Psyc 332 Chapter 1

Abnormal psychology

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

Clinical scientists

workers in the abnormal psychology field. Gather information systematically to describe, predict, and explain the phenomena they study

Clinical practitioners

use knowledge acquired by clinical scientists to detect, assess, and treat abnormal patterns of functioning

The four D's:

Deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger

deviant

ifferent, extreme, unusual, perhaps even bizarre

when is behavior deviant?

Behavior, thoughts, and emotions are deemed abnormal when they violate a society's ideas about proper functioning

norms

a society's stated and unstated rules about proper conduct

culture

a people's common history, values, institutions, habits, skills, technology, and arts

Judgments of abnormality depend on what two things?

specific circumstances as well as norms

dysfunctional

interferes with daily functioning

how common is danger?

Although danger is frequently cited as a feature of abnormal psychological functioning, it is actually the exception rather than the rule.

Thomas Szasz believes what about mental illness?

the concept of mental illness is invented so that society can better control or change people whose unusual patterns of functioning upset or threaten the social order

Treatment/therapy

a procedure designed to change abnormal behavior into more normal behavior

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 sufferer, through which the healer, often with th

two view clinicians can have about abnormality and recipient of treatment

Clinicians can view abnormality as illness or a problem in living. Can view recipient as patient or client.

Each year, __% of adults and __% of children and adolescents are in need of clinical treatment
__ of every 100 adults have a significant anxiety disorder, __ have a personality disorder, __ have profound depression, __ has Alzheimer's,__ has schizophrenia

30
19
-
18
5
10
1
1
11

commonality of eccentricity. men and women?

1 in 5,000 people are eccentrics. Men and women equally affected

two characteristics of eccentric people

Eccentrics have fewer emotional problems and are physically healthier

how did prehistoric societies view abnormal behavior?

Most historians believe that prehistoric societies regarded abnormal behavior as the work of evil spirits.

when did this view start?

Stone Age, a half-million years ago.

Trephination

an ancient operation in which a stone instrument was used to cut away a circular section of the skull, perhaps to treat abnormal behavior

Melancholia

extreme sadness and immobility

Exorcism- define, belief about why it works, how it works

- the practice in early societies of treating abnormalities by coaxing evil spirits to leave the person's body
Make the body an uncomfortable place to live
A shaman, or priest, might recite prayers, plead with evil sprits, or, if those kinds of things did

Greek and Roman times

500 B.C. To A.D. 500

what did Greek and Romans do?

identified a number of mental disorders:
Melancholia
Mania
Dementia- general intellectual decline
Hysteria
Delusions- blatantly false beliefs
Hallucinations- experienced imagined sights or sounds as if they were really there

mania

a state of euphoria and frenzied activity

hysteria

the presence of physical ailment with no apparent physical cause

Hippocrates :
called
belief about mental illness
how he thought this happened
who else shared his focus? (2)

Father of modern medicine
Taught that illnesses had natural causes
He saw abnormal behavior as a disease arising from an imbalance of four fluids, or humors, that flowed through the body- yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm
His focus on internal ca

what happened as Rome declined?

a distrust in science grew, demonology returned

time of Middle Ages

A.D. 500-1350

Middle Ages:
who had power?
view of abnormality
context of time period
incidence of abnormal behavior
presence of exorcisms
mass madness

The power of the clergy greatly increased across Europe
Abnormality was seen as Satan's work, a battle between good and evil
A time of great stress and anxiety, uprisings, war, and plagues
The incidence of abnormal behavior increased greatly during this t

Tarantism

large numbers of people would start to jump, dance, and go into convulsions. Thought to cure bite from tarantula

Lycanthropy

people thought they were possessed by wolves or other animals. Where we get stories of werewolves

what happened when Middle Ages ended? specially for mental illness treatment. how were they viewed?

cities grew and municipalities took over nonreligious things.
Hospitals were formed to treat the mad and natural causes were given

Renaissance time period

1400-1700.

early part of Ren: what belief prevailed?

natural

German physician Johann Weyer:
first what?
view on mental illness
founder of .....

First physician to specialize in mental illness
Thought mind was as susceptible to illness as body
Founder of modern study of psychopathology

Care of people with mental disorders improved. give example

Gheel in Belgium

Gheel in Belgium

First religious shrine devoted to loving care
World's first colony of mental health patients
Forerunner of today's community mental health programs

Improvements in care for the mentally ill began to fade by ____. why? what was done to solve?

mid-sixteenth century
The current system could only hold small number of people
Asylums were created

Asylum

a type of institution whose primary purpose was to care for people with mental disorders

first asylum- when and where. popular then?

The first asylum was founded in Muslim Spain in early 15th century, but the idea did not gain full momentum until the 1500s

Bethlehem Hospital in London

Bedlam
People were chained and whipped

Poor care continued until _____

late 1700s

Exorcism:
gone when?
what brought it back?
used for what?
how was it regulated?
recent changes

Gone in Western culture by 1970s.
In 1973, popular book and movie the Exorcist spawned new interest
Exorcism became very popular again as a way to treat behavioral disturbances
Some have died in exorcisms
In order to regulate them, the Roman Catholic Chur

when did asylum reform begin?

1800s

the first site of asylum reform

La Bicetre, an asylum in Paris for male patients,

who began reform there? how?

Philippe Pinel instituted the reforms. He unchained them, put them in better conditions, and gave them advice

Quaker William Tuke

brought reform to Northern England by opening the York Retreat, a rural estate that was peaceful. Patients rested, talked, prayed, and did manual work

Moral treatment

a 19th century approach to treating people with mental dysfunction that emphasized moral guidance and humane and respectful treatment

Benjamin Rush

the person most responsible for the early spread of moral treatment in the U.S

what did Rush do? nickname? writings?

Innovative approaches to treatment - hire intelligent and sensitive attendants to read and work closely with patients, give them walks, and doctors can give them small gifts occasionally
Father of American psychiatry
Wrote the first American treatise on m

Dorothea Dix

a Boston schoolteacher, made human care a public and political concern in United States
She was originally struck by prison conditions, but also included the mentally ill and poor. She spoke to state legislatures about these conditions
She helped establis

moral treatment declined when?

at the end of the 19th century

why? (3)

The speed with which the moral movement spread- money became scarce, recovery rates declined, etc
The assumption behind moral treatment that all patients could be cured with love and care
The emergence of a new wave of prejudice against those with mental

As the moral movement was declining in the late 1800s, two opposing perspectives emerged and began to vie for the attention of clinicians:

the somatogenic perspective and the psychogenic perspective

Somatogenic perspective

the view that abnormal psychological functioning has physical causes

Psychogenic perspective

the view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning are psychological

Somatogenic perspective:
history, who?

The somatogenic perspective has a 2,400 year history (Hippocrates)

Perspective had a rebirth in late 19th century for two reasons:

1. The work of German researcher Emil Kraeplin
2. New biological discoveries

Emil Kraeplin

Wrote influential textbook about physical factors causing mental dysfunction
Constructed the first modern system for classification of abnormal behavior
Also measure effects of various drugs on abnormal behavior

. New biological discoveries- one of most important

One of the most important was that the organic disease syphilis lead to general paresis, which has physical and mental symptoms, including delusions of grandeur

forerunners of psychogenic view

Cicero and Galen

when did psychogenic view gain a following?

It was not until studies of hypnotism demonstrated its potential did the psychogenic perspective gain a following

Hypnotism

a procedure that places people under a trancelike mental state during which they become extremely suggestible

history of hypnotism

Hypnotism was used by Anton Mesmer in Paris to treat patients with hysterical disorders.
His treatment was called mesmerism - dark room, music, costume, and rod to touch ailed area

how was hypnotism legitmized?

Some said hysterical disorders were caused by suggestions in brain, others that they were caused by degeneration in portions of the brain
In France the matter was settled when physicians used hypnosis to induce hysterical disorders. A mental process was s

Josef Breuer of Vienna:
found what?
joined by whom?

Found that patients sometimes awoke free of hysterical symptoms after speaking candidly under hypnosis about past upsetting events
He was joined by Freud

Psychoanalysis

either the theory or the treatment of abnormal mental functioning that emphasizes unconscious psychological factors as the cause of psychopathology

Technique of psychoanalysis

a form of discussion in which clinicians help troubled people gain insight into their unconscious psychological processes

Freud and followers applied psychoanalytic treatment to people with _____ (2)

anxiety and depression.

what did Freud and followers begin?

outpatient therapy

The psychoanalytic approach does / does not work on the severely disturbed because_____

does not
it requires clarity and verbal skill. It also takes years to work.

In the ____ researchers discovered a number of new psychotropic medications

1950s,

Psychotropic medications

drugs that mainly affect the brain and reduce main symptoms of mental dysfunctioning

Antipsychotic drugs

correct extremely confused and distorted thinking

Antidepressant drugs

lift mood of depressed people

Antianxiety drugs

reduce tension and worry

Since the discovery of these medications, what has happened?

mental health professionals in most of the developed nations of the world have followed a policy of deinstitutionalization

Deinstitutionalization

the practice, begun in the 1960s, of releasing hundreds of thousands of patients from public mental hospitals

In 1955 - 600,000 patients in U.S. Today-______

60,000

what has become the primary mode of treatment for people with severe psychological disturbances as well as for those with moderate problems ?

outpatient care

The community mental health approach has had success, but ____

there are too few to address the need.

_____ severely disturbed people are homeless
_____ are in jail

100,000
135,000

Before the 1950s, all outpatient care took the form of ____

private psychotherapy

Private psychotherapy

an arrangement in which a person directly pays a therapist for counseling services

Nearly 1 in every _ adults receives treatment for psychological disorders in the course of a year

5

Outpatient treatments are becoming available for_____

more and more kinds of problems, including marital problems.

Since the 1950s programs devoted _____ have also developed

exclusively to one kind of psychological problem

Prevention

interventions aimed at deterring mental disorders before they can develop

Community prevention programs - track record

have not always been successful, but they are increasing in number

Positive psychology

the study and enhancement of positive feelings, traits, and abilities

Some research on twins says that at least ____ of one's happiness is related to genetics

1/2

Multicultural psychology

a field of psychology that examines the impact of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and similar factors on our behaviors and thoughts, and also focuses on how such factors may influence the origin, nature, and treatment of abnormal behavior

minorities and mental healthcare (3)

Many members of ethnic and racial minority groups improve less in clinical treatments than members of majority groups. They use mental resources less and stop therapy sooner.

Two features of treatment can increase a therapist's effectiveness with minority clients:

1. Greater sensitivity to cultural issues
2. Inclusion of cultural morals and models in treatment, especially for children and adolescents

Culture-sensitive therapies

approaches that address unique issues faced by members of minority groups

Gender-sensitive or feminist therapies

approaches geared to the special pressures of being a women in Western society

Today the dominant form of insurance coverage is the ____

managed care program

Managed care program

a system of health-care coverage in which the insurance company largely controls the nature, scope, and cost of medical or psychological services. Outsource "behavioral health" to managed care companies

At least ___% of insured Americans are enrolled in managed care programs

75

35 states have made parity laws that do what?

make insurance companies provide equal coverage for mental and medical problems

Before 1950s, the ____perspective was dominant

psychoanalytic

now what's in power? why?

Then biological view gained respect with psychotropic drugs

Other influential perspectives that have emerged since 1950s: (3)

cognitive, humanistic-existential, and sociocultural

which one dominates now?

No single viewpoint now dominates the field

Psychiatrists

three to four years of additional training after medical school (a residency) in the treatment of abnormal mental functioning

Clinical psychologists

professionals who earn a doctorate in clinical psychology by completing four years of graduate work in abnormal functioning and complete a one-year internship at a mental hospital or mental health agency

Psychotherapy and related services are also provided by :

counseling psychologists, educational and school psychologists, psychiatric nurses, marriage therapists, family therapists, and - the largest group - psychiatric social workers

diff/sim?

The similarities between them are often greater than differences

Clinical researchers have also become popular as the need for research has grown

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