Abnormal Psychology Chapter 2: Early Views

• Chapter 2 discusses early views of abnormal behavior

Demonology, Gods, and Magic

• Ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Hebrew, and Greek writings linked abnormal behavior to demon or god possession
• Individuals displaying symptoms with religious or mystical importance were considered possessed by good spirits and were respected for their supernatural powers
• Those acting against religious teachings were thought to be possessed by angry gods or evil spirits, often undergoing exorcism to eliminate demonic influence
• Exorcism involved magic, prayer, incantation, noise making, and bitter concoctions

Hippocrates' Early Medical Concepts

• Hippocrates (460–377 B.C.) shifted understanding of mental disorders to natural origins, not supernatural
• Mental disorders were believed to stem from brain pathology, with heredity and predisposition as key factors
• Classified mental disorders into mania, melancholia, and phrenitis (brain fever) based on clinical observations
• Dreams held importance in understanding personality
• "Four humors" paradigm linked temperament to dominant essential fluids: blood (sanguis), phlegm, bile (choler), and black bile (melancholic), creating four temperaments: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, melancholic

Early Philosophical Conceptualizations of Abnormal Behavior

• Plato (429-347 B.C.) emphasized individual differences in intellectual abilities and sociocultural influences on behavior recommending hospital care for those whose beliefs countered the social order
• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) extensively wrote about mental disorders and contributed descriptions of consciousness
• Galen (A.D. 130-200) took a scientific approach to mental health, categorizing causes as physical or mental

Early Chinese Conceptualizations of Abnormal Behavior

• Early Chinese medicine attributed illnesses to natural causes
• Treatments aimed to restore balance
• Around A.D. 200, Chung Ching linked mental disorders to organ pathologies caused by stressful psychological conditions
• Chinese views regressed to supernatural beliefs in the 800s

Views of Abnormality During the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500)

• Middle Eastern countries preserved scientific elements of Greek medicine
• Baghdad founded the first mental hospital in 792, offering humane care
• Avicenna's "The Canon of Medicine" (c. 980-1037) became a significant medical text
• Europe largely lacked scientific thinking in Middle Ages with exorcisms coexisting with medical treatments

Views of Abnormal Behavior in the 1500s and 1600s

• During later Middle Ages/Renaissance, traditional beliefs about mental disorders faced challenges leading to reemergence of scientific questioning
• Humanism emerged, emphasizing human interests
• Paracelsus (1490-1541) criticized superstitious beliefs about demonic possession
• Johann Weyer (1515–1588) considered founder of modern psychopathology, argued those accused of witchcraft were mentally ill.
• Advances in science lessened belief in demonology, prioritizing observation and reason

The Establishment of Early Asylums

• Asylums began in the 16th century to isolate troublesome individuals with mental illness
• Known as "madhouses"; prisons with cruel conditions
• Spread across Europe, Russia, Mexico, United States
• Aggressive treatments aimed to force rationality over mental illness

Pinel's Experiment and Tuke's Work in England

• Philippe Pinel (1745–1826) removed chains from mental patients in 1792, leading to positive outcomes by treating them as ill, not as criminals
• William Tuke (1732–1822) created York Retreat country house for mental illness patients
• Samuel Hitch was encouraged to introduce medical staff at asylum.
• Thomas Wakley led to the Lunacy Inquiry Act, requiring regular inspections, proper diet, and restriction elimination in asylums
• Country Asylums Act (England, 1845) required every county to build asylum for "paupers and lunatics"

Rush and Moral Management in America

• Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) advocated for humane treatment in American psychiatry
• He wrote the first systematic U.S. psychiatry treatise, Medical Inquiries and Observations upon Diseases of the Mind
• Rush organized first American psychiatry course
• Moral management, influenced by Pinel and Tuke's work, saw widespread growth in the early 1800s focusing on social, individual, occupational, moral, and spiritual needs was implemented and was effective

Dix and the Mental Hygiene Movement

• Dorothea Dix (1802–1887) advocated for the poor and mentally ill in prisons and other facilities
• Inspired by witnessing terrible conditions, campaigned for humane treatment
• The mental hygiene movement focused on physical well-being including hospitalized patient treament
• Dix raised funds for and established 32 mental hospitals

Nineteenth Century Views of Mental Disorders and the Increasing Role of Psychiatrists

• Effective treatments were unavailable in the early 1800s
• Later 1800s: alienists controlled asylums, employed moral management therapy, and gained social standing
• Emotional problems were poorly understood but defined

Mental Hospital Care in the Twentieth Century

• In 1908, Clifford Beers's A Mind That Found Itself had influence and helped shift attitudes
• Public mental hospitals common in the first half of the 20th century housing 400,000 patients by 1940, with long stays

Mental Health Reform and Deinstitutionalization

• The 1960s brought recognition of the need for reform
• As a result of the Community Mental Health Act of 1963, outpatient clinics, inpatient facilities, and community programs emerged
• Late 20th century: introduction of medications like antipsychotics and mood stabilizers
• Deinstitutionalization movement: movement to close mental hospitals. It was well-intentioned but led to homelessness

Biological Discoveries: Establishing the Link Between the Brain and Mental Disorders

• Richard von Krafft-Ebing's 1897 experiments linked syphilis and paresis
• August von Wassermann invented a blood test for syphilis in 1906
• Julius von Wagner-Jauregg successfully treated syphilis and paresis with malarial fever which means that brain problems can cause specific disorder/illnesses

Brain Pathology as a Causal Factor

• 1757: Albrect von Haller stressed brain's role in psychic functions
• 1845: Wilhelm Griesinger argued mental disorders stem from brain pathology
• Alois Alzheimer linked brain pathologies to cerebral arteriosclerosis and senile disorders
• 1900s: organic pathologies discovered for mental disorders, retardation, and other mental illnesses

The Development of a Classification System for Mental Disorders

• Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) classified abnormal behaviors

• noted common symptoms of mental diseases

• identified and clarified types of disorders creating scheme of classification

• Each mental disorder was viewed as distinct so one could anticipate the direction of each disorder

Development of the Psychological Basis of Mental Disorder

• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): most frequently cited psychological theorist of the 20th century
• Freud took first major steps toward understanding psychological factors in mental disorders
• He created a comprehensive theory of psychopathology that emphasizes unconscious motives :psychoanalytic perspective
• Psychoanalysis: methods he used to study and treat patients have ancestral roots in the study and use of hypnosis

Mesmerism

• Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) believed planets affected magnetic fluid in body, which determined health/disease.
• Opened clinic where he treated patients through “animal magnetism”
• Even after its dismissal by scientists, it continued to generate widespread interest and controversy because power of suggestion (hypnosis), not magnetism

Beginnings of Psychoanalysis

• Freud and Josef Breuer (1842-1925) used hypnosis

• emotional release revealed difficulties for hypnosis patients

• Approach led to discovery of the unconscious

• Freud enabled methods for understanding conscious/unconscious thought

• Free association: having patients talk freely

• Dream analysis: having patients record and describe their dreams

The Evolution of the Psychological Research Tradition: Experimental Psychology

• 1879: Wilhelm Wundt established first experimental psychology lab at University of Leipzig.
• including bringing his methods to the U.S. that impacted William James and G. Stanley Hall
• 1896: Lightner Witmer established first American psychological clinic in Pennsylvania
• 1909: William Healy established the Chicago Juvenile institute
• Early 20th century: Scientific psychology journals proliferated