What is Abnormal Behavior?

What is Abnormal Psychology?

• Application of psychological knowledge to the study of _________. Mental disorders

Common Misconceptions

• Abnormal behavior ≠ mental d/o (e.g., murder)

• Mental d/o ≠ Insanity – (e.g., depressive d/o)

• Can you tell if someone is mentally ill by looking at them?

Non-Psychological Terms

• Insanity – Should a person be

responsible for criminal behavior if he or she is suffering from a d/o?

• Nervous breakdown – incapacitating state that

doesn’t pertain to a specific d/o

• Crazy – informal, nonspecific ;

associated with negative implications

A jury in Houston found Andrea Yates NOT guilty by reason of insanity in the 2001 drowning of her children highlighting issues of postpartum depression and the insanity defense.

Fact or Fiction?

Psychological disorders occur most

frequently among the wealthy.

Fact or fiction?

Actually psychological disorders occur most

frequently among those with the lowest

incomes and the least education

By the age of 16, one out of three

children and adolescents suffers from

a psychological disorder.

Fact or fiction?

Yes… 36% of all children and adolescents

have suffered a psychological disorder

Defining Disorders in Terms of Statistical Norms

• Define abnormal as deviation from mean

• But what is the cutoff? – 1 out of every 30,000 persons? [GID]

– 1 out of every 20 women? [MDD]

– 1 out of every 10 men? [Alcoholism]

• Should adaptive behaviors that are statistically rare be considered abnormal?

Importance of Culture

• “Only dysfunctions that are socially devalued are disorders.” (Wakefield, 1992)

Marijuana has a rich history of religious use in India, Africa, and Jamaica. How has laws that allow the use of medical marijuana change the socially constructed value of marijuana?

What is a Mental Disorder? • Behavioral or

psychological syndrome related to:

– Significant distress, and/or

– Impairment , and/or

– Increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or loss of freedom

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT

SYMPTOMS

Individuals may not be aware that they are suffering from a d/o

Symptoms may be transient (temporary) or persistent

Who Experiences Abnormal Behavior?

• Epidemiology

– Incidence (new)

– Prevalence (active)

• Gender Differences

– Women more likely to suffer from __________ or ________

– i.e., Men more likely to suffer from _________ or_____

anxiety d/o

MDD

alcoholism APD

• According to the NIMH:

– An estimated 26.2 % of adults in America suffer from a diagnosable mental d/o in a given year.

Other Epidemiologic Findings

• Comorbidity present in 9 out of 10 diagnosed w/ a severe d/o

• Disease burden

– defined in terms of mortality and morbidity

– Mental d/o responsible for only 1% of deaths, but 47% of disability

Psychiatry

Clinical Psychology

Social Work

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• Ancient cultures (Chinese, Hebrew, Egyptian, etc.) attributed abnormal behavior to the disfavor of the gods or mischief of demons.

Psychopathology in Historical Context

Digressions from Previous Thinking

The classical period (Greek and Romans) – Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) suggested that abnormal

behavior (like other diseases) has natural causes • Must maintain balance btw 4 humors: blood, phlegm, black bile,

and yellow bile.

– Dominated Western thought until the middle of the 19th century!

Creation of the Asylum

Moral Treatment Reform

• In the 1800s professionals advocated for humane tx (e.g., Dorothy Dix) and in turn moral tx reform emerged and large mental institutions were built giving rise to a new field – psychiatry (APA est. 1844)

Emergence of Somatic Treatment Procedures

• Inducing fever, insulin comas, and lobotomy (1920s and 1930s)

Quick Recap

1. During _____, people believed abnormal behavior stemmed from an imbalance of humours, which consisted of blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. (a) ancient times

(b) the Middle Ages

(c) the classical period (Greek and Romans)

(d) the Renaissance

© 2014, 2012, 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Quick Recap

2. During the ______, the emphasis was on viewing people with mental illness as worthy of receiving respect and kindness, and incorporating moral treatment as the method of care. (a) Roman period

(b) Middle Ages

(c) twentieth century

(d) nineteenth century

© 2014, 2012, 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Other Trends/Movements in the Twentieth Century

• Psychoanalysis (S. Freud) – Id, ego, superego

– Defense mechanisms

– Psychosexual stages • Anal, oral, phallic, latency, genital

– Catharsis, dream analysis

• Behaviorism – Pavlov

– Watson

Dominant Trends/Movements Today

• Eclecticism

– Biopsychosocial model

• Embraces diathesis-stress model

– Cognitive-behavioral model

– humanistic model

• e.g., Client-centered therapy, therapeutic rapport

– Sociocultural model

The Neuron Fires, Sending An Impulse to

the Next Neuron Figure 1.4

Dendrite: tree-like

branches that

receive messages

from the neurons

Neuron: nerve cells

found throughout the

body and brain that send

and receive messages

Axon: tube-like

structures that carry

messages to the cells Synapse: space

between neurons

Soma: keeps

the cell alive

Neurotransmitters:

chemicals that

transmit information

to and from neurons

© 2014, 2012, 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Today’s Tx Approach

• Based on scientific theory and clinical research

• Ethical guidelines – Confidentiality

– Humane treatment

– Duty to report

– Limited deception

– Informed consent

Group Exercise

• If an atypical behavior is consistent with an individual’s beliefs, should it be considered a symptom?

• Would your answer change if the patient reported seeing a ghost?

Group Discussion II

• Create a list of 10 abnormal behaviors.

• Discuss each and decide whether or not you suspect each behavior to be a symptom of a mental disorder (specify the d/o if possible).

– Be prepared to share your list. Also, specify the suspected disorder for each.