Normality and Abnormality

Abnormal Psychology

Study of the classification, etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental or psychological disorders

Abnormality

Deviation from what is considered typical

Adaptive Behaviour

Allows a person to meet the demands of everyday living

Maladaptive Behaviour

Harmful and prevents a person from meeting the demands of everyday living

Etiology

Refers to the apparent causation and developmental history of an illness

Sociocultural approach to normality

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour that are acceptable within a particular society or culture.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Sociocultural Approach

S: Takes into account cultural and societal norms, recognises diversity

W: Subjective, varies widely between cultures, chance of cultural bias or discrimination

Functional approach to normality

Thoughts, feelings and behaviour are viewed as normal if the individual is able to cope with living independently in society

Strengths and Weaknesses of Functional Approach

S: Focuses on the ability to perform daily activities, real-world applications

W: Can dismiss underlying issues if the individual is still functioning, can be influenced by support systems to help functionality

Historical approach to normality

What is considered normal or abnormal at one period of time within a particular society or culture might not be considered appropriate at another time

Strengths and weaknesses of historical approach

S: Shows how definitions change over time, highlights the influence of historical context on behaviour and norms

W: Does not always align with current societal values and norms, historical data can be limited or biased

Situational approach to normality

What’s considered normal in one situation can be considered abnormal in another

Strengths and Weaknesses of situational approach

S: Recognises behaviours can be appropriate in one context but not another, adaptable to different environments and circumstances

W: Can be inconsistent and subjective, situational norms can conflict with broader societal norms

Medical approach to normality

Abnormal thoughts, feelings or behaviour are viewed as having an underlying biological cause and can usually be diagnosed and treated

Strengths and weaknesses of the medical approach

S: Based on scientific and clinical data, clear guidelines for diagnosis and treatment

W: Can dramatize normal variations in behaviour, can focus on biological factors over psychological and social ones, applies derogatory labels

Statistical approach to normality

A behaviour or characteristic that is a statistical extremity

Strengths and Weaknesses of the statistical approach

S: Provides and objective measure based on data, can identify outliers and trends

W: Does not distinguish between abnormal behaviour that is desirable and undesirable, statistical norms do not always reflect what is considered normal or healthy

4 D’s of Abnormality

Distress, Dysfunction, Deviance, Danger

Strengths of 4D’s

Practical application, recognisable and measurable features

Weaknesses of 4D’s

The 4th D (Danger) isn’t recognised by some clinicians and isn’t widely utilised, it varies depending on societal norms

Deviance

Behaviour and emotions that goes against social norms that are unacceptable in society

Distress

Person with disorder experiences negative feelings causing them to be distressed, upset and fatigue

Dysfunction

Dysfunction is a clinically significant disturbance in an individuals cognition, emotion regulation or behaviour that prevents someone from living their life

Danger

Causes personal harm or harm to others

Supernatural theory of mental illness

Mental illness is attributed to possession by evil or demonic spirits, displeasure of gods, eclipses, planetary gravitation, curses and sin

Examples of supernatural theory

Wandering uterus and women who presented with symptoms of mental illness were persecuted as witches

Somatogenic theory of mental illness

Mental illness results from either illness, genetic inheritance, brain damage or imbalance

Examples of somatogenic theory

Humourism - The belief that a deficiency in or excess of one of the four essential bodily fluids – blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm was responsible for physical and mental illness.

Psychogenic theory of mental illness

Focuses on traumatic or stressful experiences, maladaptive learned associations and cognitions or distorted perceptions

Examples of psychogenic theory

Mental asylums in which people were institutionalized against their will and treatments including electroshock treatment that often broke patients backs

DSM

Diagnositic and Statistical manual of mental disorders

Nellie Bly

10 days in a madhouse, went undercover to expose mistreatment within mental asylums

What did Nellie Bly reveal?

Widespread abuse, neglect, unsanitary conditions and inhumane treatment of women confined in the asylum

David Rosenhan

Being sane in insane places, organised eight experimenters to fake insanity to see conditions in mental hospital

What did David Rosenhan reveal?

That labelling individuals as insane causes stigmatisation by medical professionals, ie. the medical professionals couldn’t identify their behaviour as normal even though other patients did

Stigma

A sign of social unacceptability or undesirability, often involving shame or disgrace

Social stigma

External stigma

Self stigma

Internal stigma

Difference between stigma and discrimination

Stigma is an opinion or judgement held by individuals or society, if these are acted upon this can be discriminatory. Discrimination is any distinction that impairs equal enjoyment of rights

Causes of stigma

Fear, lifestyle, lack of adequate treatment facilities, lack of education, economic instability, previous experiences, medical diagnosis and labelling

Wellbeing

Not just the absence of disease or illness, a complex combination of a person’s physical, mental, emotional and social health factors

8 dimensions of wellness

Physical, psychological, social, intellectual, spiritual, financial, occupational and environmental

Physical Wellness

The ability to maintain a healthy quality of life that allows us to get through daily activities without fatigue or physical stress

Psychological wellness

The ability to cope with the challenges life can bring and to acknowledge feelings of anger, fear, sadness, stress and happiness in a productive manner that contributes to our wellness

Social wellness

The ability to relate to and connect with other people in our world including establishing and maintaining positive relationships that contribute to our wellness

Intellectual wellness

The desire to learn new concepts, improve skills and seek challenges in pursuit of lifelong learning that contributes to our wellness

Spiritual wellness

The process of seeking meaning and purpose in existence

Financial wellness

Having a comfortable sense of financial security and having enough funds to meet needs and demands of life

Occupational wellness

The ability to get personal fulfillment from our jobs while maintaining balance in life

Environmental wellness

The ability to make a positive impact on the quality of our environment; the air, the water and the land

Finland and Happiness

Greater life satisfaction, not constantly wanting more because of easy access to nature and focus on reaching their full potential

Social differences between Australia and Finland

Less social and monetary disparities, houses look the same in all neighbourhoods

Harder to become a teacher in Finland, more valued to become a teacher in Finland then Australia

Emergency help is provided to homeless in Finland

SISU

Perseverance in the face of extreme obstacles

Biopsychosocial model of health and wellness

Biological, Psychological and social-cultural

Biological of the BPS

Individuals genetics and family history

Psychological of the BPS

Looks for psychological causes for symptoms

Social of the BPS

This covers a wide range of social factors including an individual’s socioeconomic status, religion and culture

4 Ps of the BPS

Predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating, protective

Predisposing factors

The areas of vulnerability that increase the risk for the presenting problem

Precipitating factors

Stressors or other factors that may be precipitants of the symptoms

Perpetuating factors

Any conditions in the patients family, community or larger systems that exacerbate rather than solve the problem

Protective factors

The patient’s own areas of competency, sill, interest and supportive elements, counteracts the other factors

Positive Psychology

Incorporates subjective experiences, mental health and flourishing, asks “what is right?”

Stress

Process of appraising and responding to events which we consider threatening or challenging

Process of stress

Stressor (event or condition), cognitive appraisal, body response and coping strategies

Benefits of stress

Improves immune system response, motivating action, focusing priorities, feeling engaged and satisfied, providing changes that encourage growth, knowledge and self-esteem

Harmful stress

Extreme or prolonged stress causes mental and physical coping systems to become overwhelmed and other health factors decline because of damage

Top causes of stress

Finances, family issues, personal health, trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and issues with the health of others close to us

McGonical’s approach to stress

Reframes stress as the bodies natural response to challenges, can enhance resilience, strengthen connections with others and promote personal growth if we change our mindset and embrace stress.

Who created PERMA?

Martin Seligman

What is PERMA?

Wellbeing acronym that makes up five important building blocks of wellbeing and happiness; positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments

Positive emotions

Renew our energy and rejuvenate us, frequently accompanied by fortunate circumstances

Engagement

When truly engaged, we experience a state of flow: time seems to stand still and we lose our sense of self

Relationships

Good relationships are core to our well-being, people who have positive relationship with others are happier than those who do not

Meaning

Comes from serving a cause or focusing on something bigger than ourselves

Accomplishments

Comes from acknowledging the small incremental steps