Week 1 - Lecture 1 - Intro & History of Abnormal Psychology Flashcards
What is abnormal psychology?
The scientific study of aberrant (“abnormal”) thoughts, feelings, and behavior. (AKA: psychopathology)
What are the 7 ways that we define “abnormal”?
Subjective distress, Maladaptiveness, Statistical deviancy, Violation of the standards of society, Social discomfort, Irrationality and unpredictability, and dangerousness.
What is subjective distress?
EX: depression
Extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.
What is maladaptiveness?
EX: anorexia, depression
Interferes with well-being and ability to enjoy things.
What is statistical deviancy?
EX: anorexia, depression
Being different from the norm.
What is violation of the standards of society?
Breaking social rules/norms. (depends on the magnitude)
What is social discomfort?
Making others around you feel uncomfortable. (depends on the circumstances)
What is irrationality and unpredictability?
EX: schizophrenia, mania
Behaviors that do not make sense to others. (depends on if a person can control it)
What is dangerousness?
EX: self-injury, violent acts
Putting yourself or others at risk or harm. (rates of violence in clinical populations are very low)
How do we decide someone’s need for a diagnosis or not?
By using the DSM-5. (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition)
What are 3 benefits of diagnosing?
- Gives clinicians and researches a common language.
- Structures and organizes knowledge.
- Diagnostic system informs research and treatment decisions.
What are 2 disadvantages of diagnosing?
- Negative stereotypes and stigma associated with mental disorders.
- Stigma can prevent people from getting treatment.
What was the very early view on abnormal behavior?
Abnormal behavior was thought to be caused by spiritual means.
- He lived around 460-377 B.C.
- He believed in natural causes of mental disorders.
- He came up with 4 “humors”: Sanguis, Phlegm, Choler, and Melancholic.
- He believed that environment is important to treatment.
Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.)
- He lived around 130-200 A.D.
- He was a Greek physician who grouped mental illnesses by having either physical causes or mental causes.
Galen (130-200 A.D.)
- This was a time period that saw return to demonological views of mental illness.
- There were increases in mass madness. (EX: dancing manias, lycanthropy-belief that one was possessed by a wolf)
Middle Ages (500-1500)
- He lived around 1515-1588
- He was one of the first physicians specializing in mental disorders.
- He used scientific questioning and pushed toward humanitarian approaches.
Johann Weyer (1515-1588)
- One of the more popular of the early asylums.
- Known for deplorable conditions and practices, treating people poorly, and not being very clean.
- People would even pay to go see the people there as entertainment.
St. Mary of Bethlem (nicknamed “Bedlem”)
-He lived around 1745-1826.
He wanted to get people suffering from mental illness out of chains.
-He wanted the people with mental illness to be treated better and with kindness.
-He wanted to improve the conditions of asylums.
Philippe Pinel (1745-1826)
What was the famous asylum in France around the time of Philippe Pinel (1745-1826)?
La Bicetre
- He lived around 1732-1822.
- He was an English Quaker. (religious society)
- He was responsible for creating the York Retreat in America.
- He promoted the treatment of patients in a more kind and religious atmosphere.
William Tuke (1732-1822)
- She lived around 1802-1887.
- She was a prominent reformer of treating people with mental illness.
- She is known for helping to create a number of places for people with mental illness.
- 20 states responded to her appeals.
- She established 32 mental hospitals.
Dorothea Dix (1802-1887)
- A time period that saw a substantial growth in the number of mental hospitals.
- Overcrowding began to occur.
- The once medications began to be produced deinstitutionalization began.
20th Century (~1950’s)
What condition was found to be linked to late stage syphilis?
General Paresis (a condition that was similar to schizophrenia or dementia)
What biological discovery lead to lobotomies?
Brain Pathology
- He lived around 1856-1926.
- He was a German psychologist who began to create a classification system based on patterns and symptoms.
- He argued that some physical factors are responsible for mental dysfunction and others might be different and began to group behaviors into different categories.
Emil Kraeplin (1856-1926)
- This school of thought started with Franz Anton Mesmer in Austria.
- The thought that planets affected the magnetic fluid within our bodies and how that fluid was distributed could determine mental health or disease.
- The start of hypnosis.
Mesmerism
The physicians at this place believed that hypnosis and hysteria were related.
The Nancy School
- He lived around 1825-1893.
- He disagreed with The Nancy School and believed that hysteria was due to more brain changes.
- He later believed in psychological causes to mental disorders.
Jean Charcot (1825-1893)
- He lived around 1856-1939.
- He was a famous student of Jean Charcot.
- He learned hypnosis and began to hypnotize his patients and let them speak freely about what was on their mind.
- When hypnosis dwindled away, he would just have the patients speak freely. (AKA: free association)
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
