Abnormal Psychology Ch 1

psychopathology

the scientific study of mental difficulties or disorders, including their explanations, causes, progression, symptoms, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment

clinical scientists

science workers in the field

clinical practitioners

detect, assess, and treat patterns of psychopathology

defining features are hard to pinpoint

what makes psychopathology hard?

deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger

what are the 4 D’s of psychopathology features?

deviant

different, extreme, or unusual

distressing

unpleasant and upsetting to the person

dysfunctional

interfering with the person’s ability to conduct daily activities in a constructive way

distress

according to many clinical theorists, behavior, ideas or emotions typically must cause ___ before they can be regarded as signs of psychopathology

dangerous

behavior that is consistently careless, hostile, desperate, or confused placing themselves or those around them at risk

norms

stated and unstated rules for proper conduct within a society

criminal

behavior that breaks legal norms

pathological

behavior, thoughts, and emotions that break norms of psychological functioning

culture

history, values, institutions, habits, skills, technology, and arts of a society

problems in living

what does Thomas Szasz call the deviations that society calls psychopathology?

drinking alcohol

what is a common activity in college culture that is considered normal, but may be failed to recognize as pathological?

eccentricities

unusual patters with which others have no right to interfere

mental disturbances

patterns that may require intervention

cultural humilty

a process of ongoing discovery and self-reflection in which professional continuously examine their own beliefs and cultural identities, explore client cultures and historical realities that differ from their own, seek to understand the cultural context of each person’s mental health challenges, and respond accordingly

what are the key features of psychopathology?

Psychopathology is generally considered to be deviant, distressful, dysfunctional, and sometimes dangerous. However, behavior must also be considered in the context in which it occurs. Defining “psychopathology” depends on the norms of the society in question. Moreover, professionals must consider cultural context and differences when they are assessing, treating, or researching psychopathology

treatment or therapy

a procedure designed to change pathological behavior into less disturbed, more functional behavior

sufferer, healer, series of contacts

according to Jerome Frank, all forms of therapy have what 3 essential features?

sufferer

seek relief from the healer

healer

trained, socially accepted, whose expertise is accepted by the sufferer and the sufferer’s social group

series of contacts

between the healer and the sufferer, through which the healer tries to produce certain changes in the sufferer’s emotional state, attitudes, and behavior

what is treatment?

Therapy is a systematic process for helping people overcome their psychological difficulties. It typically requires a patient or client, a therapist, and a series of therapeutic contacts.

c

Which statement is FALSE regarding the "four Ds" of psychopathology?

a. Pathology sometimes, but not always, results in the dysfunction of an individual.

b. When considering deviance, the culture in which the individual was raised must be considered.

c. One needs to see evidence of all of the "four Ds" to determine whether a psychopathological behavior is present.

d. Danger can involve harm to oneself or to others.

c

Greta meets with Dr. Hechtman every other week. Greta has posttraumatic stress disorder as the result of childhood abuse. Which statement is true regarding this situation according to Jerome Frank's key features of therapy?

a. Greta is seeking help from a healer for a pathology that is not recognized.

b. Dr. Hechtman is the patient according to Frank's key features of therapy.

c. This situation meets the key features of therapy as suggested by Frank.

d. Greta is the healer according to Frank's key features of therapy.

deviant

Naina is married and a mother with three children. She works part-time as a paralegal. She also has numerous tattoos and body piercings and prefers to dress in dark clothing. Although not highly unusual today, Naina's behavior could be considered:

distressful.

deviant.

dysfunctional.

dangerous.

clients

Dr. Stoffey, a clinical psychologist, believes that psychopathology is the result of problems in living. Dr. Stoffey would MOST likely refer to those who seek help as:

teachers

clients

sufferers

patients

c

Fabria's house recently burned down. As a result, they lost all of their possessions, and since they did not have insurance, they have no way to replace their belongings. They currently live in a shelter where they spend most of their time alone, depressed, distressed, and withdrawn from others. Why would Fabria's condition NOT be considered deviant?

a. A condition can only be considered deviant if it has been diagnosed by a professional.

b. Fabria does not appear to have any of the symptoms associated with poor mental health.

c. Judgments of deviance have to take a person's circumstances into account.

d. Fabria only shows signs of distress regarding their situation; they do not appear dysfunctional.

c

Allison, who has recently been diagnosed with depression, and Milo are in a romantic relationship. They talk often of Allison's depression, and she finds it helpful. Why would this situation NOT be an example of therapy based upon Jerome Frank's key features?

a. Allison has only been recently diagnosed, and therefore, she is not able to engage in therapy yet.

b. Milo is only helping Allison because they are in a relationship.

c. Milo is not a qualified therapist.

d. Allison was diagnosed with depression, which is most often treated with medication, not therapy.

d

Jacqueline is a corporate executive and experiences depression. She regularly discusses her feelings with friends over dinner at a local restaurant. Based upon Jerome Frank's key features, why would this situation NOT be an example of therapy?

a. There are multiple people who experience depression in the dinner group, but therapy can only be conducted one-on-one.

b. Jacqueline has only been recently diagnosed and, therefore, is not able to engage in therapy.

c. Jacqueline was diagnosed with depression, which is most often treated with medication, not therapy.

d. There is no qualified therapist in the dinner group.

norm

If Matthew suddenly stood on his desk while his professor was lecturing, his conduct would be outside the:

suggestion.

exception.

norm.

culture.

danger

Scott was admitted to the hospital after Dr. Arnaldo determined that Scott had a plan to die by suicide. Scott's admission was the result of which of the "four Ds"?

dysfunction

deviance

distress

danger

deviance

Anan's family had a difficult time understanding why they chose to wear an overcoat, a hat, and gloves during the summer. Anan's behavior is an example of which of the "four Ds" of psychopathology?

distress

dangerousness

deviance

dysfunction

d

Paris has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and makes an appointment to meet with a licensed counselor over the Internet. After five sessions, she does not feel her compulsion weakening, so she decides to discontinue the sessions. According to Jerome Frank, this situation would:

a. not be considered therapy, because Paris and the counselor never met face to face.

b. be considered therapy, because the counselor is not recognized by Paris or her social group and is, therefore, not an expert.

c. not be considered therapy, because there is no patient.

d. be considered therapy, because even though there was no improvement, the counselor tried to help.

trephination

a stone instrument (trephine) was used to cut away a curcular section of the skull

hallucinations

people see or hear things that are not actually present

melancholia

extreme sadness and immobility

release evil spirits

why did people open the skull through trephination

Europe and South America

where was trephination used?

exorcism

coaxing evil spirits to leave or make a person’s body an uncomfortable place to live

shaman

priest who recite prayers, plead with evil spirits, insult the spirits, perform magic, make loud noises, or have person drink bitter potions

humors

bodily chemicals that influence mental and physical functioning according to the early Greeks and Romans

yellow bile, black bile, blood, phlegm

what were the four humors?

mania

what did an excess of yellow bile cause?

melancholia

what did an excess of black bile cause?

Hippocrates

This “doctor” believed that all mental psychopathology could be cured by fixing the underlying physical pathology

mass madness

large numbers of people shared hallucinations and delusionsd

delusions

absurd false beliefs

tarantism

groups of people suddenly start to jump, dance, and go into convulsions

lycanthropy

people though they were possessed by wolves or other animals

Johann Weyer

who was the first physician to specialize in mental illness?

Gheel

what town was the forerunner of today’s community mental health programs?

asylum

institute whose primary purpose is to care for people with mental illness

Pinel and Tuke

who founded moral treatment?

moral treatment

emphasized moral guidance and humane and respectful techniques

Benjamin Rush

who spread moral treatment in the United States?

state hospitals

state-run public mental institutions in the United States

somatogenic perspective

the view the psychopathology has physical causesp

psychogenic perspective

the view the the chief causes of psychopathology are psychological factors

general paresis

an irreversible disorder with both mental symptoms, such as delusions of grandeur, and physical ones, such as paralysis

eugenic sterilizations

the elimination (through medical or other means) of a person’s ability to reproduce

hypnotism

a procedure in which a person is placed in a trancelike mental state during which they become extremely suggestible

hysterical disorders

mysterious bodily ailments that had no apparent physical basis

psychoanalysis

either the theory or the treatment of psychopathology that emphasizes unconscious psychological forces and the cause of psychological function

technique of psychoanalysis

a form of discussion in which clinicians help troubled people gain insight into their unconscious psycological processes

How Was Psychopathology Viewed and Treated in the Past?

The history of psychological disorders stretches back to ancient times. Prehistoric societies apparently viewed psychological dysfunction as the work of evil spirits. There is evidence that Stone Age cultures used trephination to treat such dysfunction. People of early societies also sought to drive out evil spirits by exorcism.

Physicians of the Greek and Roman empires offered more enlightened explanations of mental disorders. Hippocrates, for example, believed that psychopathology was caused by an imbalance of the four bodily fluids, or humors. Early Chinese medical writings also saw disturbed mood and behavior as arising from physical pathology as well as from disharmony with the natural world and one’s surroundings.

In the Middle Ages, Europeans returned to demonological explanations of psychopathology. The clergy, who were very influential, held that mental disorders were the work of the devil. As the Middle Ages drew to a close, such explanations and treatments began to decline, and people with psychopathology were increasingly treated in hospitals instead of by the clergy.

Care of people with mental disorders continued to improve during the early part of the Renaissance. Certain religious shrines became dedicated to the humane treatment of such people. By the middle of the sixteenth century, however, persons with mental disorders were being warehoused in asylums.

Care of those with psychopathology started to improve again in the nineteenth century. In Paris, Philippe Pinel started the movement toward moral treatment. In the United States, Dorothea Dix spearheaded a movement to ensure legal rights and protection for people with mental disorders and to establish state hospitals for their care. By the late nineteenth century, however, the moral treatment movement disintegrated, and mental hospitals again became warehouses where inmates received minimal care.

The turn of the twentieth century saw the return of the somatogenic perspective and the rise of the psychogenic perspective. Sigmund Freud’s psychogenic approach, psychoanalysis, eventually gained wide acceptance.

psychotripic medications

drugs that primarily affect the brain and reduce many symptoms of psychological dysfunction

antipsychotic drugs

help reduce extremely confused and distorted thinking

antidepressang drugs

lift the mood of depressed people

antianxiety drugs

reduce tension and worry

deinstitutionalization

releasing hundreds of thousands of patients from public mental hospitals

community mental health approach

philosophy that emphasizes community care for people with severe psychological disturbances

private psychotherapy

an arrangement in which a person directly pays a therapist for counseling services

prevention

interventions aimed at deterring mental disorders before they can develop

positive psychology

the study and enhancement of positive feelings such as optimism and happiness, positive traits like hard work and wisdom, and group directed virtues, including altruism and tolerance

multicultural psychology

the field that seeks to understand how the varied histories, opportunities, and barriers experienced by people of different races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, languages, and other such factors affect behavior, emotion, and thought

intersectionality

a multicultural framework that examines how each individual’s memberships in multiple cultural groups and social identities - including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, and sexual orientation - combine to shape their particular experiences, opportunities, outlook , and functioning

managed care program

health care coverage in which the insurance company largely controls the nature, scope, and cost of medical or psychological services

psychiatrist

physician who completed three to four additional years of training after medical school in the treatment of mental difficulties

clinical psychologits

professionals who earn a doctorate in clinical psychology by completing four to five years of graduate training in psychopathology and its treatment as well as a one-year internship in mental health setting

telemental health

the use of remote technologies to provide real-time therapy sessions without the therapist being physically present

Recent Decades and Current Trends

Over the past 75 years, there have been major changes in the understanding and treatment of psychopathology. In the 1950s, researchers discovered a number of new psychotropic medications. Their success contributed to a policy of deinstitutionalization, under which hundreds of thousands of patients were released from public mental hospitals. In addition, outpatient treatment has become the primary approach for most people with mental disorders, both mild and severe; prevention programs are growing in number and influence; the field of multicultural psychology has increasingly influenced how clinicians view and treat psychopathology; and insurance coverage is having a significant impact on the way treatment is conducted.

It is also the case that a variety of perspectives and professionals have come to operate in the field of psychopathology, and many well-trained clinical researchers now investigate the field’s theories and treatments. And finally, the technological advances of recent times, including the proliferation of mental health apps and telemental health services, have greatly affected the mental health field.

urine

Hippocrates saw pathological behavior as a disease arising from internal physical problems, namely an imbalance of four fluids, or humors, which include all of these EXCEPT:

urine.

bile.

blood.

phlegm.

d

The study and enhancement of constructive feelings, traits, and abilities is called:

a. existential psychology.

b. cognitive psychology.

c. multicultural psychology.

d. positive psychology.

c

After examining artifacts (bones and artwork) from ancient societies, historians believe that many of these societies viewed psychopathology as the result of:

a. biological contributions.

b. malfunction in thinking.

c. evil spirits inhabiting an individual's body.

d. unconscious conflicts.

d

Before the 1950s, psychotherapy was offered by:

a. psychologists and social workers.

b. family therapists.

c. psychiatric nurses and marriage therapists.

d. psychiatrists.

hypnotism

Dr. Blavatsky works with numerous clients experiencing generalized anxiety disorder. In an effort to reduce their feelings of anxiety, she routinely places her clients in a trancelike mental state designed to open them up to changing their behaviors and emotions. Dr. Blavatsky is using what technique?

positive reinforcement

operant conditioning

dream analysis

hypnotism

b

Today, long-term institutionalization has been replaced by:

a. specialized care in nursing homes for all individuals with mental health conditions.

b. outpatient care.

c. increased reliance on family members to provide care for those with severe mental illness.

d. increased funding for the unhoused.

possession

Chaise lives during the Middle Ages. He hears voices and spontaneously dances for no apparent reason. How would Chaise's behavior MOST likely be explained by those around him?

disease

devotion

deviance

possession

lycanthropy

During the Middle Ages, Bernardo and three of his friends believed that they turned into wolves when there was a new moon. During this time, they lost control over their bodies and ran through a nearby wood in the dark, hoping to catch a rabbit or other small animal. If they did catch one, they ate it raw. These men were experiencing:

tarantism.

trephination.

Saint Vitus' dance.

lycanthropy.

managed care

Siarra has been dealing with depression brought on by a difficult divorce. She has attended five therapy sessions, and she and her therapist feel that she is making progress. Unfortunately, she has learned that her health insurance does not cover more than five therapist visits per year. Siarra's therapist believes that she needs more weeks of therapy, but this is not possible because her coverage has ended. Siarra is given a prescription for antidepressants, which her insurance will cover. The type of health insurance Siarra has is called:

managed care.

hospitalization.

home care.

private care.

d

Edmund lived in mid-sixteenth-century England and had symptoms of what would now be diagnosed as schizophrenia. He could not care for himself, and his family abandoned him. What MOST likely happened to him given his location and time in history?

a. He was probably taken in by another family and treated respectfully.

b. He probably lived a difficult life on the streets.

c. He probably became the property of the church.

d. He probably entered an asylum where he endured cruel treatment.

c

Dr. Zhao is a psychotherapist in a large city with a wide range of clients. Over the years, she has noticed that there has been an increase in the number of male clients of color who have come to her for help with anxiety. Dr. Zhao is planning to conduct research on men of color living with anxiety because her belief is that factors such as race, gender, language, and ethnicity play a role in the development of anxiety. Dr. Zhao is framing her research based on:

a. positive psychological theory.

b. psychoanalytic psychological theory.

c. multicultural psychological theory.

d. somatogenic psychological theory.

clergyman

Bertha lives during the Middle Ages. She is afflicted with schizophrenia. Who is MOST likely to be in charge of treating her?

a clergyman

a physician

a midwife

a nobleman

nomothetic

general understanding of the nature, causes, and treatments of psychopathology across individuals

idiographic

individualistic understanding of psychopathology

scientific method

the process of systematically gathering and evaluating information, through careful observations, to understand a phenomenon