PSYCHOLOGY 336: ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

PSYCHOLOGY 336: ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

Gerardo M. González, Ph.D.

Review Guide for Mid-Term Exam

This guide highlights critical concepts in the readings and class discussion. Use this guide to review the material and prepare for the exam. The exam will generally include these concepts, but some test items may need to be referenced here.

Historical Perspectives on Abnormality

Definition of abnormality/ mental disorder

  • Instead of a person deemed as “not normal, " the development of mental disorders involves complex, multi-dimensional, and interactive models.
  • Mental disorders are another way of describing significant distress that can impair everyday functioning. It can also affect family, friends, and even broader communities.

Early understandings of abnormality

  • Perceived causes and treatment of abnormal behavior vary widely, depending on context.
  • An example of the mind and body are one and the same

Prescience

  • Back then they believed there was no difference in the physical and mental and instead believed that abnormal behavior was caused by the possession of spirits and demons
  • Other societies were sympathetic where not only did they think it was spiritual but also emotional and physical

Biological

  • In ancient societies, they practiced trephining or drilling holes in the suffer’s skull
  • Bloodletting drains patients' blood because of a “plethora”
  • Asylums where isolated people suffering from mental illness
  • In the present, Benjamin Rush led hospital reforms for better psychiatric patient care
  • Emil Kraepelin formed a mental disorder classification system (think of the DSM) and also believed mental illness was both biological and psychological

Psychological traditions

  • Social support where the ill would engage with others in the community
  • Hypnosis where following spiritual experiences they would tap into their experiences and feelings that were inhibited
  • Finally, they practiced catharsis where they would repressed emotions (purging or cleansing) this was also associated with Freud
  • In the present, we practice Moral Therapy much more humane for the ill
  • Philippe Pinel patients should not be restrained
  • Jean-Baptiste Pussin made possible for more social interactions within the patients
  • Dorothea Dix led the mental health movement

Rise of Science (early contributors)

  • Hippocrates “father of western medicine” believed mental disorders were physical for example how abnormality was linked to brain chemical imbalances or maybe a distribution within the neurotransmitters.
  • Galen followed up on Hippocrates' theories and developed the humoral theory of mental disorders where behavior was related to the level of four bodily fluids (humor)
  • Blood(active), phlegm (easy-going), black bile (melancholic), and yellow bile (dominating) however was proven to be not true.

Diverse cultural views of abnormality

  • In culture-relative normal abnormal behaviors are similar to other behaviors in cultural context for example communicating with past ancestors.
  • The DSM-5 identifies this as a Cultural Concept of Distress where variability in the expression conceptualization and treatment of distress.

Differences between mental health professions

  • All mental health professionals receive specialized training and supervision for providing psychotherapy
  • Need for specialized assessment or medication will require a psychologist or psychiatrist's confirmation
  • If only have a master's degree you can work as a school psychologist, licensed social worker, or marriage a family therapist

Psychological, Biological, and Social Dimensions

Uni- and Multi-Dimensionality of abnormal behavior

Major historical theoretical approaches in mental health

Psychoanalytic (unconscious)

Humanistic (therapeutic alliance)

Behavioral (conditioning)

Cognitive (schema, expectancies)

Biology of abnormal behavior

Major brain structures and functions (centers/lobes)

Major neurotransmitters and functions

Endocrine systems (HPA axis)

Interactions of genes and environment (epigenetics)

Social influences on behavior (stress, support, stigma)

Marsella et al. (2010)

Cultural influences on behavior Conceptualization, expression, and treatment

Culture-based syndromes/ Concepts of distress e.g., Amok, Susto, Koro, Ataque de Nervios