1 Abnormal Behavior In Historical Context Flashcards
Psychological dysfunction
Refers to a breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning. Having a dysfunction is not enough to meet the criteria for psychological disorder.
What is a psychological disorder?
Psychological disorder or abnormal behavior is 1)a psychological dysfunction within an individual that is 2)associated with distress or impairment in functioning and3) a response that is not typical or culturally expected.To identify the essence of abnormality all three basic criteria must be met.
The science of psychopatology
The scientific study of psychological disorders.
Functioning as a scientist practitioner
1 Consumer of science. Enhacing the practice.
2 Evaluator of science. Determining the effectiveness of the practice.
3 Creator of science. Conducting research that leads to new procedures useful in practice.
Studing psychological disorders
Focus. Clinical description
Causation( etiology)
Treatment and outcome
Three prominent approaches to abnormal behavior
Super natural: abnormal behavior is attributed to agents outside our bodies or social environment such as demons, spirits, or the influence of the moon and stars.
Biological: disorders are attributed to disease or biochemical imbalances.
Psychological: abnormal behavior attributed to faulty psychological development and to social context. Includes moral therapy and and modern psychotherapy.
Mass hysteria
If one person identifies a cause of the problem, Others will probably assume that their own reactions have the same source.
Hippocrates the father of western medicine and his associates
They suggested that psychological disorder could be treated like any other disease. And might also be caused by brain pathology or head trauma and could be influenced by heredity( genetics).
Hippocrates-Galenic approach
Humoral theory of disorders: Hippocrates- Galenic approach.
Hippocrates assumed that normal brain functioning was related to four bodily fluids or humors: blood(heart), black bile(spleen), yellow bile(liver)and phlegm(brain).
Physicians believed that disease results from too much or too little of one of the humors.
Psychological disorder is chemical imbalance. e.g.Melancholia. Melancholer means black bile. Too much black bile was thought to cause melancholia.
Freud and structure of the mind founder of psychoanalysis
The mind, according to Freud has three major parts or functions:
The id is the source of our strong sexual and aggressive feelings or energies. Basicaly the animal within us; if totally unchecked it would make us killers or rapists. The energy within the id is the libido. A less improtant source of energy, not as well conceptualized by Freud, is the death instinct, or thanatos. The id operates according to the pleasure principle, with an overriding goal av maximizing pleasure and eliminate any tension or conflicts. The id has its own characteristic way of processing information, referred to as the primary process, this type of thinking is emotional, irrational, ilogical, filled with fantasies, and preoccupied with sex, aggression, selfishness, and envy. But the id’s selfish and aggressive drives do not go unchecked. Only a few month into life, we know we must adapt our demands to the real world.
The part of our mind that ensures that we act realistically is called the ego, and it operates according to reality principle instead of the pleasure principle. The thinking styles of ego are logic and reason and are referred to as secondary process, as opposed to the ilogical and irrational primary process of the id. The role of the ego is to mediate conflict between id and the superego, juggling their demands with the realities of the world. Ego is the manager of our mind. If the conflict between superego and id becomes strong and the ego is unsucsessful the psychological disorders develop. These conflicts are referred as intrapsychic conflicts. Freud believed that the id and superego are unconscious. We are fully aware only of the secondary processes of the ego, which is a small part of the mind.
The third important structure within the mind is superego, or conscience, represents the moral principles instilled in us by parents and our culture. It is the voice within us that nags at us when we know we are doing something wrong.
Defense mechanisms
Some times conflicts between id and superego produce anxiety that threatens to overwhelm the ego. The anxiety is a signal that alerts the ego to marshal defense mechanisms, unconscious protective processes that keep primitive emotions associated with conflicts in check so that the ego can continue its function. Displacement is when you can not expressing primitive anger at someone who has authority to affect you in an adverse way, your anger is displaced to another person or even your dog. Some people may redirect energy from conflict or underlying anxiety into socially acceptable behavior such as work, where they may be more efficient. This process is called sublimation. More internal conflicts that produce a lot of anxiety or other emotions can trigger self-defeating defensive processes or symptoms.
Examples of defense mechanisms
Denial: Refuses to acknowledge some aspect of objective reality or subjective experience that is apparent to others.
Projection: Falsely attributes own unacceptable thoughts, feelings or impulses to another individual or object.
Rationalization: conceales the true motivations for actions, thought or feelings through elaborate reassuring or selfserving but incorrect explanations.
Reaction formation: Substitutes behavior, thoughts, or feelings that are the direct opposite of unacceptable ones.
Repression: Blocks disturbing wishes, thoughts or experiences from conscious awareness.
The stages represent our basic needs and satisfying our drive for physical pleasure:
Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genial
Neurotic disorders
In Freud’s view, all nonpsychotic psychological disorders resulted from underlying unconscious conflicts, the anxiety that resulted from those conflicts, and defence mechanisms called neuroses.
Psychoanalytic therapy by Freud tapping into the mysteries of the unconscious
Free association
Dream analysis
Transference and countertransference
