PSY 1102 Lecture Notes - Learned Helplessness

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1102
• Professor: Christine Mountney

Document Summary

People are fascinated by the exceptional, the unusual, and the abnormal. This fascination may be caused by two reasons: during various moments we feel, think, and act like an abnormal individual, psychological disorders may bring unexplained physical symptoms, irrational fears, and suicidal thoughts. To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal. James (1842-1910: there are 450 million people suffering from psychological disorders (who, 2004), depression and schizophrenia exist in all cultures of the world. Mental health workers view psychological disorders as persistently harmful thoughts, feelings, and actions. When behavior is deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional psychiatrists and psychologists label it as disordered (comer, 2004). Deviant, distressful & dysfunctional: deviant behavior (going naked) in one culture may be considered normal, while in others it may lead to arrest, deviant behavior must accompany distress, if a behavior is dysfunctional it is clearly a disorder.