Ch. 1 Intro & Historical Review Flashcards
abnormal psychology
field of psychology devoted to the nature, development, and treatment of psychological disorder
stigma
destructive beliefs and attitudes that are held by society that are ascribed to groups considered “different”
- no one is immune
- psychological disorders receive the most despite advances of learning about their origins
four characteristics of stigma
- distinguishing label is applied
- label refers to undesirable attributes
- people with the label are seen as different
- people with the label are discriminated against
DSM-5-TR qualifications for a disorder
- the disorder occurs within the individual
- it involves clinically significant difficulties in thinking, feeling, or behaving
- it usually involves personal distress of some sort
- it involves dysfunction in psychological, developmental, and/or neurobiological processes that support mental functioning
- it is not a culturally specific reaction to an event
- it is not primarily a result of social deviance or conflict with society
three characteristics of a psychological disorder
- personal distress
- violation of social norms
- disability and dysfunction
supernatural explanation
- China, Egypt, Babylonia, Hebrews, and Ancient Greece
- displeasure of gods or possession by demons
gods were in control of crops successfulness, birth of children - housed within the brain
drilling into the head would allow demons to be released - practice of dissection was inappropriate
early biological explanations
- hippocrates
- broke from supernatural explanations and focused on brain pathology
- first discussion of balance within the body
- mania, melancholia, and phrenitis (brain fever)
- balance of four humors or substances located in the body (blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm)
- 7 centuries; 700 years
early biological treatment
- bloodletting
- intentional use of leeches
dark ages
- 2nd century AD
- marked by the death of Galen (2nd Century Greek physician)
- christian monasteries replaced physicians as healers
- return to belief of supernatural causes
dark ages treatments
- cared and prayed for by monks
- touched by relics
- potions in the waning phases of the moon
- driven my symptoms rather than etiology
starting with symptoms is problematic
lunacy trials
- 13th Century England
- cities of Europe grew larger
- mental health: orientation, memory, intellect, daily life, habits
- municipal authorities assumed responsibility for care of people in hospitals
- all done under the auspices of the Crown’s right to protect the people.
priory of st. mary of bethlehem
- 1243
- “side shows”
- aristocracy would tour and buy souvenirs
- origin term of “Bedlam” meaning asylum
- did not change beds; feces and urine, disease ridden
- breeding ground for making people sicker
treatment in asylums
- non-existent or harmful
- benjamin rush recommended bloodletting and terrifying patients into sanity
idea of exposure therapy
he founded American Psychiatric Association - treatment showed how society viewed them
- society itself needed protection from the mentally ill people
philippe pinel
- 1745-1826
- humane treatment in asylums; moral treatment
- compassion and dignity
- reserved for the upper class
- patient to staff ratio was not accommodating to lower classes
moral treatment
- small, privately funded humanitarian mental hospitals
- purposeful activities (e.g., gardening, drawing, music)
- spoke with attendants; included patients in conversation
dorothea dix
- 1802-1887
- worked to establish 32 new public hospitals to take people unable to pay for private hospitals
- small staffs could not provide necessary individual attention that was the hallmark of moral treatment
early biological approaches
general paresis and syphilis
general paresis and syphilis
- link demonstrated how biological cause could contribute to mental symptoms
- general paresis involved deterioration of mental and physical abilities, and progressive paralysis
- some victims also had syphilis
- 1905: causal link between infection, brain damage, and psychopathology
- biological causes gained credibility
frances gulton
- 1822-1911
- genetic research with twins → belief that mental illness is inherited
- dominant paradigm; point of view → hereditary
airborne theory of illness → germ theory - no surgical instruments were washed or sterilized between surgeries or procedures
- cousin of charles darwin (a botanist)
- eugenics movement: forced sterilization of those with “undesirable characteristics” made into law by many states
both men and women - WWII, Disability, Race, Gender
biological treatments
- insulin-coma therapy
- electroconvulsive therapy (still used today)
- prefrontal lobotomy
insulin-coma therapy
- a way of calming one down
- sakel 1930s
prefrontal / transorbital lobotomy
- moniz, 1935
- destruction of tracts (cortical to subcortical areas) connecting frontal lobes to other brain areas
- “controlled” violent behaviors, resulting in listlessness, apathy, and loss of cognitive abilities → calmness, ultimate goal
- won the Nobel Peace Prize
early psychological approaches
- mesmer
- charcot
- bruer
- freud
mesmer
- 1734-1815
- early disruption of a universal magnetic fluid in the body; used magnets to influence fluids to induce behavioral change
early hypnosis and first “pop-psychology” - connections to upper class; held parties to help people with madness for a show
- brought out the idea of social influence
charcot
- 1825-1893
- helped to legitimize hypnosis as a treatment
- resulted people surviving in more surgeries
- mindfulness in today’s society
- before this, psychology was not accepted as a real science
bruer
- 1842-1925
- anna o received the cathartic method (via hypnosis), which is the release of emotional tension triggered by expressing forgotten trauma
- avoid intense emotion; crying, exclamation
emotional and behavioral restraint was critical
freud
- unconscious conflicts between id, ego, and superego generates anxiety that result in defense mechanisms to protect the ego
- early, sexual, traumatic experiences
- Id, ego, superego
- psychoanalysis is a particular way of listening to a patient’s story to reveal the true backstory and finding the deeper meaning and connections
Id
present at birth, biological, and unconscious, seeks immediate gratification
ego
primarily conscious, mediates between demands of reality and the id’s demands for immediate gratification
superego
the conscience develops as we incorporate parental and societal values
psychoanalytic therapy
- goal was to understand early childhood experiences, the nature of key relationships, and patterns in current relationships
-transference
patient responds to analyst in similar ways as important past relationships - biggest weakness
the legacy of freud
- childhood experiences do shape adult personality and relationships
- modern look at development of stress response
- there are unconscious influences on behavior
- causes and purposes of behavior are not always obvious
rise of behaviorism
- focus on observable behavior with an emphasis on learning
- foundation of behavioral therapy
- not covering: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, modeling
importance of cognition
- rose in popularity during the 1960s
- how we think about a situation influences our feelings and behaviors
development of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) - how people construe themselves and the world is a major determinant of psychological disorders
- focus is on becoming more aware of maladaptive thoughts
- changing cognitions to change feelings, behaviors, and symptoms
- biopsychosocial approach sees maladaptive thoughts as circuits in the brain