Amber Gilewski Tompkins Cortland Community College Chapter 1 Abnormal Behavior in Historical Context Amber Gilewski Tompkins Cortland Community College

What is a Psychological Disorder? Psychological Dysfunction Breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning Personal Distress Difficulty performing appropriate and expected roles Impairment is set in the context of a person’s background Atypical or Not Culturally Expected Response Reaction is outside cultural norms

Classroom Activity: Distinguishing Normal from Abnormal Behavior Case # 1: Tom is uncomfortable riding escalators. As a result, Tom avoids using any escalator. Case #2: Rachel has been caught urinating in the corner of her bedroom. Is her behavior abnormal?

Historical Ideas about Abnormal Behavior Three Dominant Traditions Supernatural – outside of ourselves Biological – deals with body Psychological – deals with mind

The Supernatural Tradition Deviant Behavior as a Battle of “Good” vs. Evil Caused by demonic possession, witchcraft, sorcery Treatments included exorcism, torture, beatings, and crude surgeries Enlightened view – natural and treatable The Moon and the Stars Paracelsus and lunacy

The Biological Tradition Hippocrates: Abnormal Behavior as a Physical Disease Hysteria “The Wandering Uterus” Galen Extends Hippocrates Work Humoral theory of mental illness Treatments remained crude

The 19th Century General Paresis (Syphilis) and the Biological Link With Madness Pasteur discovered the cause – A bacterial microorganism Led to penicillin as a successful treatment John Grey, Dorthea Dix, & the reformers Bolstered the view that mental illness = physical illness

The Development of Biological Treatments Mental disorder treatment in 1930’s – insulin, ECT, brain surgery Joseph Von Meduna – schizophrenia and epilepsy Treatment of psychotic disorders in 1950’s – first effective medications

The Psychological Tradition •Psychosocial – social/cultural factors •The Rise of Moral Therapy – Pinel & Pussin (France), William Tuke (England), and Benjamin Rush (U.S.) More humane treatment of institutionalized patients Encouraged and reinforced social interaction • Decline of moral therapy due to beliefs about brain pathology & increase in psychiatric patients

Psychoanalytic Theory Freudian Theory of the Structure and Function of the Mind (Id, Ego, Superego) Defense mechanisms (denial, displacement, projection, rationalization, reaction formation, repression, sublimation) Neo-Freudians – Anna Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler

Humanistic Theory Major Players Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers Major Themes That people are basically good Humans strive toward self-actualization Therapist conveys empathy and unconditional positive regard

The Behavioral Model Derived from a Scientific Approach to the Study of Psychopathology Classical Conditioning (Pavlov; Watson) John Wolpe – systematic desensitization B.F. Skinner – operant conditioning