Week 1 Introduction to Psychopathology Flashcards
What is Abnormal Psychology?
A scientific study of behaviour with four main objectives.
Describing: what behaviours are evident? Do they fulfill criteria for a disorder?
Explaining why behaviour/a disorder is evident?
Predicting outcome.
Managing behaviours that are considered problematic.
Relativst view of abnormality
Symptoms & causes vary across cultures
Absolutist view of abnormality
A disorder is caused by the same biological factors
How do you define abnormality?
No clear cut definitions, large extent to this is subjective.
Duration is considered and whether the behaviour causes distress or dysfunction for the person.
Elements of Abnormality
Personal suffering
Maladaptive
Irrationality and incomprehensibility
Unpredictability and loss of control
Level of emotional distress
Interference in daily functioning
Vividness and unconventionality
Deviations from the norm (developmental, societal & cultural)
Observer discomfort
Violation of moral and ideal standards
What is DSM-5-TR?
Focuses on symtons and scientific disorder.
Clinical presentation (what specific symptoms cluster together?)
Etiology
Developmental stage
Functional impairment.
According to DSM-5TR Mental disorders involve one or all of the following
Present distresses
Disability
Significant risk of death, suffering, pain, disability or an important loss of freedom
Etiology
the cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition.
Epidemiology
The study of the frequency and distribution of disorders within a population.
Incidence = number of new cases of a disorder that appear in a population within a specific time period
Prevalence = total number of active cases in a given population during specific period of time
Life-time prevalence = proportion of population affected at some point during their lives.
Comorbidity = more than one condition
History of Psychopathology The Ancient World
Supernatural explanations prevailed except in Greece
Hippocrates (5th C. BC) classified mental disorders into three categories:
1. Mania
2. Melancholia
3. Phrenitis (brain-fever)
All forms of disease had natural causes:
Imbalance in essential fluids
Blood, Phlegm, Yellow & Black bile
Treatment procedures focused on restoring balance
History of Psychopathology - Middle Ages
After fall of Roman Empire, efforts to discover natural causes virtually ceased
Religion dominated supernatural view
Abnormal behaviour interpreted as the work of the devil or witchcraft (exorcisms)
Wars, peasant revolts & plagues: “evil forces”
Persecution of people viewed as promoting or hosting the devil
Many with mental disorders treated like witches
The History Of Psychology - The Renaissance (14th - 17th century)
More humane view of the mentally ill
Critics of demonology:
Paracelsus – Stars & planets affected the brain
Weyer – First physician to specialise in the treatment of mental illness
Search for effective treatments begun
Asylums
By mid 16th C. asylums established
e.g., London’s Bethlehem Hospital: ‘Treatment’ consisted of confinement (shackles, chains, isolation in dark cells), torturous practices (ice-cold baths, spinning in chairs, severely restricted diets) and medical treatments (bloodletting, purgatives)
History pf Psychopathology - 19th Century & beginning of modern thought
Moral treatment
American & French Revolutions individual rights
Humanitarian ideas characterised this age
Reforms in the care of people with mental disorders:
Key figure: Philippe Pinel
People started to improve
Philippe Pinel
He argued that the treatment towards those with mental health issues did not deserve the treatment they were given as it was not humane or acceptable.
A pioneer, a french psychiatrist, a physician, known as father of modern psychiatry, revolutions psychiatric care of patients with mental illness by introducing concept of moral treatment.
