Historical Perspective of Abnormal Psychology

After reading Chapter 2 of Ronald J. Comer’s book, Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, I now understand key principles of 4 models that that contribute to understanding abnormalities. The first model is the biological model, which can be linked to Roman and Greek times as I read in chapter 1. It mainly states that the cause of psychological abnormalities is that of physical illness. In addition, the abnormalities are introduced because of malfunctioning parts in the brain. This includes the possible malfunction of neurons that are found in the cerebrum and the possible malfunction of these neurons and the transmissions between them. Other factors may include genes, evolution and viral infections

On the other hand, I have to think about a few things. Why do we have the DSM 5, courses such as abnormal psychology, and most importantly why do the terms “normal” and “abnormal” or “health” and “dysfunctional” exists? All of these labels do not exist for any apparent, if they did not exists as a previous instructor of mine said, or are challenging to label. Then the field of psychology would be inexistent. A major part of the field is due to the mental disorders people have, which have already been labeled. These disorders were labeled in order for clinicians, or professional to do three things: place a label, find the structure of treatment, and treat the disorder. This system here is the whole focus of the DSM in general. As for the course abnormal psychology that was taken during my undergrad career, we touch bases on various brain disorders that were not “normal” for the average mentally stable human. The terms “abnormal”, “normal”, “health” and “dysfunction” do exist due to the previous reasons listed

The goal of this course is to provide students with an overview of topics related to abnormal psychology. The primary emphasis of this course will be on classification of psychopathology and the symptoms associated with different syndromes.

The studies of Abnormal Psychology are not only important but very helpful; one example is the researches that have been done on many life threatening disorders in order to find good medication for the people with these disorders. However, even though it is used as a form of treatment

Mental illnesses are generally characterized by changes in mood, thought, or behavior. They can make daily activities difficult and impair a person’s ability to work, interact with family, and fulfill other major life functions (SAMHSA, 2015). Contemplated early on in history, treatments for mental illness looked to cure the reflections of the anger of gods, demonic possession, sorcery, the evil eye, or an angry deity, responded with equally mystical, and brutal treatments (Nash, 2007). Attempts to treat mental illness date back as early as 5000 BCE as verified by the discovery of trephined skulls in regions of ancient world cultures (Porter, 2002, p. 10). Only a few realized that individuals with mental illness should be treated humanely rather than exorcised, punished, or banished. Psychiatry has come a long way since the days patients were shunned from society and shackled in asylums. Experiments and techniques for treating mental illness from ancient times to the turn of the 20th century have paved the way for the treatment plans used today.

During the early to mid 20th century, not much was known about mental illnesses or what caused them, which was the way it had been for many years before. One of the somewhat common perceptions about mental illness was that these disorders were caused by possession or negative spirits. This can be most likely be attributed to the wide influence of the catholic church and the belief that exorcisms or psychosurgery could possibly cure incurable or intractable mental illnesses. Psychosurgery developed into the more common procedure known as a lobotomy, where the connections between the prefrontal lobe and the prefrontal cortex are cut with the intention of freeing the patient from delusions and side effects of other mental illnesses. Lobotomies began as a surgical procedure which needed to be performed in an operating room, as it required holes to be drilled through the scalp and into the skull. This meant that though the procedure was seen to show some

According to Ronald Comer, biological theorists view abnormal behavior as an illness brought about by malfunctioning parts of the brain. These malfunctioning parts can be brought around by a chemical imbalance as well as brain structure abnormalities. So, they tend to point the problem to the anatomy or the chemistry alone, adopting a purely medical perspective. The brain is made up of millions of tiny connections call synapse. In order for the biological process in the brain to work properly everything must be functioning perfectly. The brain runs on an all or none perspective, meaning if one small neuron isn’t firing properly, (the firing of the neurons is how the brain is charged to function) the neuron will die and stop working. This is the chemical outlook of mental illness, that mental illness could possibly be brought around by the misfiring of neurons, or the complete failure to fire that neuronal death could cause.

The medical model of abnormal psychology treats mental disorders in the same way as a broken arm, i.e. there is thought to be a physical cause. Supporters of the medical model consequently consider symptoms to be outward signs of the inner physical disorder and believe that if symptoms are grouped together and classified into a ‘syndrome’ the true cause can eventually be discovered and appropriate physical treatment administered. Behaviors such as hallucinations are 'symptoms' of mental illness as are suicidal ideas or extreme fears such as phobias about snakes and so on. Different illnesses can be identified as 'syndromes',

As early as 5000 B.C. there would be attempts to cure the mentally ill. It was believed that an evil spirit would possess the body of an individual by drilling

The term Psychological disorder, known more as mental disorders or psychotic disorders. Mental disorders are patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact multiple areas of life. There are lots of different psychological disorders such as; major depressive disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, PTSD, OCD, substance use and addictive disorder. These disorders can create distress for the individual experiencing these symptoms. Psychological disorders affect most peoples daily lives some worse than others. Some people are born with psychological disorders, others may have suffered a traumatic event that opened a door in the brain that caused the disorder. There are millions of people that suffer mental or behavioral

1. Note at least 4 specific observations from the guide (the other page you were given. Be specific about what you saw in the movie that was an example of the topic on the guide. (4 points) According to Piaget’s substage 2 is during the first few months of the infants life.

400 B.C. marks Hippocrates, a Greek physician, treating mental disorders as conditions rather than curses from gods. From then and through the middle ages, the mentally ill are cared for by family and are relatively free from constraint. It isn’t until 1407 that the first institution specifically for the mentally ill is established (Timeline: Treatments). Crude methods are used within these years to treat the mentally ill throughout these years, such as trephination, purging, and mystic rituals (Vann, Madeline R). Trephination, also called trepanation, is one of the earliest forms of treatment, going back 7,000 years and involves forming a hole in the skull in hopes of “relieving headaches, mental illness, or presumed demonic possession” (Vann, Madeline R). Purging or ‘fixing humors’, is traced back to the ancient Greeks and is the balancing of

Abnormal and clinical psychology are two branches in the field of psychological studies. In simple words, abnormal psychology can be defined as the study of people who engage in unusual behavior and emotional thoughts. These actions and thoughts are considered abnormal compared to those of other members of society, and they significantly interfere with their functioning in life. Clinical psychology goes hand in hand with abnormal psychology because it is the study that deals with the assessment and treatment of those abnormal actions. Learning about these branches of psychology can help us understand and predict behaviors of people who that are affected by these disorders. It is also essential to advance our knowledge to help assess the people who suffer these illnesses to lead a life of better quality. In this paper, a case study that entails a brief vignette of a 35 year old paralegal named Greg will be analyzed. According to concepts of abnormal and clinical psychology, Greg will be diagnosed with the psychological disorder of obsessive-compulsive disorder (more formally known as OCD) that might have originated in the anal stage of the psychoanalytic theory, for which cognitive behavioral therapy will be used as a possible treatment.

Marvin is feeling so depressed that he is having trouble making it to work and

When I began looking for articles to summarize and talk about for this assignment, I did not really have any certain topic within abnormal psychology in mind. I thought the best approach was to start broad and look through articles and see if something stuck out to me as interesting or unique. By doing this method I located two very different articles on PSYCHinfo to examine. The first that I am going to be summarizing and talking about is an article that explained an experiment that was ran to test the effects of taking an abnormal psychology class on students. This experiment basically was ran to see if there was any connection between taking an abnormal psychology course and a student developing some sort of psychological disorder or