ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

• Psychological disorder


  A psychological dysfunction within an individual associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected
• Psychological dysfunction


  A breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning
• Distress


  The criterion is satisfied if the individual is extremely upset
• Impairment


  If the individual's functioning is impaired, e.g. unable to date or interact with people
• Atypical or not culturally expected


  Something is considered abnormal because it occurs infrequently or deviates from the average
• The most widely accepted definition used in DSM-5 describes behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with present distress and impairment in functioning, or increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or impairment

  
• Psychopathology


  The scientific study of psychological disorders
• Counseling psychologists


  Study and treat adjustment and vocational issues encountered by relatively healthy individuals
• Clinical psychologists


  Usually concentrate on more severe psychological disorders
• Psy.D. programs


  Focus on clinical training and de-emphasize or eliminate research training
• Ph.D. programs


  Integrate clinical and research training
• Psychiatrists


  Earn an M.D. degree, specialize in psychiatry, investigate the nature and causes of psychological disorders, make diagnoses, and offer treatments
• Psychiatric social workers


  Earn a master's degree in social work, develop expertise in collecting information relevant to the social and family situation of the individual with a psychological disorder, and treat disorders
• Psychiatric nurses


  Have advanced degrees, specialize in the care and treatment of patients with psychological disorders, usually in hospitals as part of a treatment team
• Marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors


  Spend 1–2 years earning a master's degree, are employed to provide clinical services by hospitals or clinics, usually under the supervision of a doctoral-level clinician
• Scientist-practitioners


  Many mental health professionals who take a scientific approach to their clinical work
• Prevalence


  How many people in the population as a whole have the disorder
• Incidence


  Statistics on how many new cases occur during a given period, such as a year
• Chronic course


  Disorders that tend to last a long time, sometimes a lifetime
• Episodic course


  Disorders where the individual is likely to recover within a few months only to suffer a recurrence at a later time
• Time-limited course


  Disorders that will improve without treatment in a relatively short period
• Prognosis


  The anticipated course of a disorder
• Etiology


  The study of origins, including biological, psychological, and social dimensions of why a disorder begins
• Supernatural tradition


  Agents outside our bodies and environment, such as divinities, demons, spirits, or other phenomena, are the driving forces behind abnormal behavior
• Biological model


  Causes of abnormal behavior are located in the body
• Psychological model


  Causes of abnormal behavior are located in the mind
• During the last quarter of the 14th century, religious and lay authorities supported popular superstitions and society as a whole began to believe more strongly in the existence and power of demons and witches
• The bizarre behavior of people afflicted with psychological disorders was seen as the work of the devil and witches
• Exorcism


  Religious rituals performed in an effort to rid the victim of evil spirits
• Acedia


  The sin of sloth, associated with mental depression and anxiety
• In the 14th century, Nicholas Oresme suggested that the disease of melancholy (depression) was the source of some bizarre behavior, rather than demons

  
• With a perceived connection between evil deeds and sin on the one hand and psychological disorders on the other, it is logical to conclude that the sufferer is largely responsible for the disorder, which might well be a punishment for evil deeds
• If exorcism failed, some authorities thought that steps were necessary to make the body uninhabitable by evil spirits, and many people were subjected to confinement, beatings, and other forms of torture
• Mass hysteria


  The phenomenon of emotion contagion, where the experience of an emotion seems to spread to those around us
• Paracelsus rejected notions of possession by the devil, suggesting instead that the movements of the moon and stars had profound effects on people's psychological functioning
• The Roman Catholic Church requires that all healthcare resources be exhausted first before spiritual solutions such as exorcism can be considered
• Hippocrates


  The father of modern Western medicine, who suggested that psychological disorders could be treated like any other disease
• Hippocrates considered the brain to be the seat of wisdom, consciousness, intelligence, and emotion, so disorders involving these functions would logically be located in the brain
• Hippocrates recognized the importance of psychological and interpersonal contributions to psychopathology, such as the sometimes negative effects of family stress
• Galen


  The Roman physician who adopted and developed the ideas of Hippocrates and his associates, creating a powerful and influential school of thought within the biological tradition