Chapter 24
Psychopathology
Introduction
Psychopathology: The study of illness of the mind or psychological disorders.
There are three widely used criteria for distinguishing disorders from normal behaviour:
1. Statistical deviance
2. Maladaptiveness
3. Personal distress.
Illustration of abnormal
behaviour/pathology
Antonyms such as normal vs. abnormal imply that
people can be divided into two distinct groups, when
in reality, it is hard to know when to draw the line.
Diagnoses of psychological disorders require value
judgments about where in the continuum a behavior
falls.
Myths about mental illness
Myth Fact
The behavior of mental patients is most often
Abnormal behavior is odd and bizarre
indistinguishable from that of normal persons.
Mental patients are unpredictable and A typical mental patient is no more dangerous
dangerous than a normal person
Mental disorders are caused by fundamental Everyone shares the potential for becoming
mental deficiencies and are therefore shameful disordered and behaving abnormally
Few, if any, abnormal behaviors are unique to
Abnormal and normal behaviors are different in mental patients. Abnormally usually occurs
kind. when there is a poor fit between behavior and
the situation in which it is enacted.
, A brief history of mental illness
Alternate understandings of psychopathology
In southern Africa:
Indigenous theories of illness will commonly locate the cause of personal
problems in social relationships, both with living people and ancestors.
Religious healing is common.
There are local categories of illness and spirit possession.
• An individual’s context and perspective (e.g. cultural heritage, socio-economic
status and racial grouping) are important considerations in determining which
treatment will work best.
Alternative understandings of psychopathology
• In China and India physical and mental illness were seen as holistic (one).
• In Southern Africa indigenous theories locate psychopathology in social
relationships. These social relationships might involve living people, like family
members, or deceased family members or ancestors. Religious healing is also
prominent in South Africa, notably the Zionist Church where religion is practiced as
combination of Christian beliefs and indigenous beliefs.
• In Southern Africa individuals may consult with a traditional healer (isangoma or
igqira), herbalist (inyanga or ixhwele) or prophet (umprofita).
• An individual’s context and perspective need to be taken into account when
treatment and intervention strategies are planned. A multidimensional approach
draws on the strengths of many models and is useful when a culturally derived
understanding of mental illness can help the patient.
Psychopathology
Introduction
Psychopathology: The study of illness of the mind or psychological disorders.
There are three widely used criteria for distinguishing disorders from normal behaviour:
1. Statistical deviance
2. Maladaptiveness
3. Personal distress.
Illustration of abnormal
behaviour/pathology
Antonyms such as normal vs. abnormal imply that
people can be divided into two distinct groups, when
in reality, it is hard to know when to draw the line.
Diagnoses of psychological disorders require value
judgments about where in the continuum a behavior
falls.
Myths about mental illness
Myth Fact
The behavior of mental patients is most often
Abnormal behavior is odd and bizarre
indistinguishable from that of normal persons.
Mental patients are unpredictable and A typical mental patient is no more dangerous
dangerous than a normal person
Mental disorders are caused by fundamental Everyone shares the potential for becoming
mental deficiencies and are therefore shameful disordered and behaving abnormally
Few, if any, abnormal behaviors are unique to
Abnormal and normal behaviors are different in mental patients. Abnormally usually occurs
kind. when there is a poor fit between behavior and
the situation in which it is enacted.
, A brief history of mental illness
Alternate understandings of psychopathology
In southern Africa:
Indigenous theories of illness will commonly locate the cause of personal
problems in social relationships, both with living people and ancestors.
Religious healing is common.
There are local categories of illness and spirit possession.
• An individual’s context and perspective (e.g. cultural heritage, socio-economic
status and racial grouping) are important considerations in determining which
treatment will work best.
Alternative understandings of psychopathology
• In China and India physical and mental illness were seen as holistic (one).
• In Southern Africa indigenous theories locate psychopathology in social
relationships. These social relationships might involve living people, like family
members, or deceased family members or ancestors. Religious healing is also
prominent in South Africa, notably the Zionist Church where religion is practiced as
combination of Christian beliefs and indigenous beliefs.
• In Southern Africa individuals may consult with a traditional healer (isangoma or
igqira), herbalist (inyanga or ixhwele) or prophet (umprofita).
• An individual’s context and perspective need to be taken into account when
treatment and intervention strategies are planned. A multidimensional approach
draws on the strengths of many models and is useful when a culturally derived
understanding of mental illness can help the patient.
