1. Normality and Abnormality

2. Outline Understanding Psychopathology Approaches to Psychopathology
What is Normal?
What is Psychological Disorder?
Approaches to Psychopathology
Supernatural
Biological
Psychological
Scientific Method and an Integrative Approach
Normality and Abnormality
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3. Introduction What is normal?
Provide examples of what is normal and what isn’t
How does the notion of what is normal differ across cultures?
Is there a fixed definition of normal just like there are laws of physics?
So, how do we construe the definition of what is normal and what is not?
Normality and Abnormality
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4. Understanding Psychopathology
Behaviors appears
Unpredictable
Irrational
Harmful
Deviate from accepted contemporary social norms
Many forms of psychopathology are accompanied by what appear to be changes in the individuals personality or behavior
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5. Understanding Psychopathology …
Abnormal describes behavioral, emotional, or cognitive dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with personal distress or substantial impairment in functioning (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition)
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6. Understanding Psychopathology …
Normality (physical medicine)
Physiological and functional integrity of the body; sometimes equated with “health”
Health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948)
Normality and Abnormality
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7. Understanding Psychopathology …
Normality (psychiatry)
The absence of abnormality
Concept limited by defining mental health as simply the absence of psychiatric disease 
Abnormality is defined in terms of the impact of behavior on the individual‘s ability to function and on his or her sense of well being (Gross, 2010)
Normality and Abnormality
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8. Understanding Psychopathology …
Psychological disorder consists 3 components
Psychological dysfunction
Breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning (continuum vs. dimension)
Personal distress
Being extremely upset (caution – sometimes it is normal to be extremely upset)
Atypical or not culturally expected behavior
Social norms and their possible misuse
Normality and Abnormality
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9. Different Approaches to Psychopathology
Culture and tradition
Mental illness is caused by demons and witches
Shock therapy (pit of snakes, ice-cold water)
Exorcism (religious rituals to get rid of evil spirits)
Mental illness is caused by stress
Rest, sleep, a healthy and happy environment
Mental illness is caused by the movements of the moon and the stars
Pracelsus, lunatic
Normality and Abnormality
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10. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
The biological tradition
Hippocrates
Mental illness caused by brain pathology, head trauma, heredity
Galen
Humoral theory of disorders (blood, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm)
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11. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
Biological tradition …
Pasteur’s germ theory of disease
Mental illness can be caused by a bacterial infection (syphilis)
John P. Grey
Insanity is always due to physical causes and patients suffering from mental illness should be treated as physically ill
Normality and Abnormality
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12. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
Biological
Focus on diagnosis
Search for biological causes and classification
Therapy
Undiscovered psychopathology – reduced interest in treating patients
Insulin shock therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy - ECT
Chemical drugs
Normality and Abnormality
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13. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
Psychological
Plato and Aristotle
Moral therapy
18th century – treating patients as normally as possible in normal environments
Mental hygiene movement
Effort to improve care for mentally disordered and make it more accessible
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14. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
Psychological
Psychoanalytic theory
Mesmerism – ancestor of hypnosis, using unconscious processes in therapy
Structure of the mind (id, ego, superego)
Defense mechanisms (coping styles in response to particular situations, e.g. displacement, denial)
Psychosexual stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital)
Therapy (free association, dream analysis, hypnosis)
Normality and Abnormality
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15. Freud’s Structure of the Mind
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Normality and Abnormality

16. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
Humanistic theory
Self-actualizing - we need a freedom to grow in order to reach our highest potential
Maslow (hierarchy of needs)
Person-centered therapy (Rogers) - unconditional positive regard and empathy
Behaviorist Theory
Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)
Little Albert (Watson)
Systematic desensitization (Joseph Wolpe)
Behavior therapy (conditioning and reward)
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17. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
Integrative Approach
Integration of biological, psychological, social and other approaches to diagnosis and treatment of disorder
Scientific approach to mental disorders
Prevalence (number of people in the population suffering from a disorder at a given time)
Incidence (number of new cases appearing during a specific time period)
Normality and Abnormality
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18. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
Integrative Approach…
Course (pattern of development, e.g. chronic course, episodic course, time-limited course)
Prognosis (anticipated course of a disorder)
Normality and Abnormality
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19. Different Approaches to Psychopathology …
The scientific study of psychological disorders
Mental health professionals
Clinical psychologists (more severe disorders)
Counseling psychologists (vocational issues)
Psychiatrists (emphasize biological treatments)
Psychiatric social workers (focused on social and family issues)
Psychiatric nurses (treatment in hospitals)
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20. References King, L.A (2008) the Science of Psychology, McGraw-Hill
Lahey, B.B (2004) Psychology An Introduction 8th Edition; McGraw-Hill
Gross, R. (2010) Psychology the Science of Mind and Behaviors 6th edition; Macmillan Company
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