Ch 1 Flashcards
How Do We Define Abnormal Behaviour?
- Is the behaviour unusual?
- Does the behaviour violate social norms?
- Does the behaviour involve a faulty interpretation of reality?
- Does the behaviour cause personal distress?
- Is the behaviour maladaptive?
- Is the behaviour dangerous (to the person or to others)
Abnormal Psychology
The branch of the science of psychology that addresses the description, causes, and treatment of abnormal behaviour patterns. AKA The study of mental disorders.
Mental Health
Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual can realize his or her potential, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and make a contribution to the community.
Mental Disorders:
Mental disorders comprise a broad range of problems with different symptoms. They are generally characterized, however, by some combination of disturbed thoughts, emotions, behaviour and relationships with others. Examples are depression, anxiety, conduct disorders in children, bipolar disorders and schizophrenia.
- AKA: Mental illness, psychological disorder, psychiatric disorder, mental health condition, psychopathology, psychiatric disability.
Culture CONTEXT MATTERS
Behaviour considered normal in one culture may be deemed abnormal in another
Examples:
* Ghosts/ communication with ancestors
- Panic attacks
*Western cultures: fear of heart attacks –> symptoms act like heart attacks - Cambodians: fear of blockage of tubes - soreness, coldness
- Depression/anxiety
- Western: emotional distress
- Eastern: somatic symptoms (headaches etc.)
Most behaviours are on a continuum from normal to abnormal and a precise line delineating the threshold between the two is not clear.
Good example: Anxiety
Historical Perspectives on Abnormal
Origins of the Medical Model- Classical Period
Hippocrates & ‘ill humours’
* Blood: Sanguine (cheerful, confident)
* Phlegm: Sluggish
* Yellow bile: Quick tempered
* Black bile: Depression
Abnormal behaviour -> the result of underlying biological processes
Historical Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Medieval Times
Demonological model
* The belief that mental illness is caused by supernatural or divine causes
* Abnormal behaviour = witchcraft
* Roman Catholic Church: Exorcism
Historical Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Asylums in Europe & the New World
Late fifteenth centuries
* Leprosy hospitals were converted into asylums
* Horrible conditions in many cases
- Most well-known:
- Bedlam, London UK
- Hotel Dieu (Quebec, 1639)
Historical Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
The Reform Movement: Moral Therapy
Late 18th century
* Philippe Pinel (France), William Tuke (England) & Dorothea Dix (Canada & USA)
* Moral Therapy: provide humane treatment in an encouraging environment
Historical Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
The Community Mental Health Movement
1950s: Advent of antipsychotic Drugs:
* Phenothiazine
* Chlorpromazine
- Treat psychological disorders as a medical
Issue - Deinstitutionalization: discharge of large numbers of hospitalized mental patients to the community
- Mental health promotion is a proactive, holistic, multilevel, synergistic process that fosters resilience as one progresses toward an optimal sense of well-being
- Psychiatric homeless
Contemporary Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
The Biological Perspective
Mental disorders: diseases of the brain with underlying biological defects or abnormalities
Emil Kraepelin: 1883
* Dementia Praecox: (now called schizophrenia) biochemical imbalance
* General Paresis: degenerative brain disorder that occurs during the final stage of syphilis
Compassion for patients
Contemporary Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
The Psychological Perspective
Organic factors alone could not explain abnormal behaviour
- Hypnosis & hysteria (now called conversion disorder): Charot
- Psychodynamic model & catharsis: Freud
Contemporary Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
The Sociocultural Perspective
Psychological problems rooted in the social ills of society, such as poverty, lack of economic opportunity, rapidly changing social values and morals, and racial and gender discrimination
Thomas Szasz: The Myth of Mental Illness
Review: Timeline of Understanding Mental Illness
Classical Period: Demonological Model & Medical Model
Medieval Times: Demonological Model
~1400: Asylums
~1700: Moral Therapy Movement
1800s: Emil Kraepin: Biological
Model & Charcot: Psychological
Model
~ 1960s: Sociocultural Theory: Antipsychiatry & Community Mental Health Movement
Current Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Biological Perspectives
One can adopt a biologically oriented perspective without using the terminology of the medical model
- A focus on biological factors
Current Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Biological Perspectives
Genetics: the science of heredity
- Gene: units found on chromosomes that carry heredity
- Chromosome: structures found in the nuclei of cells that carry the units of heredity, or genes
- DNA: the molecular structure of the genome comprising four organic compounds: Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine
- Human Genome: all the genetic material encoded in the D N A (2.8 billion base pairs)
- Epigenetics: the study of the heritable and acquired changes in gene
- Stem Cells: biological cells that can divide (through mitosis) and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types
Current Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Biological Perspectives
Neurotransmitters
Norepinephrine: excesses and deficiencies linked to mood disorders and eating disorders
- Acetylcholine-: reduced levels linked to Alzheimer’s Disease
- Dopamine: excessive levels linked to schizophrenia
- Serotonin: imbalances of which have been linked to depressive and bipolar disorders and anxiety
Current Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Biological Perspectives
Central Nervous System
Hindbrain: medulla, pons and cerebellum
Midbrain: lies above the hindbrain and contains nerve pathways linking the hindbrain to the upper region of the brain, called the forebrain.
Forebrain: includes structures such as the thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebrum
Cerebral Cortex: Parts of the brain responsible for higher mental functions, such as thought and use of language.
Current Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Biological Perspectives
- Peripheral Nervous System
Somatic Nervous System: relays information from the sense organs to the brain and transmits messages from the brain to the skeletal muscles, resulting in body movements
Autonomic nervous: regulates the activities of glands and involuntary functions, such as respiration, heartbeat, and digestion
Current Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Biological Perspectives
- The Nervous System
- Autonomic Nervous System
Sympathetic Nervous
System: the division of the autonomic nervous system whose activity leads to heightened states of arousal
- Parasympathetic System:
the division of the autonomic nervous system whose activity reduces states of arousal and regulates bodily processes that replenish energy reserves
DBT TIPP Skills to Change Body Chemistry
TEMPERATURE
Change your body temperature. Splash your face with cold water, hold an ice cube, let car AC blow on your face, take a cold shower
INTENSE EXERCISE
Do intense exercise to match your intense emotion. Sprint to the end of the street, do jumping jacks, push ups, intense dancing
PACED BREATHING
Try Box Breathing: Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold it for 4 seconds, breathe out 4, and hold 4. Start again, and continue until you feel more calm.
PAIRED MUSCLE RELAXATION
Focus on 1 muscle group at a time. Tighten your muscles as much as possible for 5 seconds. Then release & relax. Repeat with other muscle groups.
Psychological Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Psychodynamic Models
Sigmund Freud:
Psychoanalytic Theory
* Psychological problems= unconscious conflicts, traced to childhood
The conscious: The small amount of mental activity we know about
ex. thoughts
The preconscious: Things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried.
ex. memories
The unconscious: Things we are unaware of and can not become aware of.
ex. fears, desires, urges
Psychological Perspectives on Abnormal Behaviour
Psychodynamic Models
* The structure of personality
Id: Primal drives/ Pleasure principal
Ego: Reality Principle
Superego: Moral
Principle/ “Ideal self”
