Psychopathology and Individual Differences

Psychopathology Overview

• Definition: Abnormal psychology studies the causes, treatment, and consequences of psychological disorders, including depression, anxiety, and psychoses.

Key Concepts in Psychopathology

• Differential Psychology: Focuses on explaining individual differences.
• Personality: Refers to individual differences in typical, normal behavior.
• Psychopathology: Focuses on abnormal behaviors and experiences.

Understanding Abnormality

• Criteria for Defining Abnormality:
  • Statistical Deviance: Abnormal behaviors are extreme, rare, or unique compared to typical behaviors.
  • Social Norm Approach: Definitions of appropriate behavior vary based on cultural context (e.g., different attitudes towards alcohol).
  • Personal Distress: Considers individual suffering; however, not all abnormalities result in distress.
  • Maladaptiveness: Behaviors impacting daily tasks (e.g., anxiety disorders).
  • Mental Illness Approach: Integrates physical and psychological factors, focusing on specific symptoms.

Historical Perspectives on Psychopathology

• Hippocrates: Linked psychological and physiological disorders.
• Plato: Attributed disorders to intrapsychical conflicts.
• Supernatural Explanations: Early theories considered mental illness as influenced by non-empirical forces.
• Nolen-Hoeksema (2001): Harsh punishments for perceived possession, like burning alive.
• Psychopathology's Evolution: Developed as a discipline in the 20th century; moral treatment advocated by Philippe Pinel.

Modern Theoretical Approaches

• Somatogenic (Wilhelm Griesinger): Brain pathology is the primary cause of mental disorders.
• Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Theories (Freud): Focuses on the unconscious mind's role in mental health.
  • Symptoms as compromises between conscious and unconscious forces.
• Behaviorism: Centers on observable behavior rather than thoughts; emphasizes conditioning.
  • Key figures: Watson, Pavlov, Skinner.
• Cognitive Approaches: Explore how personal beliefs and interpretations impact emotions and behaviors.
  • Bandura's self-efficacy concept; Ellis’s Rational Emotive Therapy for irrational beliefs.
• Biological Approaches: Includes neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, and neurotransmitter functions.
  • Example: Serotonin and dopamine's roles in mood and psychosis.

Biopsychosocial Model

• Definition: Mental illnesses arise from biological, psychological, environmental, and social factors.
  • Diathesis-Stress Model: Suggests inherent vulnerabilities manifest under stress.

Diagnosis of Psychological Disorders

• Idiographic: Emphasizes individual manifestation of mental illness.
• Nomothetic: Uses established categories to diagnose and classify disorders.
• Diagnostic Frameworks:
  • ICD: International Classification of Diseases.
  • DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, defines core symptoms and necessary durations.

Major Psychological Disorders

• Schizophrenia:
  • Characterized by lack of insight, severe thinking/perception impairment, hallucinations, and delusions.
  • Types: Catatonic, Hebephrenic, Paranoid, Residual, Undifferentiated.
  • Treatment: Antipsychotics, cognitive therapy.
• Affective Disorders:
  • Depression: Persistent low mood, lack of joy, suicidal thoughts.
  • Mania: Elevated mood, overactivity, psychotic symptoms; treated with lithium.
• Anxiety Disorders:
  • Experience of high anxiety; phobias lead to avoidance of stimuli.
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Characterized by repetitive obsessions and compulsive rituals.
• Eating Disorders:
  • Anorexia and Bulimia: Preoccupation with body image; anxiety related to food and weight.
• Personality Disorders: Consistent patterns of thoughts and behaviors impacting day-to-day functioning; classified into clusters (A, B, C) based on behavior types.
  • Cluster A (Odd/Eccentric): Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal.
  • Cluster B (Dramatic/Emotional): Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic.
  • Cluster C (Anxious/Fearful): Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive.

Summary of Personality Disorders and the Big Five Personality Traits

• Relationships between personality traits (OCEAN) and specific disorders such as Borderline PD, Antisocial PD, and others.

Conclusion

• Understanding psychopathology involves an integration of historical perspectives, various psychological theories, and modern approaches to treatment and diagnosis.