PSYCH 2AP3 Chapter 1: Abnormal behaviour in historical context
16 Jan 2019
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Psychological disorder: a psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or
impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected
• Or abnormal behaviour
• Psychological dysfunction: breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioural functioning
o E.g., going out on a date should be fun - but if you are scared all evening, wanting to go
home with nothing to be scared of then your emotions are not functioning properly
o Difficult to draw the line between normal and dysfunction
o Which is why having just psychological dysfunction is not enough to meet the criteria for a
psychological disorder
• Personal distress or impairment: the concept of distress contributes to a good definition - adds on
an important component and seems clear
o Concept of impairment is also useful
o Distress and suffering are part of normal life, so they do not contribute to psychological
disorders alone
• Atypical or not culturally expected: important but also insufficient to determine abnormality
o Hard to define because of different cultures' social norms
o Wakefield's "harmful dysfunction": a psychological disorder is caused by a failure of one or
more mechanisms to perform their evolved function and the dysfunction produces harm or
distress
• Provides an objective view of dysfunction with a subjective or culturally bound
consideration of harm and distress
Phobia: a psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or a situation
Psychopathology: scientific study of psychological disorders
• Scientist-practitioner (aka "evidence-based medicine")
o Consumer of science
• Evidence
• Keeping up with the latest scientific developments in their field
• Use empirically supported diagnostic and treatment procedures
o Evaluator of practice
• Evaluate their own assessments or treatment procedures to see if they work
o Creator of science
• Conduct research that produces new info about disorders or their treatment
Presenting problem: indicating why the person came to the clinic
Clinical description: represents the unique combo of behaviours, thoughts, feelings that make up a
specific disorder
• Important thing is what makes the disorder different from normal behaviour or from other
disorders
• Prevalence: how many people in the population as a whole have the disorder?
• Lifetime prevalence: how many people in the population have ever had the disorder?
• Incidence: how many new cases occur during a given period, such as a year
• Sex ration: proportion of males and females have the disorder
• Chronic course: last a long time, sometimes a whole lifetime
o E.g., SZ
• Episodic course: individual is likely to recover within a few months, only to have a recurrence of
the disorder later
o E.g., mood disorders
• Time-limited course: disorder will improve without treatment in a relatively short period of time
with little to no risk of recurrence
o E.g., sleep disorders
• Acute onset: they begin suddenly
• Insidious onset: some gradually develop over an extended time
• The anticipated course is an important part of the clinical description
o E.g., mild disorder with acute onset that we know is time-limited - no need to forgo
expensive treatment (common cold)
• Prognosis: anticipated course of a disorder
o Prognosis is good means the individual will probably recover
Etiology: (study of origins) has to do with why a disorder begins (what causes it) and includes biological,
psychological, and social dimensions
• Treatment is also important when studying psychological disorders
o New drug/psychosocial treatment is successful = give us hints about the nature of the
disorder and its causes
• E.g., if a drug with a known effect within the nervous system, we know that something
in that part of the nervous system might be either causing the disorder or helping to
maintain it
• E.g., psychosocial treatment - a diminished sense of control may be an important
psychological component of the disorder itself
• 3 major models that have guided us back to the beginnings of civilization
o Purpose of these three models is to explain why someone is "acting like that"
o The supernatural tradition: certain agents outside our bodies and environment influence our
behaviour, thinking, and emotions
• Agents can be divinities, demons, spirits, or other phenomena
• People with psychological disorders at the time was seen as the work of the devil and
the witches
▪ Individuals possessed by evil spirits
▪ Treatments include exorcism, shaving the pattern of a cross in the victims' hair,
securing them to a wall near the front of the church
• Another strong opinion during this period was that insanity was a natural
phenomenon, caused by mental or emotional stress that was curable
▪ Common treatments include rest, sleep and a happy and healthy environment
▪ Other treatments include baths, ointments, and various potions
• Paracelsus suggested that the movements of the moon and stars had an effect on
people's psychological functioning
▪ Lunatic
▪ Many are convinced that their behaviours are influenced by the stages of the
moon or the position of the stars
o The biological tradition: important to the biological tradition are a man, Hippocrates; a
disease, syphilis; and the early consequences of believing that psychological disorders are
biologically caused
• Hippocrates
▪ Father of modern medicine
▪ Suggested that psychological disorders could be treated like any other disease
▪ Psychological disorders might be caused by brain pathology or head trauma and
could be influenced by heredity (genetics)
▪ Brain as a seat of wisdom, consciousness, intelligence, and emotion
• Disorders involving these functions would be logically located in the brain
Document Summary
Phobia: a psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or a situation. Presenting problem: indicating why the person came to the clinic. Clinical description: represents the unique combo of behaviours, thoughts, feelings that make up a specific disorder. Important thing is what makes the disorder different from normal behaviour or from other disorders: prevalence: how many people in the population as a whole have the disorder, chronic course: last a long time, sometimes a whole lifetime. Incidence: how many new cases occur during a given period, such as a year. Sex ration: proportion of males and females have the disorder: e. g. , sz. Episodic course: individual is likely to recover within a few months, only to have a recurrence of the disorder later: e. g. , mood disorders. Time-limited course: disorder will improve without treatment in a relatively short period of time with little to no risk of recurrence: e. g. , sleep disorders, acute onset: they begin suddenly.
