Psych 101 WFU-1
Harris Sandigan
Kenneth Nomel
Ram Tolentino
Why study abnormal behavior?
It raises many questions like:
 How should one react?
 What should be done to help?
 What kind of person develops a mental illness?
 Could this happen to someone close to you?
Why study abnormal behavior?
The key to answering these questions is to
develop an understanding of just what is meant
by abnormal behavior and the different ways in
which behavior can depart from the “normal”
path.
What is meant by the term
abnormal behavior?
 Psychopathology is the study of
abnormal behavior
 Mental illness has been defined in
various ways throughout history
(e.g. possession, evil spirits, bodily
imbalances)
HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISORDERS
A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
> 300 B.C.E., archaeologists have found
human skulls with small holes cut into
them, and close examination indicates that
the holes were made while the person was
still alive.
Source: wikipedia.com
A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
• The process is called trepanning (also
spelled trephening), wherein it had to do
with releasing the “demons” possessing the
poor victim.
 Ancient people assumed that those who
were behaving oddly were possessed by evil
spirits.
A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
> Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.E)
believed that illness of both the
body and the mind were the
result of imbalances in the
body’s vital fluids, or humors
(phlegm, black bile, blood and
yellow bile)
A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
>People of the Middle Ages believed in the spirit
possession (a belief influenced by the teachings of
the Roman Catholic Church and the other
religious and cultural systems) as one cause of
abnormal behavior.
 The treatment for such maladies was exorcism or
the formal casting out of the demon through
religious ritual.
EXORCISM
What is abnormal?
 Defining abnormal or abnormality is not as
simple as it might seem at first.
 We must consider different criteria and factors
for determining abnormality.
Factors defining abnormality
 Statistical Definition – frequently occurring
behavior would be considered normal, and behavior
that is rare would be abnormal.
 Social Norm Deviance- another way of defining
abnormality is to see it as something that goes against
the norms or standards of the society in which the
individual lives.
- situational context (the social or environmental
setting of a person’s behavior)
Factors defining abnormality
 Subjective Discomfort- one sign of abnormality is
when the person experiences a great deal of emotional
distress of emotional pain. However not all that might
be considered abnormal create subjective discomfort.
ex. Serial killer
 Inability to Function Normally- the person finds it
hard to adapt to the demands of day-to-day living
(maladaptive behavior). It also includes behavior that
may initially help a person cope but has harmful or
damaging effect.
Factors defining abnormality
 The Sociocultural Perspective- abnormal behavior
as well as normal behavior is seen as the product of the
learning and shaping of behavior within the context of
the family, the social group to which one belongs, and
the culture within which family and social group exist.
-cultural relativity, the need to consider the unique
characteristics of the culture in which behavior takes
place
Factors defining abnormality
-Culture-bound syndrome- disorders found only in
particular cultures
ex. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are most
often found in Western societies
So how do psychologists decide
what is abnormal?
 1. Is the behavior unusual, such as experiencing
severe panic when faced with a stranger or being
severely depressed in the absence of any stressful
life situations?
 2.Does the behavior go against social norms? (And
keep in mind that social norms change over timee.g., homosexuality was once considered a
psychological disorder rather than a variation in
sexual orientation.)
 3.Does the behavior cause the person significant
subjective discomfort?
 4. Is the behavior maladaptive or result in an
inability to function?
 5.Does the behavior cause the person to be
dangerous to self or others, as in the case of
someone who tries to commit suicide or who
attacks other people without reason?
 Abnormal behavior that includes at least two
of these five criteria is perhaps best classified
by the term psychological disorder, which is
defined as any pattern of behavior that causes
people significant distress, causes them to
harm themselves or others, or harms their
ability to function in daily life.
Abnormality vs. Insanity
 Psychologists and psychiatrists determine whether or
not certain behavior is abnormal, but they do not
decide whether a certain person is insane.
 In U.S, insanity is not a psychological term; it is a
legal term
 It [insanity] used to argue that a mentally ill person
who has committed a crime should not be held
responsible for his or her actions because he/she was
unable to understand the difference between right and
wrong at the time of the offense
Abnormality vs. Insanity
 It is important to keep in mind that not everyone who
has been diagnosed with a psychological disorder is a
good candidate to use the insanity defense to plead
innocent to a criminal charge.
Models of Abnormality
1. Biological Model- model of explaining behavior as
caused by biological changes in the chemical,
structural or genetic systems of the body.
2. Psychological Model- disordered behaviors are the
result of various forms of emotional, behavioral or
thought-related malfunctioning.
a. Psychodynamic View
b.Behaviorism
c. Cognitive Perspective
2. Psychological Models
 Psychodynamic view- explains disordered behavior
as the result of repressing one’s threatening thoughts,
memories and concerns in the unconscious mind
 Behaviorism- explains disordered behavior as being
learned just like normal behavior
 Cognitive Perspective- abnormal behavior as
resulting from illogical thinking patterns
3. Biopsychosocial Perspective
 The biological, psychological and sociocultural
influences on abnormality are no longer seen as
independent causes of abnormal behavior. Instead,
these influences interact with one another to cause the
various forms of disorders.
 It is a very influential way to view the connection
between mind and body.
What are the different types of
psychological disorders and how
common are they?
 In 1952, the first edition of the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM) was
published to help psychological professionals diagnose
psychological disorders
 The current version of DSM is called Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth
Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)
 DSM-IV-TR describes about 250 different
psychological disorders.
 Each disorder is described in terms of its symptoms
 The manual also divides these disorders and relevant
facts about the person being diagnosed along five
different axes.
DMS-IV-TR
 Axis I- Clinical Disorders
 Axis II- Personality Disorders along with Mental
Retardation
 Axis III- Physical Disorders that affects person’s
psychological well-being
 Axis IV- Problems in the Person’s life
 Axis V- Global Assessment of Functioning (overall
judgment made by the psychological professional of
the person’s mental health and adjustment)
Pros and Cons of Labels
 Pros:
 1. Helps psychological professionals diagnose patients
and provide those patients with labels that explain
their conditions.
 2. Labels establish distinct diagnostic categories that
all psychological professionals recognize and
understand, and they help patients receive effective
treatment.
Pros and Cons of Labels
 Cons:
 1. David Rosenhan concluded that psychological labels
are long lasting and powerful, affecting not only how
other people see mental patients but how patients see
themselves.
 2. It is very easy to see oneself in these disorders.
Ex. Psychology students studying abnormal behavior
can also become convinced that they have some
mental disorder (psychology student’s syndrome)
How common are psychological
disorders?
 In any given year, about 26.2 percent of American
adults over age 81 suffer from a mental disorder that
comes to about 57.7 million people in U.S.
 Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in
U.S and Canada (National Institute of Mental Health,
2010)
 It is quite common to people to suffer from more than
one mental disorder at a time (e.g. person with
depression who also has substance disorder, anxiety
disorder and sleeping disorder)