Classification and Research Flashcards
Abnormal Psychology
deals with understanding the nature, causes, and treatment of mental disorders
what is abnormality?
- involves suffering
- for longer, more extreme, or in different situations than most would feel suffering
- could be suffering of others, esp in cases of substance abuse or manic people
- maladaptive
- definition of maladaptive is contextual
- ex PTSD, alert behaviors that are good in war are not at home
- deviant, unusual, or rare
- abnormalities always are, but just because something is rare, doesn’t make ie abnormal (ie left handedness)
- society may label things that are not harmful as abnormal
- violates societal standards and rules
- varies a lot depending on culture
- social discomfort
- abnormalities usually cause this, but just because this is there doesn’t make something abnormal
- irrationality and unpredictability
- bound by culture to define these
- the amount of each of these can vary by disorder
- dangerousness
- to self or others
The 4 Ds of Abnormality
- Dysfunctional
- Distress
- Deviant
- Dangerous
Culture can affect abnormality
- geographical differences
- generational differences - what is normal for each generation may not be the same
- beauty standards
Culture Specific Disorders
- disorders may present differently in different cultures
- depression shows a lot of psychological symptoms in US, but much more somatic symptoms in China
- some disorders may be relatively culture specific
- eating disorders are found in the US but not found in third world countries
DSM 5
- came out May 2013
- controversy: pharmaceutical companies had too much say in it
- confusion: lots of diseases added, eliminated, separated, and combined
- what are physicians and patients to do if you had a disease that doesn’t exist anymore?
- only field where number of diseases grows, not shrinks
- easier to diagnose more people who are not ill
- easier to correctly diagnose people and get specific treatment
Pros of Classification
- structures what we know
- common language: guidance in how to study and treat disorders
- suggests what different mental health professionals can treat, insurance reimbursements
Cons of Classification
- lose information about individual
- stigma and stereotyping
- labels are difficult to shake
Ways to Reduce Stigma
Y: increase mental health literacy - mental health diagnoses do not mean these people are violent
Y: increase contact with people with psychiatric diagnoses - better understanding reduces stigma
N: education about neurobiological contributions: this has increased stigma because it make people out ot be the “others” and harder to relate to
Prevalence vs Incidence
P: number of active cases in a population during a certain time
-point prevalence: number of people at this exact time
-1 year prevalence: in a given year, how many people
- lifetime prevalence: how many people have it in their lifetime, good for episodic disorders like depression
I: number of new cases that occur during a certain time
Comorbidity
- having multiple disorders at one time
- people with one disorder are more likely to abuse substances, and people who abuse substances tend to have another disorder
- 50% of people with very severe disorders have more diagnosable disorders than 7% with milder forms
Why do research in abnormal psych?
- to understand symptoms,prodromes, and residual problems
- prodromes: warning signs before full blown disorder or episode
- residual problems: rarely are people in full remission
- to determine prevalence
- to suggest etiology
- to develop treatments
Case Study
- do for things you can’t manipulate
- ex: phineas gage got a rail rod through his frontal lobe and lived
- very rare - individual is very diff from general population, not sure how generalizable the data is, cannot replicate
Self-Report Data, surveys
- we suck at honestly taking these
- depressed people report more negative things because of their condition - biased report
- get around this by asking people to answer mood questions on the spot several times a day - phone app
Observational Approaches
- real world
- measure biological variables
- ex: cortisol is a stress hormone, brain imaging
- Two types: correlational design and …
