EXAM 1 NOTES PSYCH 350 8 29 13 What is Abnormal Two Primary Approaches A CULTURAL RELATIVISM Abnormal as deviance o Abnormal defined relative to ones culture o o o o o Premise there is no absolute standard of mental health illness o Abnormal is simply whatever deviates from cultural norms Ex homosexuality 1973 wokaholism Nazi s pillar dwellers Pro s 1 culture has clear role in shaping perceptions of normality 2 Some disorders seem specific to specific cultures bulimia o Culture Bound Syndromes bulimia in the U S Fiji however never saw this syndrome until 1996 when they got their first TV o Con s 1 Doesn t explain why some disorders exist in all cultures 2 Ignores relevant scientific information about abnormality 3 Doesn t permit cross cultural comparisons o Pinker the better element of our nature o Non scientific approach Culture is the entire reasoning B HARMFUL DYSFUNCTIONAL MODEL o Abnormal if it meets two functions dysfunctional harmful o Abnormal behavior represents failure disease if it is dysfunctional disrupted biological and psychological mechanisms of adaptive behavior o Also regarded as harmful influenced by culture o Pro s 1 potential to compare and analyze behavior across cultures 2 Richly informed by biology neurosciences etc 3 still acknowledges a role o Con not always a clear filed mechanism behind abnormality Influence of culture looking at something as harmful has cultural for culture Scientific approach references to it Historical Perspectives on Abnormality A Supernaturalism V Naturalism o o Trephination Pervasiveness or supernatural interpretation of world mental events o Default assumption Mind body dualism Our mind and bodies are completely separate Our mental events have no connection to our body PAUL BLOOM NATURAL BORN DUALIST Intuitive Physics how objects behave your body Ex watching the brain waves or pupils of a baby when they are excited Intuitive Psychology how people animals work and behave your mind Ex show babies or psychopaths scenes of people being hurt B Dr Ilardi s Opinion neurotransmitters or chemical involved There are thousands that interact in many 1 chemical balance is over simplistic There is never just ONE different ways 2 It is never a DIFFIENCEY in a chemical Ex depression means you don t have enough serotonin Not that simple 3 mind is what the brain does The mind is the result of computational processes happening in the brain Our mind and brain are flip sides of looking at the same underlying realty 4 any change in mental events will be reflected in your brain Anything that changes your thinking is changing your brain 5 Dendritic Spines 6 When in doubt follow the money C Ancient Greek naturalists o Thales 6 th century b c Became the worlds first scientist physicist First person to identify critical thinking Evidence and logic can decipher everything Challenge supernaturalism o Hippocrates 5 th century b c BRAIN First person to locate the seed of human consciousness is in the 1 First to apply naturalism to human mind body They re not possessed they re mentally ill 2 Four essential humors fluids blood phlegm mucus yellow bile black bile These four fluids influence our well being and brain Too much black bile depression Too much blood fiery energetic bipolar 3 Foreshadow theory of neurochemical imbalance 4 Classification of disorders based on scientific observation discovered paranoia clinical depression mania through keeping track of past patterns of patients Seeing trends across the mentally ill Nutrition can help with mental illness 5 Emphasized the role of stress and nutrition our bodies have a wonderful capacity to heal itself Homeostasis your body is able to balance itself Thought doctors were making everything worse 6 Promoted humane treatment of mentally ill D Very slow scientific medical progress for next 2000 years E Started grouping disorders because he saw trends in disorders Kraepelin was coming up with actual disorders Schizophrenia F Middle Ages 6 th century a d 16 th century o Neo Platonic otherworldly emphasis matter not real o Return to supernaturalism demon possession o Malleus Maleficarum The Witch s Hammer G European Renaissance 14016 th century o Rediscovery of classical Greek texts from Islamic Middle East o Avicenna Ibn Sina 11th century Persain o Johann Weyer german doctor Believes it is medical illness not supernatural demons Asylum Movement 17th 18th century A Bethlehem Hospital bedlam o Their reasoning capacity has been lost therefore they have been turned into animals This is why they do not get sympathy compassion and care as humans would o Chained up never let outside not fed well torturing o People paid to see them chained up Make a little extra B Philippe Pinel 1793 humanitarian reform in Paris o o o o o Takes over a mental hospital in Paris Ex the man who hadn t seen the sun in 14 years C William Tuke 1796 moral treatment movement in England Improved the asylums in such a positive way 2 3 recovered from their illness D Benjamin Rush early 1800s hybrid medical moral treatment Father of American psychiatry Signer of declaration of independence are still human they are not animals o Moral treatment we need to treat the mentally ill morally the mentally ill Advent of mental hospitals 19th century beyond A Medical Model bleeding spinning blistering water therapy restraint chair poison terror community B Alternative Moral Treatment compassion nutrition low stress work exercise C Dr Thomas Kirkbride Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane 1840 1883 o Founded the most truly humane Insane Hospital of that time Hardwood floors beautiful rooms open windows gardens no torture D Dorothea Dix Mental Hygiene movement o Wanted to transform everyone to Tuke s hospital Patients weren t getting great care but it did improve a little 20th Century Developments E Biological Model o Emil Kraepelin 1893 boring dry academic scientist 1893 made the first systematic classification system Schizophrenia bipolar disorder main depression Hypothesized the disorder of psychopaths Noticed a cluster of symptoms and slapped a label on them Referenced Hippocrates o Cerebral Syphilis general paresis syndrome that they did not understand Syphilitic infection CAUSES Cerebral Syphilis Tried to cure them by trying to kill them with poison or malaria o Outpatient being treated outside a hospital at home etc o Inpatient being treated inside a hospital Brain damaging therapy ECT electric shock therapy insulin coma metrazol lobotomy o Biological