Abnormal Psychology
o cultural universality: -
✅disorders and their manifestation same regardless of culture, similar ethology, symptomalogy
and course of illness for specific disorders
cultural relativism: -
✅abnormality and abnormal behavior defined and determined by culture and worldviews
eisenberg (1977)
i.e. cultural relativism -
✅disease is a basic dysfunction in biological systems or psychological systems. Illness is a person's
reaction to this dysfunction in terms of experienced states of discontinuity and role performance.
•distinguish between a disease and an illness
•dysfunction = root cause for mental illness
•disease cultural invariant → common process in many countries, disease is culturally universal.
•Illness: how we react to the dysfunction/disease
•Infected with the flu virus = disease, the way we respond to it is our illness behavior
Sociopolitical and Cultural Limitations -
✅-cultural relativism
-cultural universality
determining abnormality -
✅-distress
-deviance
-dysfunction
-dangerousness
Distress: -
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, ✅(physical or psychological pain)-experienced pain and suffering usually motivating person to
seek help even here there can be important individual and cultural differences
-Major differences in symptomatology to major depression across countries.
Deviance: -
✅unusual or rare experiences which usually are distressing. At times, not distressing as with
paranoia.
•Paranoia →believe others are out to get them cause them harm
Dysfunction: -
✅(gap between potential and performance) how person functions in critical and important roles
Dangerousness: -
✅responsible for assessing dangerousness (harm to self and others) and for protecting intending
victims. Difficult to predict violence, use past behavior.
Surgeon General: definition of abnormal behavior -
✅Abnormal behavior departs from some norm and harms the affected individual or others
obut what norm? there is still ambiguity
DSM V: Definition of abnormality -
✅• "A behavioral or psychological syndrome (cluster/pattern of symptoms that reflect
psychobiological dysfunction) or pattern that reflects an underlying psychobiological dysfunction that
is associated with distress (i.e. a painful symptom)or disability (i.e. impairment in one or more
important areas of functioning)) and is not merely an expectable response to common stressors or
loses.
symptoms vs. community functioning as outcome for mental health services
-determine whether mental health services are needed. Focus on symptomatology associated with
distress and whether or not a person is functioning well in their community.
-reduce distress and help the person function better.
strupp and Hadley's (1977) -
✅three vantage points for judging mental health: deviant with respect to the following vantage
points.
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,o Society
o The individual
o The mental health perspective
•when something is abnormal there must be convergence between these three vantage points
integrated definitions -
✅•Some people can be classified abnormal, under one of the above practical definitions, but not
necessarily all the definitions.
-distress
-deviance
-dysfunction
-dangerousness
the frequency and burden of Mental Disorders -
✅-prevalence
-lifetime prevalence
-incidence
prevalence -
✅of a disorder indicates the percentage of people in a population who suffer from a disorder at a
given point in time
lifetime prevalence -
✅refers to the percentage of people in the population who have had a disorder at some point in
their life.
incidence -
✅refers to the onset or occurrence of a given disorder over some period of time.
stereotypes about the mentally disturbed -
✅-easily recognizable
-inherited
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, -incurable
-weak-willed
-never contribute anything of worth
-unstable and potentially dangerous
Easily recognizable (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅oeasily recognized as deviant most of time. The mentally disturbed do not have symptoms, no
clear distinction between normal and abnormal.
•The mentally disturbed are able to control themselves.
Inherited (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅oDisorder due to inheritance: evidence for schizophrenia, mental retardation, bipolar
disorders. Heredity may make certain people more vulnerable but environmental factors are very
important.
•combination of heredity and environmental factors
incurable: (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅¾'s of those hospitalized for mental disorders recover sufficiently to lead productive lives
weak willed: (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅this stereotype ignores the fact that mental health problems are the result of major traumas,
disordered learning histories, and biological vulnerabilities that are difficult to change or control
without formal treatment
Never Contribute anything of worth :(stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅never contribute to society because they cannot be cured Notion of cure is itself a myth
Unstable and potentially dangerous: (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅a large majority of mental patients are not violent or out of control.
Moral Treatment Movement (The Reform Movement18th and 19th century) -
4|Page
o cultural universality: -
✅disorders and their manifestation same regardless of culture, similar ethology, symptomalogy
and course of illness for specific disorders
cultural relativism: -
✅abnormality and abnormal behavior defined and determined by culture and worldviews
eisenberg (1977)
i.e. cultural relativism -
✅disease is a basic dysfunction in biological systems or psychological systems. Illness is a person's
reaction to this dysfunction in terms of experienced states of discontinuity and role performance.
•distinguish between a disease and an illness
•dysfunction = root cause for mental illness
•disease cultural invariant → common process in many countries, disease is culturally universal.
•Illness: how we react to the dysfunction/disease
•Infected with the flu virus = disease, the way we respond to it is our illness behavior
Sociopolitical and Cultural Limitations -
✅-cultural relativism
-cultural universality
determining abnormality -
✅-distress
-deviance
-dysfunction
-dangerousness
Distress: -
1|Page
, ✅(physical or psychological pain)-experienced pain and suffering usually motivating person to
seek help even here there can be important individual and cultural differences
-Major differences in symptomatology to major depression across countries.
Deviance: -
✅unusual or rare experiences which usually are distressing. At times, not distressing as with
paranoia.
•Paranoia →believe others are out to get them cause them harm
Dysfunction: -
✅(gap between potential and performance) how person functions in critical and important roles
Dangerousness: -
✅responsible for assessing dangerousness (harm to self and others) and for protecting intending
victims. Difficult to predict violence, use past behavior.
Surgeon General: definition of abnormal behavior -
✅Abnormal behavior departs from some norm and harms the affected individual or others
obut what norm? there is still ambiguity
DSM V: Definition of abnormality -
✅• "A behavioral or psychological syndrome (cluster/pattern of symptoms that reflect
psychobiological dysfunction) or pattern that reflects an underlying psychobiological dysfunction that
is associated with distress (i.e. a painful symptom)or disability (i.e. impairment in one or more
important areas of functioning)) and is not merely an expectable response to common stressors or
loses.
symptoms vs. community functioning as outcome for mental health services
-determine whether mental health services are needed. Focus on symptomatology associated with
distress and whether or not a person is functioning well in their community.
-reduce distress and help the person function better.
strupp and Hadley's (1977) -
✅three vantage points for judging mental health: deviant with respect to the following vantage
points.
2|Page
,o Society
o The individual
o The mental health perspective
•when something is abnormal there must be convergence between these three vantage points
integrated definitions -
✅•Some people can be classified abnormal, under one of the above practical definitions, but not
necessarily all the definitions.
-distress
-deviance
-dysfunction
-dangerousness
the frequency and burden of Mental Disorders -
✅-prevalence
-lifetime prevalence
-incidence
prevalence -
✅of a disorder indicates the percentage of people in a population who suffer from a disorder at a
given point in time
lifetime prevalence -
✅refers to the percentage of people in the population who have had a disorder at some point in
their life.
incidence -
✅refers to the onset or occurrence of a given disorder over some period of time.
stereotypes about the mentally disturbed -
✅-easily recognizable
-inherited
3|Page
, -incurable
-weak-willed
-never contribute anything of worth
-unstable and potentially dangerous
Easily recognizable (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅oeasily recognized as deviant most of time. The mentally disturbed do not have symptoms, no
clear distinction between normal and abnormal.
•The mentally disturbed are able to control themselves.
Inherited (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅oDisorder due to inheritance: evidence for schizophrenia, mental retardation, bipolar
disorders. Heredity may make certain people more vulnerable but environmental factors are very
important.
•combination of heredity and environmental factors
incurable: (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅¾'s of those hospitalized for mental disorders recover sufficiently to lead productive lives
weak willed: (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅this stereotype ignores the fact that mental health problems are the result of major traumas,
disordered learning histories, and biological vulnerabilities that are difficult to change or control
without formal treatment
Never Contribute anything of worth :(stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅never contribute to society because they cannot be cured Notion of cure is itself a myth
Unstable and potentially dangerous: (stereotypes about the mentally disturbed) -
✅a large majority of mental patients are not violent or out of control.
Moral Treatment Movement (The Reform Movement18th and 19th century) -
4|Page
