Whole Psychopathology

• Definitions of abnormality


  • Deviation from social norms
  • Social norms are unwritten behavioral expectations that vary depending on culture, time and context
  • Social deviants are individuals who break the norms of their society and are seen as abnormal
• Examples of behaviors showing high cultural specificity are tolerance to homosexuality, religious experience and public displays of emotion
• Evaluations using deviation from social norms does not impose a western view of abnormality on other non-western cultures
• Diagnosing abnormality according to social norms can be inappropriate for example people from afro caraban background living in the UK are seven times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia
• Failure to function adequately

  When individuals cannot cope with the day-to-day challenges of daily life such as maintaining personal hygiene
• Evaluations of failure to function respects the individual and their own personal experience which is something that other definitions such as statistical infrequency and deviation from social norms cannot do
• Failure to function adequately only includes people who cannot cope
• Psychopaths often function in society in ways that benefit them personally, having low empathy can lead to success in business and politics
• Statistical infrequency


  Someone is mentally abnormal if their mental condition is very rare in the population
• The normal distribution curve shows a population's average spread of specific characteristics
• One element of diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder in the DSM 5 is having 70 IQ points or fewer, just over 2% of the population
• Individuals who are assessed as being abnormal according to statistical infrequency have been evaluated objectively, this is better than other definitions that depend on the subjective opinion of a clinician
• Not all statistically rare traits are negative, for example IQs of 130 are just as statistically rare as IQs of 70
• There are common mental health conditions like anxiety, the NHS found 17% of people surveyed met the criteria for a common mental health disorder
• Deviation from ideal mental health

  A humanistic definition by Joda in 1958 rather than defining abnormality it defines features of ideal mental health and deviation from these indicates abnormality
• The six features of ideal mental health

  • Environmental mastery
  • Autonomy
  • Resisting stress
  • Self-actualisation
  • Positive attitude to yourself
  • Accurate perception of reality
• Abnormality is a very difficult one to define as every culture, time period, and society has a unique set of standard norms, and any departure from these could easily be seen as abnormal
• This is a holistic definition as it considers multiple factors in diagnosis and provides suggestions for personal development
• The abnormality of homosexuality was used as an excuse to justify cruelty, prejudice, and hatred for hundreds and thousands of years
• It's too strict to set of criteria to define mental health as it's challenging to achieve all of the requirements at any one time, most people would be defined as abnormal
• Social norms and rules also change over time, and many abnormal behaviors such as women having a career are seen as completely normal, healthy, and acceptable today
• One way of defining abnormality


  As a deviation from statistical norms, like having a very low IQ or showing statistically infrequent behaviors
• This statistical description of abnormality doesn't take into account any desirability of behavior, as having a very high IQ is abnormal but not a negative quality
• This definition also makes no distinction between rare and harmless behavior and rare and dangerous behavior
• Criteria for diagnosing abnormal behavior

  • Dysfunctional behavior
  • Observer discomfort
  • Unpredictable behavior
  • Irrational behavior
  • Personal distress
• In 1958, a psychologist called Jahoda outlined six conditions which were at least linked with an ideal state of mental health
• Conditions linked with ideal mental health

  • Positive self-attitude
  • Self-actualization
  • Resistance to stress
  • Personal autonomy
  • Accurate perception
  • Adaptation
• It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for any single individual to meet all six of these conditions, and opinions vary wildly on what constitutes ideal mental health
• For a condition to be classified as an official mental illness by the NHS, there should be at least one of the following present on a non-temporary basis
• Symptoms for a condition to be classified as a mental illness

  • Impairment of intellectual functions
  • Alterations to mood
  • Delusional beliefs
  • Disordered thinking
• Depression


  A mood disorder classified by the DSM, involving strong emotions that usually cause an impact on thinking, perceptions, and behavior
• Major depression


  A single episode of depression which can come on suddenly and unexpectedly, caused by internal or external factors
• Manic depression (bipolar disorder)


  An individual alternates between two extremes of mood, usually in cycles
• Symptoms of depression


  • Physical/behavioral symptoms
  • Cognitive symptoms
  • Affective/emotional symptoms
• Phobia


  An extreme and irrational fear, a type of anxiety disorder
• Types of phobias


  • Specific phobias
  • Agoraphobia
  • Social anxiety disorder (social phobia)
• Characteristics of phobias


  • Cognitive symptoms
  • Behavioral symptoms
  • Physical symptoms
  • Emotional symptoms
• Diagnostic criteria for phobias


  • Significant and prolonged fear
  • Anxiety response to stimulus
  • Fear disproportionate to actual danger
  • Changes in normal behavior to avoid stimulus
  • Fear disruptive to everyday life
• OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)


  A condition where people suffer obsessions (constant, recurring, intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive physical or mental actions)
• OCD


  People suffering from OCD have obsessions about a particular object or process and then compulsions to carry out a specific action