Ch.1, Ab. Psyc. Research/Overview Flashcards
Abnormal psychology 3 primary concerns
concerned with understanding the nature, causes, and treatment of mental disorders.
family aggregation
whether a disorder runs in families; used in the Monique clinical case study as other members of her family had a drinking problem
When does schizophrenia often develop, as illustrated by the Scott clinical study, and what is the ethnic rate?
Late adolescence/early adulthood
Three times more iklely to develop in ethnic minorities than in white population
Psychopathology
same term for abnormal; psyc
Why is there no uniform definition of abnormality or disorder?
There is no one behavior that makes someone abnormal, but there are some clear indicators of abnormal;ity we can use
7 Indications of Abnormality S-M-S VSID
- Subjective distress: person reports distress, but this cannot be the only marker as many disorders are associated with manic highs or enjoyment of activities and therefore would not report distress; SUBJECTIVE DISTRESS IS NOT ALWAYS ABNORMAL
- Maladaptiveness: behavior that inteferes with our wellbeing, socially, emotionally, and physically: but not all disorders are maladaptive to the person (people on the antisocial spectrum who exploit others only benefit themselves)
- Statistical deviancy: behavior is statistically rare; but just bc something is rare doesn’t make it abnormal
- Violatioin of standards of society: if something breaks the rules of society in a statistically uncommon way (like mother drowning her children) = we think it is abnormal, but if we break social rules commonly = considered normal
- social discomfort: makes people around them uneasy
- Irrationality and unpredictability: what is normal for that person or normal in general for what we expect of people’s behavior is violated
- Dangerousness: danger to themself or others, but even people who do extreme sports might be labelled under this category
How do we rate statistical deviancy as a marker of abnormality?
if something is statistically rare anD UNDESIRABLE (like a learning disability) we are more likely to consider it abnormal than something rare and desirable (such as genuis)
Problems with dangerousness as a marker of abnormality
not everyone is dangerous who is mentally ill; its usually an exception when it does happen and not the rule
Why do decisions about abnormal behavior rely on social judgements?
we base behavior on our values and expectations of society; culture plays a role in determining this,
Zell Kravinsky Case Study
-completed two PHds, extremely wealthy
-had a talent for making money, but did not spend it: lived a very modest lifestyle, began donating very large amounts of money to charities
-eventually had given away his entire fortune
-then became obsessed with organ donation, but his wife didn’t support that, he believed it was nessecary, and did it anyway
-obssessed with donating: is his actions moral conviction or something abnormal?
Benefits of the DSM 5
Provides all needed info to diagnose mental disorders, provides clinicians with specific diagnostic criteria for each disorder, creates a common language so that a specific diagnosis means the same thing universally, important for research and operationalizing conditions
When was the first DSM published and what principles of revision currently guide it?
1952
Guiding principle: no constraints should be placed on the level of changhe that could be made to the DSM
When was the DSM 5 published annd how many diagnostic criterias does it contain?
2013; 541 categories
International Classification of Diseases 11
produced by the WHO and differs from the DSM-5
DSM-5 definition of mental disorder
-syndrome that is present in an individual and that involves clinically significant disturbance in behavior, emotion regulation, cognitive functioning:
- These disturbances are thought to reflect a dysfunction in biological, psychological, or developmental processes that are necessary for mental functioning.
-PREDICTABLE OR CULTURALLY APPROVED RESPONSES ARE EXCLUDED ***: reaction to death of a loved one
Nomenclature
naming system that is reliable and universal: gives clinicians and researchers a common language and “shorthand terms” for complex clinical conditions
Advantages of nomenclature
allows for the structure of info in a more helpful manner and identify overlapping symptamology
-CLASSIFICATION FACILITATES RESEARCH: which gives us more understanding
Disadvantages of classification
Providing info in this “shorthand form” leads to loss of information
-Stigma associatyed with diagnosis: not the fault of the diagnostic system (disagree?) , people fear the unwanted social/occupational consequences or disrimination,
-diagnostic systems don’t classify people: they classify disorders
Role of stigma in receiving mental health care
deterrant to seeking help for young people, men, and ethnic minorities specifically
Stereotyping and mental illness
stereotypes are automatic beliefs concerning other people that we unavoidably learn in culture; specifically perpetuated in movies and pop culture
James McNulty case study
man with bipolar, normal at first, then mood swings became increasingly worse: marriage ended, career ended, told that “people like him don’t go back to work”
Labeling
a person’s self-concept may be directly affected by being given a diagnosis of a mental illness
How could a diagnosis reduce mental health stigma?
explains the irrational behavior occuring before
attitudes toward people who are mentally ill in Jamaica more benign than they are in more industrialized countries case study
, the results of this study suggest that stereotyping, labeling, and stigma toward people with mental illness are not restricted to industrialized countries. Although we might wish that it were otherwise, prejudicial attitudes are common. This highlights the need for anti-stigma campaigns.
Educating people about “Real brain disorders” and reducing stigma
it was thought that explaining the nuerobiological causes of diseases would reduce stigma bc people understand it as structural: study indicates that it does not reduce prejudice
What is a primary method of reducing stigma about people with mental illness?
having more contact with people in the stigmatized group; studies indicatwe however that even imaging interacting with a person with a mental disorder leads to adverse physical reaction (increased heart rate etc): people with higher psychophysiological reactivity imagining these interactions reported more stigma
Depression and “Native American” Elder
indicated whole body pain, withdrawal, insomonia, weight loss, but not recognized as depression bc there was no term for it in their culture
MANY CULTURES FOCUS ON THE PHYSICAL PAIN OF DEPRESSION AND NOT THE EMOTIONAL
taijin kyofusho.
his syndrome, which is an anxiety disorder, is quite prevalent in Japan. It involves a marked fear that one’s body, body parts, or body functions may offend, embarrass, or otherwise make others feel uncomfortable. Often, people with this disorder are afraid of blushing or upsetting others by their gaze, facial expression, or body odor
