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Understanding Abnormality

Understanding Abnormality. A Look at History and Research Methods. Do you think any of these behaviors are ABNORMAL?. Having a “lucky” seat in an exam? Being unable to eat, sleep, or study for days after the breakup of a relationship? Refusing to ear solid food for days to stay thin?

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Understanding Abnormality

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  1. Understanding Abnormality A Look at History and Research Methods

  2. Do you think any of these behaviors are ABNORMAL? • Having a “lucky” seat in an exam? • Being unable to eat, sleep, or study for days after the breakup of a relationship? • Refusing to ear solid food for days to stay thin? • Thorough hand-washing after riding a bus? • Believing government agents monitor your phone calls? • Drinking a 6-pack daily to be “sociable”?

  3. Abnormal Behavior: • Distress • Impairment • Risk to self or other people • Socially and culturally unacceptable behavior

  4. Causes of Abnormality • Three dimensions of the causes of abnormality: • Biological • Psychological • Sociocultural • Social Scientists use the term BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL to characterize the interactions among these three dimenstions.

  5. Causes of Abnormality • Biological Causes • Possible biological causes: • Genetics • Disturbances in physical functioning • Medical conditions (ex. Thyroid problem) • Brain damage • Ingestion of substances • Environmental stimuli (ex. Toxins)

  6. Causes of Abnormality • Psychological Causes • Possible psychological causes • Troubling life experiences • Interpersonal- between people (ex. Arguments) • Intrapsychic- within thoughts and feelings (ex. Irrational interpretations)

  7. Causes of Abnormality • Sociocultural Causes • Sociocultural circles of influence • Immediate circle- people with whom we interact most locally • Extended circle of relationships such as family back home or friends from high school • People in our environment with whom we interact minimally

  8. Biopsychosocial Perspective • Diathesis-Stress Model- • The proposal that people are born with a predisposition (or diathesis) that places them at risk for developing a psychological disorder if exposed to certain extremely stressful life experiences.

  9. Abnormal Psychology Throughout History • Three prominent themes in explaining psychological disorders recur throughout history: • The mystical • The scientific • The humanitarian

  10. Prehistoric Times • Abnormal Behavior as Demonic Possession • Trephining- a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura matter to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases • Exorcism- is the practice of evicting demons or other spirits from a person or an area which they are believed to have possessed

  11. Ancient Greece and Rome • Emergence of the Scientific Model • Hippocrates • Theory of 4 Humors • Black bile- melancholic • Yellow bile- choleric • Phlegm- phlegmatic • Blood- sanguine

  12. Middle Ages & Renaissance • Explanations: Superstition, astrology, alchemy • Treatments: magical rituals, exorcism, folk medicines • Witch hunts • Asylums

  13. Europe & the US in the 1700’s • Vincenzo Chiarugi- Italian- humanitarian • Philippe Pinel- French- humanitarian • Jean-Baptiste Pussin- French- humanitarian • William Tuke- Moral treatment • Benjamin Rush- founder of Am. psychiatry • Dorothea Dix- State Hospital Movement

  14. 1800’s & 1900’s • Medical Model • Mesmerism, Hypnotism • Psychoanalytic model- psychoanalysis, psychotherapy

  15. Late 20th Century • Medications • Deinstitutionalization Movement • Managed Health Care

  16. Research Methods • The Scientific Method • Objectivity • Observation • Hypothesis Formation • Ruling out competing explanations with proper controls

  17. Research Methods • The Experimental Method • Independent variable (the possible cause) leads to the dependent variable (the outcome measured)

  18. Research Method • The Correlational Method • An association (or co-relation) between two variable

  19. Research Methods • The Survey Method • Researchers use the survey method to gather information from a sample considered representative of a particular population.

  20. Research Methods • Case Study Method • Single-Subject Design • Studies of Genetic Influence

  21. Myths of Mental Illness • Creative people are a little “crazy.” • People with mental disorders are dangerous. • Most older people are senile. • Freud was only concerned with sex. • Criminals are born “bad.” • Asthma is caused by emotional problems. • Suicidal individuals rarely talk about suicide. • People with schizophrenia have multiple personalities.

  22. Impact on the Individual • Stigma- a label that causes certain people to be regarded as different, defective, and set apart from mainstream members of society. • Distress

  23. Impact on the Family • Affected by loved ones’ distress • Also share a sense of stigma

  24. Impact on the Community & Society • Homelessness • Health Attention • Communities divided

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