1. Past and Present Understandings of Mental Disorders
Chapter 2
Past and Present Understandings
of Mental Disorders
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2. Historical Ideas about Abnormality
Three Dominant Traditions
Supernatural – outside of ourselves
Biological – deals with body
Psychological – deals with mind
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3. The Supernatural Tradition
Deviant Behavior as a Battle of “Good” vs. Evil
Caused by demonic possession, witchcraft, sorcery
Treatments included exorcism, torture, and crude surgeries (i.e. trephining)
Enlightened view – natural and treatable
The Moon and the Stars
Paracelsus and lunacy
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4. Key Historical Figures
Hippocrates and Galen
Physicians of ancient Greece and Rome who developed treatments derived from medical knowledge
Avicenna
Islamic physician in the Middle Ages who helped preserve Greek and Roman learning
Pinel
French physician and leader of the moral treatment movement
Freud
Developed the first purely psychological model of abnormal behavior
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5. Table 2.1 The Mental Health Professions (p. 51)
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6. The Biological Model
The nervous system controls all thought and behavior, whether normal or abnormal
Any event or substance that affects the nervous system also affects thinking and behavior
Biological treatments for mental disorders aim to change a client’s physical condition in order to change thinking and behavior
Medical model of abnormal behavior
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7. Psychological and Sociocultural Models
Psychodynamic Theories
Normal and abnormal behaviors are influenced by unconscious forces
Based on the work of Sigmund Freud
The focus of therapy depends on the type of psychodynamic approach
Gain insight into unconscious origins of behavior
Help clients understand their heavy reliance on defense mechanisms
Use the therapeutic relationship to repair early relationships
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8. Psychological and Sociocultural Models
Interpersonal Theories
Explain abnormal behavior as the result of interaction styles that become too rigid and extreme
Emerged from psychodynamic ideas
Based on the work of Harry Stack Sullivan
Aim to help people develop more flexible ways of adapting to others and to life circumstances
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9. Psychological and Sociocultural Models
Behavioral Theories
Explain abnormal behavior in terms of the laws of learning
Operant Conditioning
Watson, Skinner
Classical Conditioning
Pavlov
Therapy aims to help clients decrease specific maladaptive behaviors and increase adaptive behaviors
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10. Psychological and Sociocultural Models
Cognitive Theories
Explain abnormal behavior via maladaptive information processing – what we pay attention to, perceive, think about, and remember
Appraisals, attributions, irrational beliefs
-Aaron Beck & Albert Ellis
Therapy aims to modify maladaptive behavior by encouraging clients to consider new information and change the way they think about themselves, other people, and the world in general
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11. Psychological and Sociocultural Models
Humanistic and Positive Psychology Theories
Believe that human behavior is determined by each person’s unique perception of the world
Such perceptions can allow a person to flourish or to falter
Based on the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
Therapy aims to help clients discover how they have become restricted by the expectations of others and how they can explore their potential and thrive
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12. Psychological and Sociocultural Models
Sociocultural Theories
Explain abnormality in terms of external factors
Harmful environments
Adverse social policies
Powerlessness
Cultural traditions
Treatment involves changing the broader social, environmental, and cultural climate to promote health
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13. The Diathesis-Stress Model
Abnormal behavior results from the interaction of particular people within specific environments
A mental disorder results from the combined effects of:
A predisposition or vulnerability for a disorder (diathesis)
A stressor
An example of a biopsychosocial model
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14. Table 2.4 Major Psychosocial Theories of Abnormal Behavior (p. 74)
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