Chapter 1 What is Abnormal? Abnormal Psychology

How do we define abnormality? Deviation from social or situational norms Statistical rarity Personally distressing or affecting one’s ability to function

Abnormality v. Mental Illness The Diagnostic & Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders – IV – TR. What does the DSM do? Provides groupings of mental disorders. Provides criterion for the diagnosing of disorders (labeling). Defines disorders (mental health epidemiology). Prevalence - # of active cases Incidence – # of new cases over a given time period Increases reliability & validity in diagnosing.

Problems or limitations with the DSM Labeling Does not explain the causes of disorders Allows for clinical interpretation and subjectivity Does not define Insanity.

Historical Views Hippocrates 4 Bodily fluids (humors) out of balance Hysteria caused by a wandering uterus Middle Ages Demonology Trepanning: For primitive “therapists,” refers to boring, chipping, or bashing holes into a patient’s head; for modern usage, refers to any surgical procedure in which a hole is bored into the skull In primitive times it was unlikely the patient would survive; this may have been a goal Goal presumably to relieve pressure or rid the person of evil spirits Ergotism: Psychotic-like symptoms that come from ergot poisoning Ergot is a natural source of LSD Ergot occurs with rye Early Asylums (St. Mary’s of Bethlehem) Phillippe Pinel: French physician who initiated humane treatment of mental patients in 1793 Created the first mental hospital

Beginning of the Modern Era Freud Willhelm Wundt (1871) Behaviorism Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Problems Research becomes more defined. Correlational Research (naturalistic observation, survey, case study). Experimental Research