Psychology 1100E Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Thomas Szasz, Sigmund Freud, General Paresis Of The Insane
10 Apr 2020
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The line between normal and abnormal is indistinct. The three d"s criteria for abnormal behaviour: deviancy, dysfunctionality, distress. 8 people presented themselves at emergency at various hospitals: They claimed they had been hearing voices saying: empty, hollow, thud. All were admitted with a provisional diagnosis of schizophrenia. Once admitted they made no further claims about the voices. All were released within 7 to 59 days with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in remission. Many took this as an indictment of the whole system of diagnosis of mental illness. At points in history, deviant people were often assumed to be possessed by evil spirits. Trephination was viewed as one way to release these evil spirits. In more enlightened periods such deviance began to be viewed as part of medicine. E. g. confusion was assumed to be a symptom of some disease. But, the causes of such diseases were usually unknown. It assumes: symptoms will vanish when the cause (pathogen) is discovered and eliminated.
