Psychological Disorders

1. Psychological Disorders Chapter 12 Pages 483-521

2. Psychopathology • In other words mental disorder or mental illness • According to the National Institutes of Mental Health 15.4% of the population suffers from a diagnosable mental health problems • Another study found that the behaviors of over 56 million Americans meet the criteria for a diagnosable psychological disorder

3. Changing Concepts of Psychological Disorder

4. Different Perspectives: Demonological • The view that abnormal behavior reflect invasion by evil spirits or demons. • Stone Age humans developed trephining- the practice of putting holes in the skull to provide a passage for demons to get out of the head

5. continued • Trephining actually worked- today most would agree b/c people were so afraid they conformed to society. • Ancient Greeks believed gods punished people by causing confusion and madness except Hippocrates (said Abnormal Behavior caused by something in brain)

6. continued • Massachusetts- Many believed ab. Behavior was caused by possession of devil-called these people witches( held responsible for many things ranging from a neighbor’s infertility to a poor yield of crops).

7. Cures • An exorcist would pray for you and wave a cross over you at night to send the devil elsewhere…if that didn’t work you were beaten, killed • In Europe over 200,000 “witches” were killed due to a publishing of manual of how to recognize a witch. • Salem witch trials

8. Witch testing • Water-float test • (pure metals sink to the bottom, impurities float to surface) suspects who sank were considered pure, those who kept their heads above water were impure.

9. Historical Roots • 400 B.C.- Hippocrates declared abnormal behavior had physical causes. • He taught symptoms of mental disorders were a result of an imbalance among bodily fluids (called humors)

10. The Four Humors

12. Middle Ages • Superstition eclipsed Hippocrates ideas • Under the influence of the church, physicians and clergy reverted back to blaming abnormal behavior on demons, witches, and the devil. • The cure: torture, trephining, execution

13. The Medical Model • Ab. Behavior is symptomatic of an underlying illness. • 2 version of model *biological *psychodynamic

14. The medical model • Reemerged (from Hippocrates ideas) in the late 18th century • Diseases of the mind are like any other disease • Mental diseases have specific causes and therefore must have specific treatments

15. How did this change view of mental illnesses? • Torture, executions, etc.. No longer made sense • Implemented asylums for the insane-initially very therapeutic, later became overcrowded and used as human storehouses

16. Biological Version • Ab. behavior reflects biological or biochemical problems • Term- mental illness • Today- abnormalities in neurotransmitters, the chemical that “conduct’ messages from one cell in the nervous system to another.

17. continued • Syndrome- a cluster or group of symptoms suggestive of a particular order. • Each mental illness presumably has specific outcome and response to appropriate therapy. • DNA

18. continued • Major advance over demonological perspective—compassion over hatred • Problem- mental hospital not always best “cure” • Today- receive treatment while staying in society

19. Psychodynamic (Freud)Version • Neuroses(neurotic behavior)- groups of disorders theorized to stem from unconscious conflict • Abnormal behavior is a symptom of unconscious childhood conflict

20. continued • Psychosis- major disorder in which a person lacks insight and has difficulty meeting the demands of daily life and maintaining contact with reality. • Cure- resolve unconscious conflicts

21. Criticism of the medical approach • Too much reliance on doctor • Patients became too passive/dependent on doctor and/or drug treatments • Little encouragement for the patient to take part in ‘getting better”

22. Learning Perspectives • Ab. Behavior may be caused by the fact that one never got the chance to observe “normal” behaviors and interactions. • Inconsistent punishments • Subculture reinforces behavior that is not accepted by majority of population.

23. The Cognitive Perspective • Ab. behavior caused by disturbances in how one inputs, stores,manipulates, and retrieves info. • Disturbances caused by blocking input, faulty storage, retrieval, or manipulation

24. Social-Cognitive-Behavioral Perspective • The alternative to the medical model that view psychological disorders as a combination of the social, cognitive, and behavioral perspective.