in assessment, screening, and therapy with high-need clients and outreach to other agencies. School psychologist - ✅ • Completes a master's or a doctoral degree in school psychology.
- Specializes in assessing and intervening with the emotional and learning difficulties of students in educational settings. Substance abuse counselor - ✅ • Professional training requirements vary; many practitioners have personal experience with addiction.
- Works in agencies that specialize in the evaluation and treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. Problems with Predicting Behavior - ✅ (+) civil commitment, or involuntary confinement, represents an extreme decision that has major implications for an individual's civil liberties. Modifying Behavior - ✅ Distressing symptoms can often be modified through psychotherapy, which is a program of systematic intervention designed to improve a person's behavioral, emotional, or cognitive state. Societal Norms and Deviance - ✅ Societal norms often affect our definitions of normality and abnormality. When social norms begin to change, standards used to judge behaviors or roles also shift. Here we see a stay-at- home father cooking with his son. In the past, staying home to care for children was a role reserved for women. Role reversals in employment, hobbies, sports, and other activities are becoming more acceptable over time. How do professionals define a mental disorder? - ✅ The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013), the most widely used classification system of mental disorders, indicates that a mental disorder has the following components: (a) involves a significant disturbance in thinking, emotional regulation, or behavior caused by a dysfunction in the basic psychological, biological, or developmental processes involved in normal development;
(b) causes significant distress or difficulty with day-to-day functioning; and Societal Norms and Deviance Societal norms often affect our definitions of normality and abnormality. When social norms begin to change, standards used to judge behaviors or roles also shift. (c) is not merely a culturally expected response to common stressors or losses or a reflection of political or religious beliefs that conflict with societal norms. The four major factors involved in judging psycho-pathology are - ✅ • distress,
- deviance,
- dysfunction, and
- dangerousness. Distress - ✅ (+) social sphere, an individual may become withdrawn and avoid interactions with others or, at the other extreme, may engage in inappropriate or dangerous social interactions. (+) emotional realm, distress might involve extreme or prolonged reactions such as anxiety and depression. (+) physically in conditions such as asthma or hypertension or with symptoms of fatigue, pain, or heart palpitations. Deviance - ✅ (+) Abnormal behaviors are those that occur least frequently. (+) abnormal behaviors deviate—or represent a significant deviation from— social norms. (+) examples of unusual behavior include false perceptions of reality (such as hallucinations), (+) Defining symptoms of mental illness can be extremely subjective; decisions about what is normal or abnormal are influenced by the background of the mental health professional evaluating the symptoms and the cultural context (+) However, certain behaviors are considered abnormal in most situations. Personal Dysfunction - ✅ (+) we all fulfill a variety of social and occupational roles, such as friend, family member, student, or employee. Emotional problems sometimes interfere with the performance of these roles (+) role dysfunction is often considered when determining if someone has a mental disorder (+) One way to assess dysfunction is to compare someone's performance with the requirements of a role (+) Dysfunction can also be assessed by comparing an individual's performance with his or her potential. Dangerousness - ✅ (+) statistical rarity for individuals who are mentally ill to commit violent crimes (+) Drug and alcohol abuse is much more likely to result in violent behavior than are other kinds of mental illness (+) hallucination - ✅ a sensory experience (such as an image, sound, smell, or taste) that seems real but that does not exist outside of the mind
empowerment - ✅ increasing one's sense of personal strength and self-worth Dorothea Dix (1802-1887) - ✅ During a time when women were discouraged from political participation, Dorothea Dix, a new england schoolteacher, worked tirelessly as a social reformer to improve the deplorable conditions in which people who were mentally ill were forced to live. Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) - ✅ In an 1883 publication, psychiatrist emil Kraepelin proposed that mental disorders could be directly linked to biologically based brain disorders and further proposed a diagnostic classification system for all disorders. biological viewpoint - ✅ (+) the belief that mental disorders have a physical or physiological basis (+) Wilhelm Griesinger (1817-1868), a German psychiatrist who believed that all mental disorders had physiological causes (+) Kraepelin outlined a system for classifying mental illnesses based on their physiological causes. That system was the foundation for the diagnostic categories in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), (+) The acceptance of an organic or biological cause for mental disorders was enhanced by medical breakthroughs such as Louis Pasteur's (1822-1895) germ theory of disease. (+) the discovery of the biological basis of general paresis, a degenerative physical and mental disorder associated with late-stage syphilis (a sexually transmitted infection). (+) Richard von Krafft-Ebing, a German neurologist, proved conclusively that the serious mental symptoms associated with general paresis resulted from syphilis bacteria invading the brain. syndromes - ✅ certain symptoms that tend to occur regularly in clusters, called. Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) - ✅ Mesmer's techniques were a forerunner of modern hypnotism. Although highly controversial and ultimately discredited, Mesmer's efforts stimulated inquiry into the possibility that psychological and emotional factors could cause mental disorders. The Psychological Viewpoint - ✅ (+) the belief that mental disorders are caused by psychological and emotional factors rather than biological influences (+) certain types of emotional disorders do not appear to be associated with any obvious biological cause (+) viewpoint—the belief that mental disorders are caused by psychological and emotional factors. (+) personal challenges or interpersonal conflicts can lead to intense feelings of frustration, depression, and anger, which may consequently lead to deteriorating mental health (+) psychological interventions could both produce and treat hysteria, a condition involving physical symptoms that have a psychological rather than a physical cause.
Mesmerism and Hypnotism - ✅ > unique and exotic techniques to treat hysteria used by Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1734-
Mesmer developed a theory of "animal magnetism" contending that disruptions in the flow of magnetic forces in the body could produce physical problems and that the use of magnetism could restore the flow to normal. mesmerism, a technique that evolved into the modern practice of hypnotism. Mesmer performed his most miraculous cures by treating hysteria, successfully curing symptoms of blindness, deafness, loss of bodily feeling, and paralysis that seemed to have no biological basis. system for curing hysteria involved inducing a sleeplike state, during which his patients became highly susceptible to suggestion. During this state, symptoms often disappeared. committee of prominent thinkers, declared him a fraud. The theory of animal magnetism also became popular in some circles in the United States, despite claims that practitioners were using deliberate deception Mesmer's theatrics and basic assumptions were discredited, he succeeded in demonstrating that the power of suggestion could treat hysteria.
Breuer and Freud - ✅ > The idea that psychological processes could produce mental and physical dysfunction soon gained credence among physicians who were using hypnosis.
Josef Breuer (1842-1925). He discovered that after one of his female patients spoke quite freely about her past traumatic experiences while in a trance, even greater improvement when the patient recalled and talked about previously forgotten memories of emotionally distressing event Behaviorism - ✅ (+) psychoanalysis explained abnormal behavior as an intra-psychic phenomenon involving psychological processes occurring within the mind, another viewpoint that emerged, behaviorism, was firmly rooted in laboratory science (+) behavioristic perspective stressed the importance of directly observable behaviors and the conditions that evoked, reinforced, and extinguished them cathartic method - ✅ a therapeutic use of verbal expression to release pent-up emotional conflicts intrapsychic psychological - ✅ processes occurring within the mind multicultural psychology - ✅ a branch of psychology that focuses on culture, race, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic class, and other similar factors in its effort to understand behavior The Influence of Multicultural Psychology - ✅ (+) Culture, ethnicity, and gender are recognized as powerful influences on many aspects of normal and abnormal human development.
families, and communities
branch of the profession that seeks to add balance to our view of human functioning; spirituality - ✅ belief in an animating life force or energy beyond what we can perceive with our senses What contributions does the field of positive psychology make to our understanding of mental health? - ✅ 1. Considering clients' strengths and their capacity for resilience has become increasingly important in therapeutic assessment and treatment. Therapists realize that clients are not just passive beings, helpless to deal with life problems. Identifying strengths is a positive experience for clients and can assist with treatment and recovery. When therapists incorporate the positive qualities of human functioning and adaptive coping into treatment, clients increase their confidence in coping with distressing emotional symptoms and in managing day-to-day challenges.
- Positive psychology also focuses on prevention. Positive psychology addresses adaptive, healthy coping and the potential for positive emotions to influence negative moods and build psychological resilience (Schutz et al., 2013). The goal is to identify the strengths and assets of people, to arm them with adaptive coping skills, and to promote mental health. psychological resilience - ✅ the capacity to effectively adapt to and bounce back from stress, trauma, and other adversity recovery movement - ✅ philosophy that with appropriate treatment and support those with mental illness can improve and live satisfying lives even with any limitations caused by their illness The recovery model is based on the following assumptions - ✅ 1. Recovery or improvement in functioning is possible and begins when a person realizes that positive change is possible.
- Recovery is not a continual movement forward; occasional setbacks can be viewed as opportunities for new learning.
- Healing involves separating one's identity from the illness and developing the ability to cope with psychiatric symptoms.
- Self-acceptance and regaining belief in one's self is vital. Community and societal resources can help protect the rights of those with mental illness and eliminate discrimination and stigma.
- Recovery involves learning about one's capabilities, talents, and coping skills and using these strengths to engage in new life roles.
- Self-direction allows one to learn to control and exercise choice on the journey to recovery and to participate in all decisions that can affect one's life and
well-being.
- Empowerment of the individual helps correct the sense of powerlessness and dependence that results from traditional mental health care.
- Establishing or strengthening social connections can facilitate healing. This can include sharing one's knowledge, skills, and encouragement to others in recovery; helping others can provide a sense of belonging and community.
- Taking personal responsibility for one' s self-care and the journey toward recovery begins with understanding one's experiences and identifying the most effective coping strategies and healing processes.
- Understanding that barriers can be overcome allows one to confidently live, work, and participate in society. psychotropic medications - ✅ drugs used to treat or manage psychiatric symptoms by influencing brain activity associated with emotions and behavior Changes in the Therapeutic Landscape - ✅ > The Drug Revolution in Psychiatry
The Development of Managed Health Care An Increased Appreciation for Research An Increased Appreciation for Research Technology-Assisted Therapy This industrialization of health care has brought about major changes in the mental health professions: - ✅ (+) The business interests of health insurers exert increasing control over psychotherapy by determining what mental conditions are eligible for treatment and the number of treatment sessions allowed. (+) Some organizations, in an effort to reduce costs, prefer hiring therapists with master's degrees rather than those with doctoral degrees. (+) Therapists are increasingly required to use therapies that have strong research support. If research reveals that certain forms of treatment are successful for a particular disorder, the insurance carrier may deny coverage for unproven treatments. scientific approach/method for investigating abnormal behaviour consists of four steps: - ✅ (a) formulating a research question, (b) expressing the research question in the form of an hypothesis, (c) applying methods of testing the hypothesis, and (d) drawing conclusions about the correctness or falseness of the hypothesis. Depending on the research question, researchers will choose one of the methods below that suits the investigation of their hypothesised problem. naturalistic observational method - ✅ used when the investigator needs to observe naturally occurring phenomena/ behaviour under naturally occurring conditions.
✅ Assessment description of an individual psychological symptoms including inferences about what might be causing the psychological distress Treatment plan - ✅ Proposed course of therapy develop collaborative art therapist and client addresses the clients most distressing mental health symptoms Explaining behaviour - ✅ Identifying the etiology or possible causes for abnormal behaviour is a high priority of for mental health professionals Predicting behaviour - ✅ it is possible for someone with a deteriorating mental appear relatively normal. Civil commitment or involuntary confinement represent extreme decision that has an application on an individual Civil Liberties and the legal system operate under the assumption that people are innocent until proven guilty lock and someone up before they committed dangerous Act potentialy violate someone's civil rights Psychotherapy - ✅ A program of systematic intervention with the purpose of improving client behaviour emotional or cognitive symptoms Clinical psychologist - ✅ PhD or psychology doctorate, training includes coursework and psychopathology personality diagnose psychological testing psychotherapy and human physiology Counselling psychologist - ✅ Academic internship similar to those of a clinical psychologist but with a focus on Life Justin problems rather than mental illness Mental health counselor or marriage family therapist - ✅ Training usually includes a master's degree in counselling of psychology and many hours of supervised Clinical experience A neuropsychologist - ✅ PhD level specialisation focusing on brain behaviour relationships, conduct assessment diagnosis treatment planning and research related to neurological medical developmental or psychiatric conditions Psychiatrist - ✅ MD degree can prescribe medication completes 4 years of medical school and additional 304 years of training in psychiatry Psychiatric social worker - ✅ Master's degree from a social work graduate programme, specialises in assessment screening in therapy with high science and Outreach to other agencies Psychiatric nurse - ✅ Holds an RN degree from a nursing program specialises in psychiatric training, advanced practice registered nurses have completed Masters or doctoral degree an allowed to
prescribe medications, specialises in assessment diagnosis treatment and evaluation of mental illness School psychologist - ✅ Complete a Master's or doctoral school psychology, houses in assessing and intervening of the emotional and learning difficulties of students in educational settings Substance abuse counselor - ✅ Professional training requirements very many practitioners have personal experience, agencies that specialise in the evaluation and treatment of drug and alcohol addiction How do professionals define a mental disorder - ✅ The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM-5 the most widely used classification system of mental disorders DSM-5 indicated a mental disorder has the following components - ✅ = involves significant disturbance and thinking emotional regulation behaviour caused by this function in the basic psychological biological or developmental processes involved in normal development = causes significant distress or difficulty with day-to-day functioning = is not merely culturally expected response to common stress is oral affection of political or religious beliefs that conflict with society norms DSM-5's definition raises questions - ✅ = when are symptoms or patterns of behaviour significant enough to have meaning = is it possible to have a mental disorder without any signs of distress or discomfort = what could you do we used to decide if a behaviour pattern is a reflection of an underlying psychological or biological dysfunction and not merely a normal variation or an expectable response to common stressors Four major factors involved in judging psychopathology are - ✅ = distress = deviance = dysfunction = dangerousness Distress - ✅ Psychological distress can affect social emotional or psychological functioning, an individual may become withdrawn or avoid interactions, or engage on inappropriate or dangerous social interactions, emotional distress might involve extreme or prolonged reactions such as anxiety and depression, can also surface physically in conditions such as asma hypertension symptoms of fatigue payday heart palpitations. We all feel distressed sometimes but when the reaction is so intense exaggerated prolonged latent phase with the ability to function adequately the symptoms may reflect a mental disorder Deviance - ✅ Abnormal behaviours are those that are less frequent does abnormal behaviours deviate from social norms examples include false perceptions of reality such as a looser Nations intense preoccupation with her better clean washing one's hands or demonstrating extreme Panic in a social setting defining symptoms of mental illness can be extremely attractive decisions about what's
