PSYC3102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Abnormal Psychology, Psychopathology, Etiology
Lecture 1 – Introduction
Course overview
●Psychopathology is a huge field
●Historical views
○Classification and treatment
●Contemporary views
○Etiological theories and models of abnormal behaviour
○Derived from theoretical as well as empirical research studies
●Major mental health disorders
○Assessment
○Diagnosis
○Classification
○Epidemiology
○Course of disorder
○Etiological theories
●Developing clinical skills
●Psychopathology is a personal challenge
●There is still misunderstanding and ignorance in the community
●The study of abnormality is a subset of general psychology, approached from a
scientific perspective
●We have a tendency to romanticise abnormality
●Problems exist along a continuum and part of the human condition
Introduction and history of abnormal psychology
●What is it?
○Scientific study of behaviour
○Four main objectives
■Describing what behaviours are evident
■Explaining why behaviour/a disorder is evident
■Predicting outcome
■Managing behaviours that are considered problematic
Concepts of abnormality
●Two extreme viewpoints include:
○Relativist view
■Symptoms and causes vary across cultures
●E.g. eating disorders are more common in Western countries with
more specific subcultures i.e. women, university students instead
of working adults
○Absolutist view
■A disorder is caused by the same biological factors
●And thus can be found across cultures and are not specific
●E.g. schizophrenia prevalence is similar around the world
○The reality is probably a balance of the two; culture plays a different role in
different disorders e.g. psychotic disorders are found across cultures
○No disorders are due completely to culture or social factors alone
○It’s more likely that the symptoms vary across cultures instead of the disorders
themselves
○Note that the DSM-5 was developed in the USA
●How is abnormality defined?
○There are no clear-cut definitions
○Could be behaving differently, deviantly, dangerously or dysfunctionally
○Could be behaviour that causes distress or dysfunction
○Consider duration as well
Elements of abnormality
●Personal suffering
○Though not enough to define the field of psychopathology
●Maladaptiveness
○Does the behaviour interfere with functioning?
○E.g. substance abuse; people can use substances to an extent and still lead
fulfilling lives, but some cannot
●Irrationality and incomprehensibility
○Delusions, hallucinations
●Unpredictability and loss of control
○E.g. gaming addiction; inability to stop engagement in certain activities and
behaviour
●Level of emotional distress
●Interference in daily functioning
○E.g. work, self-care etc.
●Vividness and unconventionality
○Deviations from developmental, societal and cultural norms
●Observer discomfort
○E.g narcissistic personality disorder may be more evident to observers than the
individual
●Violation of moral and ideal standards
○Subjective e.g. homosexuality was once in the DSM
Defining Abnormal Behaviour
●Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Ed. (DSM-5)
○Created my panels of experts and voting systems and is thus not perfect
○Focuses on symptoms and scientific basis
■Clinical presentation – clusters of specific symptoms
■Aetiology – causes of the disorder
■Developmental stage – differences of the disorder in children and adults
■Functional impairment – immediate/long-term consequences
○Mental disorders involve one or all of the following:
■Present distress
■Disability (impairment in one or more areas of functioning)
■Significant risk of suffering death, pain, disability or an important loss of
freedom
The idea of mental illness
●Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus – https://youtu.be/ea1yHguAWKQ
○Considers mental illness “problems in living”
○Mental illness is a means of social control
○“Labelling a child as mentally ill is stigmatisation, not diagnosis. Giving a child a
psychotic drug is poisoning, not treatment.”
●Labelling can be misused
○E.g. black slaves wanting to achieve freedom were once considered to suffer
from a disorder called drapetomania – scientific racism
●Clinical labelling can lead to stigma and discrimination
●People can be misdiagnosed, but there are clear benefits such as treatment, support,
services, self-understanding etc. which makes it complicated
Mental health professionals
●Distinctions
○Psychiatrist
■“Medical psychologists”
■May focus on biological treatments but are not restricted to them
○Clinical psychologist
■Must receive extra training and be registered
■May focus on diagnoses of disorders and can work with people with no
disorders
○Psychoanalyst
■“Freudian” perspective
■Specific training on psychoanalysis
Document Summary
Etiological theories and models of abnormal behaviour. Derived from theoretical as well as empirical research studies. There is still misunderstanding and ignorance in the community. The study of abnormality is a subset of general psychology, approached from a scientific perspective. We have a tendency to romanticise abnormality. Problems exist along a continuum and part of the human condition. E. g. eating disorders are more common in western countries with more specific subcultures i. e. women, university students instead of working adults. A disorder is caused by the same biological factors. And thus can be found across cultures and are not specific. E. g. schizophrenia prevalence is similar around the world. The reality is probably a balance of the two; culture plays a different role in different disorders e. g. psychotic disorders are found across cultures. No disorders are due completely to culture or social factors alone. It(cid:394)s more likely that the symptoms vary across cultures instead of the disorders themselves.
