16: Psychological Disorders - Historical Perspectives On Deviant Behaviour

Question 1

The Demonial View

Answer 1

• Abnormal behaviour was claimed to be work of the devil
• Procedure called trephination drilled hole in skull to release evil spirits

Question 2

Early Biological Views

Answer 2

• Hippocrates suggested that mental illnesses are diseases just like physical disorders
• Believed that site of illness was the brain
• Biological emphasis increased after discovery that general paresis (mental deterioration disorder) resulted from brain deterioration

Question 3

Psychological Perspectives

Freud

Answer 3

believed that psychological disorders are caused by unresolved conflicts

• Disorders that don’t involve a loss of contact with reality (obsessions, phobias, etc.) called neuroses
• Severe disorders involving a withdrawal from reality called psychoses

Question 4

Psychological Perspectives

Vulnerability-stress model

Answer 4

everyone has some degree of vulnerability to developing a disorder

• Vulnerability can have biological basis, brain malfunction, or hormonal factor
• Can also arise from personality factors such as low self-esteem
• Vulnerability often only causes disorder when a stressor combines with it to trigger the appearance of the disorder