PSY 150A1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Hand Washing, Mortality Rate, Dsm-5

• School: University of Arizona
• Department: Psychology Main
• Course: PSY 150A1
• Professor: Lazarwicz

Document Summary

But negative emotions and thoughts can become pathological. Psychological disorder: deviant, distressful and dysfunctional pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors: deviant. No(cid:396)(cid:373)s: (cid:396)ules i(cid:374) so(cid:272)iety that defi(cid:374)e (cid:862)(cid:396)ight(cid:863) a(cid:374)d (cid:862)(cid:449)(cid:396)o(cid:374)g(cid:863: eg. personal space, distressful. No distress = no disorder (in some cases: judge own normality. Lack of distress does not mean harmless behavior: dysfunctional. Alternative definition of psychological disorders: the maladaptation view (wakefield, 1999) A disorder can be identified if one of our psychological functions is not performing as it was selected. Eg. feelings of anger are triggered when the context does not call for it and when anger does not help in any way. Disadvantage: it may lead to diagnosis even if there is no distress or harm. First known psychiatric text, mental hospital, mental physicians: ancient greece -> hippocrates (460-360bce): mental illness due to natural causes. Mid 15th to end of 17th centuries: 100000 witches executed in european witch hunts: possession/evil sprits.