Abnormal Psychology Chapter 1

ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY HANDOUT BY ELISHA TORRES CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology AN OVERVIEW Culture plays a role in determining what is and is not Abnor...

ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY HANDOUT BY ELISHA TORRES CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology AN OVERVIEW Culture plays a role in determining what is and is not Abnormal Psychology abnormal. Branch of psychology that focuses on the study of “….because society is constantly shifting and becoming atypical behavior, thoughts, and emotions more or less tolerant of certain behaviors, what is Scientific study of the mental pathology that underlies considered abnormal or deviant in one decade may not the symptomatology of psychiatric diseases (APA, be considered abnormal or deviant a decade or two 1931) later” Concerned with understanding the nature, causes, and Indicators of Abnormality (4D) treatment of mental disorders 1. Deviance from the norm 2. Distress or subjective feelings of pain and Who and What is abnormal? discomfort There is no single definition of psychological 3. Dysfunction or impairment in daily functioning abnormality and psychological normality. 4. Danger to oneself and/or others No single indicator is sufficient in and of itself to define An Accepted Definition or determine abnormality. ○ A psychological disorder constitutes: “behavioral, psychological, or biological DEFINING PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with present “A psychological dysfunction within an individual distress and impairment in functioning or associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or response that is not typical or culturally expected” (Barlow impairment” (Durand & Barlow, 2018, p. 6). & Durand, 2018) ○ DSM-5-TR Definition: Psychological Dysfunction - breakdown in cognitive, “A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized emotional, or behavioral functioning by clinically significant disturbance in an Distress or Impairment - difficulty performing individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or appropriate and expected roles. Also, impairment is set behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the in the context of a person’s background. psychological, biological, or developmental Atypical or Not Culturally - reaction is outside processes underlying mental functioning. cultural norms; deviates from the average Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities.” (DSM-5-TR, p. 15) “….An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above” (DSM-5-TR, p. 15) The best practice is to “consider how the apparent disease or disorder matches a “typical” profile of a disorder when most or all symptoms that experts would agree are part of the disorder are present” “If something is statistically rare and undesirable (as is THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY severely diminished intellectual functioning), we are Mental Health Professions more likely to consider it abnormal than something that Trained mental health professionals range from clinical is statistically rare and highly desirable (such as genius) and counseling psychologists to psychiatrists and or something that is undesirable but statistically psychiatric social workers and nurses. common (such as rudeness)” Each profession requires a specific type of training. ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY HANDOUT BY ELISHA TORRES CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology CLINICAL DESCRIPTION Represents the unique combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that make up a specific disorder and aims to distinguish clinically significant dysfunction from common human experience Begins with the presenting problem Describe the prevalence and incidence of the disorder Describe the onset of the disorder (Acute vs. Insidious) Describe the course of the disorder (Episodic, Time-limited, or Chronic) Describe the prognosis of the disorder (Good vs. Guarded) Prevalence vs. Incidence of the Disorder Prevalence: How many people in the population as a whole have the disorder? Incidence: How many new cases occur during a given period, such as a year? Sex Ratio: Percentage of males and females having the disorder SCIENTIST-PRACTITIONER MODEL Focuses on the adoption of scientific methods to learn more about the nature of psychological disorders, their causes, and their treatment Mental health professional Consumer of science - enhancing the practice Evaluator of science - determining the effectiveness of the practice. Creator of science - conducting research that leads to new procedures useful in practice. Studying psychological disorders Focus ○ Clinical description ○ Causation (etiology) ○ Treatment and outcome ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY HANDOUT BY ELISHA TORRES CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology CLINICAL DESCRIPTION Onset of the Disorder Acute: Disorder begins suddenly Insidious: Disorder develops gradually over an extended period Others also include the typical age of onset or the chronological age at which symptoms of the disease or disorder first appeared in the individual. STATE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES Course of the Disorder Country Profile: Epidemiological Data Chronic: Tends to last a long time, sometimes a There has been no nationwide assessment of the lifetime prevalence of psychiatric diseases in the Philippines ○ Schizophrenia since 2018. Episodic: Likely to recover within a few months only to The WHO estimated that 154 million Filipinos suffer suffer a recurrence of the disorder at a later time from depression, 1 million from schizophrenia, and ○ Mood disorders 15.3 million from substance use disorders, while Time-limited: Improves without treatment in a 877,000 die due to suicide every year (Department of relatively short period with little or no risk of recurrence Health, 2018) The Philippine World Health Organization (WHO) Prognosis of the Disorder Special Initiative for Mental Health conducted in 2020 Prognosis: Anticipated course of a disorder based on showed that ≥3.6 million Filipinos suffer from at least the pathogenesis of the disorder and the presence of risk one kind of mental, neurological, or substance use factors of the disorder disorder, and “there is less than one mental health ○ “Good” = individual is most likely to recover worker for every 100,000 Filipinos, and many are ○ “Poor” = individual is least likely to recover currently unable to gain access to services” (Department of Health, 2020) PREVALENCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE PHILIPPINES Country Profile: Budget Allocation Mental health remains poorly resourced: only 3–5% of the total health budget is spent on mental health, and 70% of this is spent on hospital care (WHO & Department of Health, 2006). ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY HANDOUT BY ELISHA TORRES CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology CAUSATION, TREATMENT, and ETIOLOGY OUTCOMES Etiology What factors contribute to the development of psychopathology? Includes biological, psychological, and social dimensions Treatment How can we best improve the lives of Development people suffering from psychopathology? Includes pharmacologic, psychosocial, and/or combined treatments Treatment How do we know that we have Outcome & alleviated psychological suffering? Evaluation “Evidence-based Treatment”