Abnormal Psychology Dr. David M. McCord Basic Concepts History

Introductions Name Hometown Local residence Major Career plans Something interesting

Psychopathology Psychopathology examines the nature and development of abnormal –behavior –thoughts –feelings Definitions of abnormality vary widely and may not capture all aspects of psychopathology

Defining Abnormal Behavior Statistical infrequency suggests that rare behaviors are abnormal –Normal curve indicates that behaviors are common while others are rare Common behaviors are at middle of normal curve Rare behaviors fall at the tails of the curve Violation of norms suggests that abnormality is relative to a cultural/societal norm

Defining Abnormal Behavior Personal distress suggests that behaviors that are accompanied by distress are abnormal Disability/dysfunction argues that impairment of life function can be a component of abnormal behavior Dangerousness – to oneself or others – careless, hostile, confused Unexpectedness asks whether the responses of a person to an environmental stressor are appropriate

Early Views of Psychopathology Demonology is the view that abnormal mental function is due the occupation by an evil being of the mind of a person –Treatment requires exorcism Somatogenesis is the view that disturbed body function produces mental abnormality Psychogenesis is the belief that mental disturbance has psychological origins

Hippocrates ( B.C.) “Father of modern medicine Four humours: –Blood- changeable temperament –Black bile- melancholia –Yellow bile- irascibility, anxiousness –Phlegm- sluggish, dull

Hippocrates ( B.C.) Three (or four) types of mental disorder: –Mania –Melancholia –Phrenitis –(Hysteria)

Demonology During the Dark Ages The Dark ages were marked by a decline in Greek and Roman civilizations and by an increase of influence of churches Church authorities came to view witchcraft as an explanation of abnormality –Witches were in the league with the Devil –Torture was required to elicit “confessions” of witchcraft; death by fire was required to drive out supposed demons

The Inquisition 1486 issued the Malleus Maleficarum Textbook on witchcraft Guide to identifying witches Recommended “treatment” Decline of witchhunts by 1600 Trials stopped in France in 1682 Last execution of witch in Switzerland was 1782

Asylums Asylums were created in the 15th century for the care/treatment of the mentally ill. –Asylums were meant to be a place of refuge –Care and treatment within an asylum was not always humane or effective Pinel (1793) advocated for humane treatment of patients in asylums –Removed shackles, improved diet, better treatment

Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem (1243) Lunatic’s Tower (1784) 1 st US mental asylum in Williamsburg, VA, in 1773 Benjamin Rush ( ) Moral treatment, Pinel ( ) –William Tuke ( ) Dorothea Dix ( )

Modern Somatogenesis Systems of classification were developed which argued that mental illness has a biological cause –Kraepelin suggested that clusters of symptoms form a syndrome –Each syndrome has its own unique cause, course, symptoms, treatment, and outcome Led to focus on physical treatments during most of 20 th century (see video clips #3, #4, #5, #6)

Modern Psychogenesis Abnormal functioning is a result of psychological causes In France and Austria many patients were experiencing hysterical states, physical disorders that made no sense anatomically Franz Anton Mesmer ( ) practiced in Vienna and Paris, “universal magnetic fluid” Charcot, Parisian neurologist, got into the hypnosis game Influenced Josef Breuer, and, most significantly, Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis The somatogenic/psychogenic dichotomy is still very much with us today…