Abnormal PsychologyUnit 1 NotesTopics: Introduction; Overview of Causes and Treatments; Diagnostic Techniques and Research Methods; Anxiety Disorders, Parts I and II Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5o What behaviors are abnormal?- Distress- Disability- Deviance –consider different cultureso The myth of mental illness (Thomas Szasz) argued three points:- 1. Abnormal behaviors are simply “different” (ex. cross dressing)- 2. Unusual behaviors are not necessarily wrong (ex. inventors) and being wrong doesn’t make an individual abnormal (ex. if you get a math problem wrong it doesn’t mean you have a mental disorder)- 3. Abnormal behaviors are a result of problems in society, not in the individual (ex. example of stress and brief psychotic disorder) so it is the society that is abnormalo Individuals are labeled as abnormal because they are disturbing us, not because they are disturbedo The case of the woman on the street: woman sat on the street corner with a heater during bad weather, people called the police because they thought she was mentally illo Responses:- 1. Abnormal behaviors are often not choices- 2. People suffer terribly from some abnormal behaviors- 3. Abnormal behaviors have been shown to stem from structural and chemical problems in the brain The development of our understanding of abnormal behaviors; five phases- Not just history- We must understand context- Some phases are still with uso Prehistoric and earliest history:- Abnormal behaviors are caused by evil spirits- Treatment involves torture to drive the evil spirits out Trephination drilling a hole in the skull to let evil spirits out - Early written records of the Chinese, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks and Hebrews- The story of David feigning madness- The story of Christ hurling evil spirits into swine (Exorcism today)o Greek and Roman civilizations- Hippocrates and humors (sometimes called biles) Black and depression (bad humor) Yellow and anxiety - Disturbed individuals were treated as patients o The dark ages- Revert back to evil spirits: the Devil and the conflict between good and evil Disturbed individuals were seen as witches- Effects of the moon (“lunatic”) o The age of enlightenment - From religion came concerns about the welfare of disturbed individuals Asylums (hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem, Dorothea Dix) Dorothea Dix: went around the country talking to state legislatures about funding hospitals  Moral Treatment (Philippe Pinel, William Tuke, Benjamin Rush) Individuals kept and exposed to musicals, etc Benjamin Rush: thought that strapping the individual to a chair and spinning them around would treat schizophrenia - From science came new treatments Bleeding and spinning (Benjamin rush) Drugs (alcohol, opium, and marijuana)o The modern Era- Suggestion and Hypnosis: Franz Mesmer (1734-1815) very famous, everyone went to him for hypnosis treatment  Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1993) - Unconscious conflicts Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) used cocaine as treatment when exposed to something stressful you repress the information so it cant bother you anymoreo DSM: lists symptoms needed for a diagnosis - determines what is a disorder and what is noto Prolonged exposure therapy: if you are exposed to a stressful situation for a long time, you think about it and realize it isn’t that bado Vicarious conditioning: some people develop phobias for objects or situations with which they have not had any contact- monkey exampleo Treatment for phobias: - Behavior Therapy to extinguish the fear Dog phobia- The use of pleasure as an adjunct Little Peter- Systematic Desensitization - Virtual reality o The Learning Explanation- Classical conditioning of fearo The Cognitive Explanation - Misinterpretation of physical symptoms o The Physiological Explanation - An overly sensitive respiratory control center- You sigh because when you’re slumped over you aren’t getting enough oxygen so the respiratory control center tells you to take a deep breath o The link to agoraphobia- Panic attacks can occur during sleep During stage four sleep carbon dioxide builds up and…- Panic attacks can be brought on by inhaling carbon dioxide- Panic attacks can be brought on by an injection of sodium lactate Sodium lactate can be converted into carbon dioxide in the blood stream…- Can be treated with antidepressants  SSRI’s-increase levels of neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain for increasing inhibitory neurons which…o Panic attacks are very likely to occur during stress Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder o Obsessions: behaviors an individual feels compelled to repeat over and overo Compulsions: persistent, anxiety-provoking thoughts o The Cognitive Approach- Incorrect beliefs- Exposure and response prevention o Antidepressants and Surgery to Correct- Brain activity Anafranil (clomipramine) and SSRIs such as Prozac, Paxil and