Aim: What makes something abnormal? Do Now: Do Now multiple choice quiz (complete on your own) Take out take home test to submit

The Cultural Model Normality and abnormality are culturally relative Aim: What makes something abnormal? The Cultural Model Normality and abnormality are culturally relative Definitions change over time Bullet # 1 The cultural model assumes that normality and abnormality are standards set by a given society. For example, our society finds the idea of sexual relations with children totally unacceptable; however in parts of India, this idea is viewed as acceptable. Bullet # 2 A culture’s definitions of normality and abnormality change over a period of time. For example, the American Psychological Association once viewed homosexuality as an illness. Today, most psychologists no longer consider homosexuality to be an abnormal or deviant condition. Another example: the “beatniks” of the late 1950s and early 1960s were considered abnormal; so were hippies in the late 1960s and punk rockers in the late 1970s. Today, we don’t view these types of people as abnormal because they’ve become accepted subcultures in our society.

Psychological Classification Aim: What makes something abnormal? Psychological Classification A Medical Model For years, psychologists tried to devise a logical and useful method for classifying emotional disorders. Today, all of the major classification schemes have accepted a medical model, making the assumption that mental illness can be described in the same manner as any physical illness.

Is Mr. Thompson Abnormal? Aim: What makes something abnormal? Is Mr. Thompson Abnormal? The city of San Diego evicted 54 year old Richard Thompson and all his belongings from his home. His belongings included shirts, pants, dozens of shoes, several bibles, a cooler, a tool chest, lawn chairs, a barbecue grill, tin plates, bird-cages, two pet rats, and his self fashioned bed. For the previous 9 months Thompson had lived happily and without any problems in a downtown storm drain (sewer). Because the city does not allow people to live in storm drains, Thompson was evicted from his underground storm-drain home and forbidden to return. Although Thompson later lived in several care centers and mental hospitals, he much preferred the privacy and comfort of the sewer. (Grimaldi, 1986) Is Thompson’s living in the sewer abnormal? Have kids discuss. On what basis do they determine Thompson is abnormal/normal…then discuss how abnormality is defined. 4

Deviant - changes w/ culture and time Distressful Aim: What makes something abnormal? D-D-D efining Abnormality Deviant - changes w/ culture and time Distressful Dysfunctional - (key) interfering with work and leisure Mental health workers label behavior psychologically disordered when they judge it to be Deviant, Distressful and Dysfunctional. Deviance is part of what it takes to define psychological disorders Standards for deviant behavior vary by culture, context, time (nude beaches, mass killings, wearing earings, homesexuality) More than JUST DEVIANCE-they may be maladaptive DEVIANT behavior must also cause distress. Unjustifiable: Doesn’t make sense to the average person. Feeling depressed when your family first moves away from all your friends is not seen as irrational, while prolonged depression due to virtually any situation is. Maladaptive (harmful) to the individual. For instance, someone who has agoraphobia, fear open spaces, and is thus unable to leave his or her home experiences something maladaptive and disturbing. Atypical: Not shared by many members of the population. In the US, having visions is atypical, while in some other cultures it occurs more commonly. Disturbing: Zoophilia, being aroused by animals, for example, disturbs others. People may be diagnosed with a psychological disorder even if they are not experiencing all, or even most, of the above symptoms. Another important point is that the term insane, often used by laypeople to describe psychological disorders in general, is not a medical term. Rather, insanity is a legal term. The reason behind the legal definition of insanity is to differentiate between those people who can be held entirely responsible for their crimes (the sane) and those people who, because of a psychological disorder, cannot be held fully responsible for their actions. When defendants plead not guilty by reason of insanity they are asking that the court acquit them due to psychological factors. Snowy Farr 5

Modern Perspectives of Psychological Disorders Aim: What makes something abnormal? Modern Perspectives of Psychological Disorders Biological (evolution, individual genes, brain structures and chemistry) Bio-psycho-social Model Eclectic Psychological (stress, trauma, learned helplessness, mood-related, perceptions and memories) This eclectic contemporary model assumes that biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors interact to produce psychological disorders. Today’s psychologists contend that ALL behavior, whether called normal or disordered, arises from the interaction of nature and nurture. Some major disorders such as depression and schizophrenia are universal, while other disorders are culture-bound. Different cultures have different sources of stress. Bulimia, Susto-fear of black magic. Therapists who subscribe to this view may recommend drugs as well as behavioral and cognitive therapies. Sociocultural (roles, expectations, definition of normality and disorder 6

Labeling Psychological Disorders Aim: What makes something abnormal? Labeling Psychological Disorders Labels may stigmatize individuals. Labels can alter perceptions (videotaped interviews) and lead to self fulfilling prophecies. Communication with healthcare professionals and establishing therapy. 4. To be able to receive Health Care/Prescriptions

David Rosenhan: Pseudo-Patient Experiment Aim: What makes something abnormal? David Rosenhan: Pseudo-Patient Experiment Investigated reliability of psychiatric diagnoses Eight healthy people entered psychiatric hospitals complaining of hearing strange voices Once admitted to the hospital, they behaved normally and claimed that the voices had disappeared David Rosenhan’s 1972 study, published under the title “On Being Sane in Insane Places,” investigated the reliability of psychiatric diagnoses and, more broadly, tested the credibility of the profession of psychiatry. He selected eight healthy people (three women and five men) to pose as psychiatric patients. When they presented themselves at psychiatric hospitals, they claimed to be hearing voices that said things like “empty,” “hollow,” and “thud.” They also lied about their real names and occupations. All eight pseudo-patients were admitted, and seven were diagnosed as schizophrenic, since people with schizophrenia often hear voices that don’t really exist. Once admitted, the pseudo-patients behaved normally and claimed to no longer hear voices. Despite their normal behavior and claim that they felt fine, hospital staff still treated the pseudo-patients as mentally ill. Staff members noted that the pseudo-patients exhibited significant numbers of “ill” behaviors and kept them hospitalized for an average of 19 days before releasing them. In the discharge reports, the staff claimed that the psuedo-patients had “schizophrenia in remission” rather than characterizing them as completely healthy. In Rosenhan’s next experiment, he hypothesized that hospital staff, when warned to expect pseudo-patients, would incorrectly label genuine patients as pseudo-patients. He told the staff at a prestigious psychiatric hospital that sometime during the next three months, he would be sending them one or more pseudo-patients whom the staff should try to identify. After the three-month period, the hospital staff had identified 41 patients as “impostors” (pseudo-patients) and were suspicious of an additional 42; during that time a total of 193 patients had come to the hospital. In fact, Rosenhan had tricked the hospital and had sent no pseudo-patients at all. Thus, the staff had incorrectly identified genuine patients as frauds.

Rosenhan: Implications Aim: What makes something abnormal? Rosenhan: Implications Psychiatrists disputed the results Prompted changes in psychiatric diagnosis The DSM-V Primary and secondary features Describe criteria of disorders (reliability) Common language for communication and study Rosenhan’s two famous studies proved very controversial. Many psychiatrists argued against the validity of these experiments, saying that if a patient fakes symptoms psychiatrists shouldn’t be blamed for misdiagnosing him or her. Still, these studies prompted psychiatrists to make some changes in the way they diagnosed mental illness. For example, subsequent updates to diagnostic procedure eventually resulted in the creation of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), the manual used by most mental health professionals today.

Read and Annotate Read and annotate the psychological disorders review sheet DSM-5