INTRODUCTION TO

ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
▪ Also referred to as Psychopathology (literally: “pathology of the mind”) is the study of abnormal
behavior.
▪ It is the application of science in the study of mental disorders.
▪ It is the study of individuals with mental, emotional, and physical pain.

DEFINING NORMALITY
▪ Normal Behavior – definitions of what is considered normal behavior describe it as
behavior that is socially acceptable to the standards of the society. In short, if behavior is
socially acceptable or conforming to the standards of society, then that behavior is normal.

Criteria for Normality

1. Normality is average – what is accepted by the majority is considered normal. A problem in
this definition is that not everything that is accepted by the majority can be
considered normal.
2. Normality is social conformity – Anyone who conforms to the standards of the society
is considered normal. Two main problems in this definition put consideration to the Problem
of Criminality and the Problem of Social Standards.
3. Normality is personal comfort – If a person feels/experiences pleasure or comfort, then the
behavior is considered normal. Likewise, if a person feels/experiences displeasure or
discomfort, then that is considered abnormal. Issues with this definition include the
Problem of Objective and Subjective Symptoms, the Problem of Individual Reactions to
Discomfort, and the Problem of Social Consequences.

Other definitions for normality:

1. Normality is Ideal
2. Normality is a process

Criteria for Stating what is Abnormal Behavior

1. Cultural Relativism - the view that there are no universal standards or rules for labeling a
behavior as abnormal. Behaviors can only be considered abnormal based on or relative to
cultural norms.
Although there are rejections to the cultural relativist tradition, it is important to note
that culture and gender play an influence on the way abnormal behavior is expressed and
the way they can be treated:
a. Culture and gender may affect how people express their symptoms.
b. Culture and gender may influence people’s willingness to admit certain behaviors.
c. Culture and gender can determine the types of treatments or interventions that are
deemed acceptable or helpful.
2. Unusualness – behaviors which are considered unusual or deviant are considered as
abnormal behaviors. This is tied to cultural relativism since the culture dictates what is usual
or unusual.
3. Distress – behaviors should be considered abnormal only if the individual suffers
distress and wishes to be rid of the behaviors.
4. Mental Illness – behaviors are not considered abnormal unless they are a part of a mental
illness.

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Fo u r D ’s o f Ab n or m al Beh avi or
1. Dysfunction – behavior causes impairment in social and occupational functioning. This
means that the behavior interferes with the person’s ability to form and
maintain relationships or hold a job.
2. Distress – Behaviors and feelings that cause distress to the individual or to others
around him or her are also likely to be considered abnormal.
3. Deviance – deviant and unusual behaviors lead to the judgment of abnormality.
4. Dangerousness – some behaviors and feelings are of potential harm to the individual, such
as suicidal gestures, or to others, such as excessive aggression. Such dangerous behaviors
and feelings are often seen as abnormal.

The accepted definition of abnormality/psychological disorder, used the DSM-5, describes

behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural
context and associated with present distress and impairment in functioning, or increased risk of
suffering, death, pain, or impairment. 1

Summary of the DSM-52 Definition of Mental Disorders

Defining Characteristics: Conditions Excluded from Consideration

A behavioral or psychological syndrome (groups This syndrome or pattern must not be merely:
of associated features) that is associated with: 1. An expectable and culturally sanctioned
1. Current distress (painful symptoms), or response to a particular event (such as
2. Disability (impairment in one or the death of a loved one)
more important areas of functioning), or 2. Deviant behavior (such as the actions of
with political, religious, or sexual minorities)
3. A significantly increased risk of 3. Conflicts that are between the individual and
suffering death, pain, disability, or an society (such as voluntary efforts to express
important loss individuality)
of freedom

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ABNORMALITY

Throughout history, there have been three theories or models which attempt to explain
the causes of abnormal behavior. First, the Biological Theories saw that abnormal behavior is
similar to physical disease, which is caused by a breakdown of the systems of the body. Because of that,
the cure for abnormal behavior was to restore bodily health. Second, the supernatural theories
saw abnormal behavior as a result of divine intervention, curses, demonic possession, or personal sin. To
rid the person of such, they turn to religious rituals such as exorcism, confession, and atonement.
Lastly, the Psychological theories saw abnormal behavior as a result of traumas such as bereavement
or chronic stress. In this model, rest, relaxation, and a change of environment can be helpful.
Biological Tradition
Hippocrates
▪ Father of modern medicine
▪ Abnormal behavior had natural causes, not because of demonological accounts.
▪ He and his associates: Hippocratic Corpus - Suggested that psychological disorders can
be treated like other diseases. Can be caused by brain trauma or genetics.
▪ All problems are caused by imbalance in the body
▪ Treatment is aimed at balancing
Galen
▪ Physician who continued on the work of Hippocrates

1 – Adapted from Nolen-Hoeksema (2011)

2 – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders Fifth Edition, APA

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▪ Hippocratic-Galenic Approach: HUMORAL THEORY

• Four Humors : Blood, Black Bile, Yellow Bile, Phlegm
The 19th Century
▪ Syphilis - STD caused by a bacterial microorganism entering the brain. Behavioral
and
Cognitive Symptoms include believing that everyone is plotting against you or that you
are God, as well as other bizarre behaviors. Cure for syphilis: penicillin
▪ John P. Grey - Champion of the BT in the US, his position is that the cause of insanity is
always physical, mentally ill patients are to be treated as though they are physically ill

Supernatural Tradition
Demons and Witches
▪ Supernatural causes of psychological disorders
▪ Work of the devil or Witchcraft
▪ Treatment: Exorcism, Shaving a cross pattern in the hair, or securing sufferers to a wall
near the front of a church
Stress and Melancholy
▪ Insanity was a natural phenomenon, caused by mental and emotional stress, and is
curable
▪ Communal treatment for the insane
▪ Nicholas Oresme
• Adviser to the King of France
• Bishop and Philosopher
• Melancholy is the source of bizarre behavior not demons
Treatment for Possession
▪ AIDS : divine punishment for homosexuality
▪ Exorcism: Reliable, If not, other methods are used such as beating and confinement
▪ Other approaches: Hanging people over a pit full of poisonous snakes or Dipping on icy
water
Mass Hysteria
▪ Large-scale outbreak of bizarre behavior during the Middle Ages wherein people go out
running in the streets, dancing, shout, rave, and jump
▪ They lent support to the notion of possession
▪ Also called Saint Vitus’ Dance and Tarantism
▪ Believed to be a reaction to insect bites
Moon and Stars
▪ Paracelsus - Rejected possession and suggested that the movement of the moon and
the stars had an effect on human behavior
▪ Lunatic

Psychological Tradition
Plato
▪ He suggested that causes of maladaptive behavior were the social and
cultural influences and the learning that took place in that environment. This
belief was a precursor to modern psychosocial approaches
Moral Therapy
▪ 19th century psychosocial approach to mental disorders
▪ Moral = emotional or mental
▪ Treating patients as normally as possible
▪ 16th century Asylums

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Psychoanalytic Theory
▪ Patients were hypnotized
▪ Anton Mesmer
▪ suggested to his patients that their problem was caused by an undetectable fluid found
in all living organisms called “animal magnetism,” which could become blocked
▪ Jean Charcot - started the practice of hypnosis as treatment modality
▪ Freud and Breuer:
▪ Hypnosis: Unconscious
▪ Catharsis
▪ Anna O.
Humanistic Theory
Behavioral Approaches

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

▪ Europe in the Middle Ages: “lunatics”, “idiots”
▪ Family, not community responsibility
▪ 1600s to 1700s = insane asylums
▪ Change is societal perspective
▪ Early asylums: human warehouses
▪ 19th Century: Moral treatment movement
▪ Large institutions led to the development of new professions such as psychiatry
▪ Worcester Lunatic Hospital: A Model Institution
▪ Woodward’s ideas about the causes of disorders represented a combination of physical and
moral considerations.
▪ Invention of public mental hospitals: systematic observation and scientific inquiry
▪ Psychiatry as a professional group
▪ Expanded public concern on solving problems of mental disorders
▪ Some misguided and naïve aspects of 19th century psychiatry
– Masturbation leads to mental disorders

PRESENT PERSPECTIVES
▪ Pharmacotherapy - Use of drugs in therapy
▪ Psychotherapy
▪ Problems: Deinstitutionalization
▪ Deinstitutionalization - Move to integrate patients with their communities: community-based
treatment facilities
• COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER
- Team of social workers, therapists and physicians
• HALFWAY HOUSES
- Long-term treatment
- Structured and supportive environment
• DAY TREATMENT CENTER
- Treatment during the day, live at home during night

PROFESSIONALS WITHIN PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
▪ PhD in Psychology
▪ PsyD
Psychiatrists
▪ MD with Psychiatry Residency

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 INTRODUCTION TO

Psychiatric Social Worker

▪ Master’s Degree in Social Work
▪ Specialized Practice in Psychiatry
Psychiatric Nurses
▪ Nursing Graduates
▪ Advanced training in psychiatry
Marriage and Family Therapists
▪ Master’s Degree in Counseling
▪ Training

The Present
– Scientific Method
– Integrative Approach
– Scientist-Practitioner Model

DETERMINANTS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
▪ Behavior is determined.
▪ Determinants of behavior – factors that cause a particular behavior

Predisposing Factors Precipitating Factors

▪ A factor that makes someone prone or ▪ Factors that trigger the onset of a certain
susceptible to a certain pathology disorder
▪ Remote Effect – does not come out at an ▪ Immediate Effect
early stage, only when triggered

Biological Determinants of Behavior Psychological Determinants of Behavior

▪ Can be predisposing or precipitating ▪ Can be predisposing or precipitating
factor factor
A. Genetic Factor A. Stress
B. Biological Deprivation B. Frustration
C. Obnoxious Agents C. Over-Use of Defense Mechanisms
D. Accidents D. Psychological Deprivation
E. Body Constitutions
F. Biochemical Factors

Socio-cultural Determinants of Behavior

▪ Precipitating factor
A. Poverty/Unemployment
B. War
C. Racial Discrimination
D. Rural-Urban Setting
E. Residential Mobility

REFERENCES
Barlow, D. H. & Durand, V. M. (2015) Abnormal psychology: An integrative approach
(7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
Oltmanns, T. F. & Emery R. E. (2012) Abnormal psychology (7th ed.). USA: Pearson
Education
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2014) Abnormal psychology (6th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill

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