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What is abnormal psychology?

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The scientific study of abnormal behavior in an effort to describe, predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning

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common features of psychological abnormality

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the "four D's"

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the four D's

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common features of psychological abnormality includes: Deviance Distress Dysfunction Danger

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Deviance- from what?

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-From behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that differ markedly from a society's ideas about proper functioning -From social norms -Stated and unstated rules for proper conduct -Judgments of abnormality vary from society to society as norms grow from a particular culture

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Distress

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-According to many clinical theorists, behavior, ideas, or emotions usually have to cause distress before they can be labeled abnormal -Not always the case Examples?

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Dysfunction

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Abnormal behavior tends to be dysfunctional - it interferes with daily functioning

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Danger

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Abnormal behavior may become dangerous to oneself or others Behavior may be consistently careless, hostile, or confused

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Although often cited as a feature of psychological abnormality, research suggests that dangerousness is

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the exception rather than the rule

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Critics of abnormal behavior like ..? suggest that

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(e.g., Szasz) suggest that there is no such thing as mental illness, simply "problems in living."

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for Psychological Abnormality we may be unable to

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-apply our definition consistently -Can be vague or subjective -It's not a perfect system -Continue research -Continue to revise DSM

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Risk Factors for Mental Illness

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Age Marital Status Marital Happiness Education Personal Income Employment Contact with Friends Satisfaction with Relationships

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Not Risk Factors for Mental Illness

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Sex Race Ethnicity Intelligence (RISE)

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AGE: Young people have ? rates of mental illness than older people.

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higher

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Marital status: Separated, divorced, and never married individuals have ? rates of mental illness than married or widowed people. (so get hitched!)

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higher

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Marital happiness: Greater happiness is associated with ? rates of mental illness

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lower

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Education: Less educated individuals have ? rates of mental illness.

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higher

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Personal income: The ? the income, the higher the rate.

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lower

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Employment: Unemployed people have ? rates of mental illness

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higher

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Contact with friends: ? is a risk factor; fewer contacts are associated with higher rates of mental illness.

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Isolation

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Satisfaction with relationships: Greater satisfaction is associated with ? rates.

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Satisfaction with relationships: Greater satisfaction is associated with lower rates.

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Sex: It used to be thought that women had ? rates of mental illness.

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higher

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Intelligence: Measured intelligence (e.g., IQ) doesn't prevent mental illness, although there is some evidence that more intelligent people have more difficulty

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admitting that they have a mental illness.

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what is treatment?

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Treatment, or therapy, is a procedure designed to change abnormal behavior into more normal behavior

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According to Jerome Frank

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all forms of therapy have three essential features: 1) A sufferer who seeks relief from the healer 2) A trained, socially accepted healer, whose expertise is accepted by the sufferer and his or her social group 3) A 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

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clinicians are in disagreement of treatment

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-goals or aims -successful outcome -Lack of agreement about failure -Are clinicians seeking to cure? To teach? -Are sufferers patients (ill) or clients (having difficulty)?

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Despite their differences, most clinicians agree that

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-large numbers of people need therapy of one kind or another -Evidence also indicates that therapy is indeed often helpful

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prehistoric societies

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Abnormal behavior was typically interpreted as a victory by evil spirits, and the cure for such behavior was to force the demons from a victim's body Europe & south america did operations called TREPHINATION- a stone instrament cut away a circular section of the skull the treatment for abnormality was often EXORCISM

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greeks & Romans

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Hippocrates- father of modern medicine, taught that illnesses had NATURAL causes -he believed that some form of brain pathology was the culprit from an imbalance of 4 fluids or HUMORS yellow bile (mania) black bile (depression) blood phlegm Hippocrates focus on internal causes for abnormal behavior was shared by the great Greek philosophers PLATO & ARISTOTLE treatment = correct the underlying physical pathology. diet of vegetables, temperance, exercise, celibacy & bleeding

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the Middle Ages

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-the power of clergy increased through out Europe -church rejected science and controlled education -religious beliefs were superstitious and demonological -Lycanthropy: people thought they were possessed by wolves or animals treatment = EXORCISM done by Clergy

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the Renaissance

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JOHANN WEYER:-founder of modern study of psychopathology - first physician to specialize in mental illness. believed that the mind was susceptible to sickness like the body is. -Demonological views declined -care of mental disorders improved -Gheel in Belgium was the forerunner of todays COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS and it continues to demonstrate that people with psychological disorders can respond to loving and caring treatment -mix-sixteenth century: improvments in care began to fade -ASYLUMS: institutions whos primary purpose was to care for people with mental illness (overcrowded and cruelty)

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the 19th Century

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-1800: treatment of people began to improve again -PHILIPPE PINEL: Asylum reform in france , La bicetre -WILLIAM TUKE english reformer ^both -Moral Treatment BENJAMIN RUSH:(father of american psychiatry) responsible for moral treatment in US DOROTHEA DIX: schoolteacher, made human care a public and political concern. campain led to new laws and more govt funding to improve treatment -each state was made responsible for developing effective public mental hospitals or state hospitals, all of which intended to offer moral treatment

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early 20th century

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SOMATOGENIC PERSPECTIVE: the view that abnormal psychological function has physical causes -treatment didnt work until 1950's EMIL KRAEPELIN: textbook that influential factors such a fatigue are responsible for mental dysfunction (*developed the first modern system for classifying abnormal behavior) RICHARD VON KRAFFT-EBING theory:Organic disease, SYPHILIS, led to GENERAL PARESIS FRITZ SCHAUDINN:discovered microorganism TREPONEMA PALLIDA was responsible for syphilis PSYCHOGENIC PERSPECTIVE: the view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning has psychological -gained following from HYPNOTISM FRIEDRICH ANTON MESMER: clinic in paris with patients that suffered from HYSTERICAL DISORDERS MESMERISM worked FREUD- theory of PSYCHOANALYSIS: either the theory or the treatment of abnormal mental functioning that emphisizes unconscious psychological forces as the cause of psychopathology offered OUTPATIENT THERAPY to his patients

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_ _% of people surveyed believe that people bring mental health disorders upon themselves and _ _% consider mental health disorders to be caused by sinful behavior

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43% and 35%

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In the 1950s, researchers discovered a number of new psychotropic medications:

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Antipsychotic drugs Antidepressant drugs Antianxiety drugs

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These discoveries led to deinstitutionalization and a rise in outpatient care

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due to PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATIONS deinstitutionalization: the practice begun in the 1960s of releasing hundreds of thousands of patients from public mental hospitals.

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What problems are associated with deinstutionalization?

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severe mentally ill we abandoned and left to the streets etc.

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? care has now become the primary mode of treatment

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outpatient

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Although this type of care was once exclusively private psychotherapy, now

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most health insurance plans cover it, and it now includes various settings, as well as specialty care

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The community mental health approach has given rise to

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the prevention movement

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Today's Theoretical Perspectives

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Psychoanalytic Biological Behavioral Cognitive Humanistic-existential Sociocultural PBBCHS

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How your friend THINKS about herself and her future

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cognitive perspective

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What she DOES and doesn't do

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behavioral perspective

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She might have a neurochemical imbalance or PHYSICAL disorder of the brain

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biological perspective

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Her problem might stem from her PAST and perhaps she is not even aware of it

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Psychodynamic Perspective

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She should realize what a good person she is and that she has the POTENTIAL to be anything

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Humanistic perspective

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The Biological Model

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-Adopts a medical perspective -Main focus is that psychological abnormality is an illness brought about by malfunctioning parts of the organism -Typically point to problems in brain anatomy or brain chemistry

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How Do Biological Theorists Explain Abnormal Behavior?

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-Brain anatomy and abnormal behavior -Clinical researchers have discovered connections between certain psychological disorders and problems in specific brain areas -Example: Huntington's disease and basal ganglia (forebrain)

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How Do Biological Theorists Explain Abnormal Behavior?

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-Researchers have identified dozens of nuerotransmitters (NTs) Examples: serotonin, dopamine, and GABA -Studies indicate that abnormal activity in certain NTs can lead to specific mental disorders

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Mental disorders are also sometimes related to

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abnormal chemical activity in the endocrine system

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Endocrine glands release

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hormones which propel body organs into action

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Sources of Biological Abnormalities - Genetics

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Abnormalities in brain anatomy or chemistry are sometimes the result of genetic inheritance

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Studies suggest that inheritance plays a part in

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mood disorders, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders

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Sources of Biological Abnormalities - Evolution : Evolutionary theorists argue that

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human reactions and the genes responsible for them have survived over the course of time because they have helped individuals thrive and adapt Example: The fear response

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Sources of Biological Abnormalities - Viral Infections: Another possible source of abnormal brain structure or biochemical dysfunction is viral infections ex:

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Schizophrenia and prenatal viral exposure

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Biological Treatments: Biological practitioners attempt to pinpoint

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the physical source of dysfunction to determine the course of treatment

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Three types of biological treatment:

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Drug therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) Psychosurgery

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Assessing the Biological Model: strengths

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-Enjoys considerable respect in the field -Constantly produces valuable new information -Treatments bring great relief

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Assessing the Biological Model: Weaknesses

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-Can limit, rather than enhance, our understanding -Too simplistic -Treatments produce significant undesirable (negative) effects

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The Psychodynamic Model:

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Oldest and most famous A person's behavior (whether normal or abnormal) is determined largely by interacting psychological forces of which she/he is not consciously aware: The three forces are ID, EGO, & SUPER EGO.

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Father of psychodynamic theory and psychoanalytic therapy ____________.

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FREUD

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How Did Freud Explain Normal and Abnormal Functioning?

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Developmental stages

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Freud's Developmental stages:

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Oral (0 to 18 months of age), Anal (18 months to 3 years of age), Phallic (3 to 5 years of age), Latency (5 to 12 years of age), Genital (12 years of age to adulthood) OAPLG Okay, All People Like Grapes

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Freud's Developmental stages: if successful?

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personal growth

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Freud's Developmental stages: If not successful?

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fixation at an early developmental stage, leading to psychological abnormality -blame your parents!

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Psychodynamic Therapies

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Range from Freudian psychoanalysis to modern therapies All seek to uncover past trauma and inner conflicts

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Psychodynamic Therapies: therapists act as

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a subtle guide

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Assessing the Psychodynamic Model: Strengths

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-First to recognize importance of psychological theories and treatment -Saw abnormal functioning as rooted in the same processes as normal functioning -First to apply theory and techniques systematically to treatment - monumental impact on the field

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Assessing the Psychodynamic Model: Weaknesses

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-Unsupported ideas; difficult to research -Non-observable -Inaccessible to human subject (unconscious)

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The behavioral Model

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Actions are determined largely by our experiences in life Concentrates wholly on behaviors and environmental factors Bases explanations and treatments on principles of learning

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The Behavioral Model began in

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laboratories where conditioning studies were conducted

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The behavioral model: Several forms of conditioning:

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Operant conditioning Modeling Classical conditioning all may produce normal or abnormal behavior

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Operant conditioning

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is a form of learning in which an individual's behavior is modified by its consequences -operant conditioning deals with the modification of "voluntary behavior" or operant behavior. -SKINNER

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Modeling

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seeing what an adult does and copying it

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Classical Conditioning

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a form of learning in which one stimulus, the conditioned stimulus or CS, comes to signal the occurrence of a second stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus or US. -PAVLOV

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Behavioral Therapies:

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Aim to identify the behaviors that are causing problems and replace them with more appropriate ones May use classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or modeling

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Behavioral Therapies: Therapist acts as a

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Therapist is "teacher" rather than healer

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Behavioral Treatments: ------ treatments may be used to change abnormal reactions to particular stimuli ex:

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Classical conditioning Ex: systematic desensitization for phobia

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step by step systematic desensitization for phobia

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Learn relaxation skills Construct a fear hierarchy Confront feared situations

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Assessing the Behavioral Model: strengths

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Powerful force in the field Can be tested in the laboratory Significant research support for behavioral therapies

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Assessing the Behavioral Model: weaknesses

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No evidence that symptoms are ordinarily acquired through conditioning Behavior therapy is limited Too simplistic New focus on self-efficacy, social cognition, and cognitive-behavioral theories

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The Cognitive Model: this model proposes that

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we can best understand abnormal functioning by looking at cognitive processes - the center of behaviors, thoughts, and emotions

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the cognitive model argues that

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clinicians must ask questions about assumptions, attitudes, and thoughts of a client

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How Do Cognitive Theorists Explain Abnormal Functioning?

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Abnormal functioning can result from several kinds of cognitive problems: Faulty assumptions and attitudes Illogical thinking processes Example: Emotional Reasoning

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Cognitive Therapies: People can overcome their problems by

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developing new ways of thinking

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Cognitive Therapies main model

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Beck's Cognitive Therapy -The goal of therapy is to help clients recognize and restructure their thinking

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Assessing the Cognitive Model: Strengths

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Very broad appeal Clinically useful and effective Focuses on a uniquely human process Theories lend themselves to research Therapies effective in treating several disorders

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Assessing the Cognitive Model: Weaknesses

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Precise role of cognition in abnormality has yet to be determined Therapies do not help everyone Some changes may not be possible to achieve In response, a new wave of therapies has emerged, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness-based techniques

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The Humanistic-Existential Model

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Combination model The humanist view- Rogers and Perls Focus on drive to self-actualize through honest recognition of strengths and weaknesses The existentialist view Emphasis on self-determination, choice, and individual responsibility; focus on authenticity

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The Humanist View

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Rogers and Pearls Focus on drive to self-actualize through honest recognition of strengths and weaknesses

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The existentialist View

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Emphasis on self-determination, choice, and individual responsibility; focus on authenticity -GESTALT

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Existential Theories and Therapy: Psychological dysfunction is caused by

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self-deception; people hide from life's responsibilities and fail to recognize that it is up to them to give meaning to their lives

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Existential Theories and Therapy: in therapy

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Goals more important than technique Great emphasis placed on client-therapist relationship Experimental methods cannot adequately test the effectiveness of their treatments; as a result, little controlled research has been conducted

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Viktor Frankl: Man's Search for Meaning

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"An active life serves the purpose of giving man the opportunity to REALIZE VALUES in creative work, while a passive life of enjoyment affords him the opportunity to obtain fulfillment in experiencing beauty, art, or nature...But not only creativeness and enjoyment are meaningful. If there is a meaning in life at all, then THERE MUST BE A MEANING IN SUFFERING. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete"

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Assessing the Humanistic-Existential Model: Strengths

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Taps into domains missing from other theories Emphasizes the individual Optimistic Emphasizes health

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Assessing the Humanistic-Existential Model: Weaknesses

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Focuses on abstract issues Difficult to research Weakened by disapproval of scientific approach Changing somewhat

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The Sociocultural Models argues that

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abnormal behavior is best understood in light of the social and cultural forces that influence an individual Address norms and roles in society

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The Sociocultural Models: Comprised of two major perspectives

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Family-Social perspective Multicultural perspective

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How Do Family-Social Theorists Explain Abnormal Functioning? they argue that

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theorists should concentrate on forces that operate directly on an individual, including: Social labels and roles Social connections and supports

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How Do Family-Social Theorists Explain Abnormal Functioning? Behavior is best understood when

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examined in light of that individual's unique cultural context Example: Prejudice and discrimination faced by many minority groups may contribute to certain forms of abnormal functioning

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Multicultural Treatments: Studies have found that

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that members of ethnic and racial minority groups tend to show less improvement in clinical treatment than members of majority groups

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Multicultural Treatments: Ways to increase a therapist's effectiveness with minority clients:

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Greater sensitivity to cultural issues Inclusion of cultural models in treatment, especially in therapies for children and adolescents

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Assessing the Sociocultural Models: Strengths

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Added greatly to the clinical understanding and treatment of abnormality Increased awareness of clinical and social roles Clinically successful when other treatments have failed

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Assessing the Sociocultural Models: Weaknesses

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Research is difficult to interpret Correlation (doesn't equal) causation Model unable to predict abnormality in specific individuals

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Integration of the Models:

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A growing number of clinicians favor explanations of abnormal behavior that consider more than one cause at a time Biopsychosocial theories Diathesis-stress approach Diathesis = predisposition (bio, psycho, or social) *(diathesis= predisposition for schizophrenia. )

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Integration of the Models: Integrative therapists are often called

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"eclectic psychotherapists" - taking the strengths from each model and using them in combination

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