PSYCH257 Lecture Notes - Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Consistency, Psychopathology
20 Mar 2013
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Document Summary
Many definitions have been proposed, yet none are universally accepted. Most definitions, however, share some common features (mentioned about dsm) None of these alone were sufficient to define psychological dysfunction. A person has a mental disorder when their behavior, ability, or experience is significantly different from average. One question is where do we draw the cut off? (one limitation of using statistical anomaly in defining psychological dysfunction) A very limited way of thinking about psychopathology: distress. According to many clinical guidelines, behavior must be personally distressing before it can be labeled abnormal. Examples: maniac/ manic depressive illness; social abnormality* disorder: the elusive nature of abnormality. Impairment is set in the context of a person"s background. How was abnormality viewed and treated in the past? (textbook) Useful generative; be able to generate research; a good research paper is able to inspire other research works: psychodynamic models.
