Abnormal Psychology Monday January 12 2015 Ch 1 Symptoms and signs of mental illness are known as psychopathology Psychopathology Literal Meaning pathology of the mind Abnormal psych application of psychological science to the study of mental disorders Psychosis when one is out of contact with reality getting sick after lunch and think your friend poisoned it Line between normal abnormal is not alway clear and often one degree Syndrome A group of symptoms that appear together and are assumed to represent a speci c Mental disorders are de ned in terms of Duration or persistence of maladaptive behaviors Impairment in the ability to perform social and occupational roles The textbook speaks of Kevin Warner a man with a diagnosis of schizophrenia His de ning feature of schizophrenia was that people were poisoning him He was given shots of medication b c he was only pretending to take real medication By what criteria do we decide whether a particular set of behaviors or emotional reactions should be viewed as a mental disorder Individual experience of personal distress Statistical norms how common or rare it is in the general population Harmful Dysfunction The condition results from the inability of some internal mechanism to perform its The condition causes some ham to the person as judged by the standards of the natural function person s culture Not every dysfunction leads to a disorder 1 Monday January 12 2015 The DSM 5 de nition places primary emphasis on the consequences of certain behavioral syndromes Mental disorders are de ned by clusters of persistent maladaptive behaviors that are associated with personal distress anxiety or depression impairment in social or occupational functioning Community should be concerned with Efforts to diminish frequency of mental disorders Designing activities to promote ourishing It is likely that everyone will be touched by the problems associated with mental illness at some point in their life Is sexual addiction a meaningful concept The symptoms of this disorder presumably include low self esteem insecurity need for reassurance and sensation seeking Frequency in and Impact on Community Populations Lifetime prevalence Recent study found that almost half of every American experiences serious abnormal behavior at some point in life Disease Burden mortality Mental Disorders are the 2nd leading cause of disease related disability and Who provides help for people with mental disorders Psychological problems treated in different settings by various kinds of service providers 40 treated by specialized mental health professionals 34 primary care physician likely provides meds 26 mental help groups Insane asylums were little more than human warehouses 2
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