Download File - Mr. VanderLeest AP Psychology Class

Abnormal Psychology
What is a psychological Disorder?
• Psychological disorders are persistently
harmful thoughts, feelings and actions.
– When behavior is deviant, distressful and
dysfunctional, psychologists label it a disorder.
• The more extreme a disorder is, the more easily it is
detected. When trying to diagnose a patient, doctors look
for three classic symptoms of sever psychopathology:
• Hallucinations-false sensory experiences.
• Delusions-extreme disorders that involve persistent false
beliefs.
• Affect (emotion)-characteristically depressed, anxious, manic,
or no emotional response.
What was once believed to cause
mental disorders?
 Perceived Causes
 movements of sun or moon
 lunacy--full moon
 evil spirits
 Ancient Treatments
 exorcism, caged like animals, beaten,
burned, castrated, mutilated, blood
replaced with animal’s blood
Early Theories
• Music or singing was
often used to chase away
spirits.
• In some cases
trephening was used:
– Cutting a hole in the
head of the afflicted to
let out the evil spirit.
Psychological Disorders as a Continuum
No Disorder
Mild Disorder
Moderate
Disorder
Severe
Disorder
Absence of signs of
psychological
disorder
Few signs of distress
or other indicators of
psychological
disorder
Indicators of
disorders are more
pronounced and
occur more frequently
Clear signs of
psychological
disorder, which
dominate the
person’s life
Absence of
behavioral problems
Few behavior
problems; responses
usually appropriate to
the situation
More distinct
behavior is often
inappropriate to the
situation
Severe and frequent
behavior problems;
behavior is usually
inappropriate to the
situation
No problems with
interpersonal
relationships
Few difficulties with
relationships
More frequent
difficulties with
relationships
Many poor
relationships or lack
of relationships
Disorders are exaggerations of normal behavior and responses.
DSM- Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental
Disorders.
-Primary reference for making
diagnostic judgments
Indicators of Abnormality
• While psychologists look for the three
classical symptoms, not all disorders have
such sever symptoms. A few others are:
– Distress: Does the individual show unusual or
prolonged levels of
anxiety?
– Maladaptiveness: Does the person act in ways that
make others fearful?
– Irrationality: Does the person act or talk in ways that
are irrational or incomprehensible to others?
– Unpredictability: Does the individual behave erratically
and inconsistently at different times?
– Unconventional/undesirable behavior: Does the
person act in ways that are statistically rare and violate
social norms?
The More the Better
• Clinicians are more confident in labeling behavior as
“abnormal” when two or more of the indicators are
present.
– Extremes and prevalence = greater confidence in
diagnosis
Rates of Psychological Disorders
The Medical Model
• In the late 18th century, the “disease view” reemerged.
• The result was the medical model, a view that mental disorders are
diseases of the mind that, like ordinary physical diseases, have objective
causes and require specific treatment.
butt
**
Medical Model in Practice
• The medical model led to mental hospitals or
“asylums.” In this supportive atmosphere, many
patients actually improved, even thrived, on rest,
contemplation and simple but useful work.
Problems with the Medical Model
• Despite its success, modern psychologists find fault
with relying solely on the medical model.
• They suggest that treating the disorder as a “disease”
leads to a doctor-knows-best approach in which the
therapist takes all the responsibility for diagnosing
and correcting the problem.
• In this model, the patient becomes a passive
recipient of medication and advice.
Psychologists vs. Psychiatrists
• The other problem psychologists have with
the medical model (doctor-knows-best), is
that it takes responsibility away from
psychologists and gives it to psychiatrists.
– According to our authors, it assigns psychologists
to second-class professional status.
The Cognitive Approach
• The cognitive approach to depression points
out that negative thinking styles are learned
and modifiable.
*Think classical and operant conditioning.
Social-Cognitive-Behavioral Approach
• As psychology has evolved, theories which were
originally at odds, have now been combined to offer
more thorough explanations, for example, cognitive
psychology and behaviorism.
• Cognitive psychology looks inward, emphasizing
mental processes. Behaviorism looks outward and
emphasizes the influences of the environment.
• Psychologist from these perspectives see
these two as complementary, and add that
cognitions and behavior usually happen in
social context, requiring social perspective.
Combining Perspectives
• The behavioral perspective tells us that
abnormal behaviors can be acquired in
the same fashion as healthy behaviors-through behavioral learning.
• The cognitive perspective suggests that
we must consider how people think
about themselves and their relations
with other people.
• Social-cognitive-behavioral approach,
then, is an alternative to the medical
model combining all three of
psychology’s major perspectives.
Rosenhan Experiment
• Rosenhan suspected that some strange
behaviors seen in mental patients might
originate in the abnormal atmosphere mental
hospitals, rather than in the patients
themselves.
• To test these theories, Rosenhan and seven
collogues conducted the Rosenhan
Experiment in the early 1970s.
David Rosenhan
Explaining Rosenhan
• Rosenhan said that the mistaken diagnosis were
most likely a result of the lack of time the doctors
spent with the patients.
• Surprisingly, the other hospital patients readily
detected the experiment. The pseudo-patients
reported that the other patients regularly voiced
their suspicions.
– Watch Rosenhan discuss his experiment
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6bmZ8cVB4o
After the Experiment
• All of the people who served in the original
study were eventually discharged from the
hospital with the label of "schizophrenic in
remission."
• To put it another way, they were still
considered schizophrenic, but they were
temporarily free of symptoms.
Psychological Disorders and
Courtrooms
The Insanity Plea: Breaking the
myths
– Does not mean a person gets
away with a crime without
circumstance
– Not easy to be considered not
guilty by reason of insanity; less
than 1%
– If deemed not guilty by reason
of insanity individuals don’t go
home, they are assigned to go to
a mental institution until they
are deemed mentally stable;
could be longer than a prison
sentence.
Court Confidentiality
Problem- Psychologist are required to maintain patient
confidentiality and not expose what they a patient told
them in private.
However, a judge may require that a psychologist give a
testimony as to the psychological state of an
individual, divulging confidential details.
In a court of law, a judge may issue a subpoena that
requires a psychologists full cooperation.