PSY404 Official Handouts

Table of Contents

Page no. Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3

Psychopathology in historical context I

Lesson 4

Psychopathology in historical context II

Lesson 5

Psychopathology in historical context III

Lesson 6

Research methods

Lesson 7

Research designs

Lesson 8

Experimental research designs

Lesson 9

Genetics

Lesson 10

Research ethics

Lesson 11

Causes of abnormal behavior

Lesson 12

The structure of brain

Lesson 13

Causes of psychopathology

Lesson 14

Causes of abnormal behavior

Etiological factors of abnormality

Lesson 15

Classification and assessment

Lesson 16

Diagnosing psychological disorders

Lesson 17

Evaluating systems

Lesson 18

Assessment of personality I

Lesson 19

Assessment of personality II

Lesson 20

Psychotherapy I

Lesson 21

Psychotherapy II

Lesson 22

Psychotherapy III

Lesson 23

Psychotherapy IV

Lesson 24

Anxiety disorders I

Lesson 25

Anxiety disorders II

Lesson 26

Mood disorders I

Lesson 27

Mood disorders II

Lesson 28

Suicide

Lesson 29

Stress I

Lesson 30

Stress II

Lesson 31

Acute and posttraumatic stress disorders

Lesson 32

Dissociative and somatoform disorders I

Lesson 33

Dissociative and somatoform disorders II

Lesson 34

Personality disorders I

Lesson 35

Personality disorders II

Lesson 36

Alcoholism and substance related disorders I

Lesson 37

Alcoholism and substance related disorders II

Lesson 38

Schizophrenia I

Lesson 39

Schizophrenia II

Lesson 40

Dementia delirium and amnestic disorders I

Lesson 41

Dementia delirium and amnestic disorders II

Lesson 42

Mental retardation and developmental disorders I

Lesson 43

Mental retardation and developmental disorders II

Lesson 44

Psychological problems of childhood

Lesson 45

Life cycle transitions and adult development

LESSON 1

normal”.

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the science of behavior it deals with prediction and control of behavior. Psychologists use the methods of science to investigate and study all kinds of behavior and mental processes say for example the activity of single nerve cell to social conflicts that take place in complex societies or say from the development of language in childhood to the major adjustments required in old age.

Why study Psychology?

Know thy self To have a clear understanding of your own behavior, personality, attitudes, emotions, cognitions and many more things about yourself and others.

What is Abnormal Psychology?

It is a branch or field of Psychology which relates to mental disorders or psychopathology. It involves studying patterns of thinking and behaving that are maladaptive, disruptive .These disruptive patterns of thinking and behaving ultimately effects the individual relationship with others.

You may have heard about a number of mental disorders in television talk shows or in dramas or in the movies. Most of us are even familiar with the names of these mental disorders, such as Depression, Anxiety disorder, Eating disorder, Schizophrenia, Post traumatic stress disorder, Obsessive Compulsive disorder and many more. Abnormal Psychology studies: The symptoms (what the disorders look like?), about The etiology (what causes these disorders), The assessment (how we can measure the disorders) The diagnosis (how we can classify the disorders) The prognosis (the possible outcome of the disorder) The treatment (how we intervene) Social implications (the effects that disorders have on the individual, their family and on the society in particular).

Example

A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL in her biology class saw the dissection of a frog, about half way she left the room but she was bothered by images of the dissection. She began to avoid situations where she might see blood or injury .she found it difficult to look at raw meat or band aid. She could not stand the sight of blood. She fainted in her class frequently and she could not stand the people talking about blood, surgery or injury.

Symptoms sight of blood, injury or band aid or raw meat created fear. Etiology saw a dissection of frog Assessment impaired functioning, and DSM-IV-TR Diagnosis blood injury Phobia Prognosis good Treatment phobia treatment by Systematic Desensitization Social implications can not study in class; enter professions like medicine or nursing. Psychology is the scientific study of behavior where as Abnormal Psychology is the application of psychological science to the study of mental disorders. PSYCHOSIS is a general term that refers to several types of severe mental disorder in which the person is considered to be out of contact with reality.

Neurosis is a term no more used now we use the term Anxiety disorders it refers to mild types of mental disorder in which the person has contact with reality but its one area of his life which is problematic.

Recognizing the presence of a disorder

All mental disorders are typically defined by a set of characteristic features; one symptom by itself is seldom sufficient to make a diagnosis. A group of symptoms that appear together and are assumed to represent a specific type of disorder is referred to as a syndrome. The significance of any specific feature depends on whether the person also exhibits additional behaviors that are characteristic of a particular disorder. The duration of a person’s symptoms is also important. Mental disorders are defined in terms of persistent maladaptive behaviors.

Impairment is the ability to perform social and occupational roles is another consideration in identifying the presence of a mental disorder. One of the most difficult issues in the field of abnormal psychology centers on the processes by which mental disorders are identified. Psychologists and other mental health professionals do not at present have laboratory tests that can be used to confirm definitively the presence of psychopathology because the processes that are responsible for mental disorders have not yet been fully discovered.

Clinical psychologists depend on their observations of the person’s behavior and descriptions of personal experience. Insanity is a legal term that refers to judgments about whether a person should be held responsible for criminal behavior if he or she is also mentally disturbed. Nervous breakdown is an old fashioned term that indicates, in very general terms, that a person has developed some sort of incapacitating but otherwise unspecified type of mental disorder. This expression does not convey any specific information about the nature of the person’s problems. Crazy is a term that does not convey specific information and carries with it many unfortunate, unfounded, and negative implications. Mental health professionals refer to psychopathological conditions as mental disorders or abnormal behaviors. Lunatic, insane, mad and nuts are terms referring to bizarre set of behaviors.

Example A I felt the need to clean my room at home every Sunday and I would spend some four to five hours at it. I would take every book out of the bookcase, dust it and put it back. At that time I loved doing that .Then I did not want to do it, but I could not stop and it made me think for the time that I might be nuts. (Case A, diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, citation from Summers, 1996)

Example B Whenever I get depressed it’s because I have lost a sense of myself. I cannot find reasons to like myself. I think I am ugly, I think no one likes me and I have become short tempered. Nobody wants to be around me. I am left alone. Being alone confirms that I am ugly and not worth being with. I think I am responsible for everything that goes wrong. (Case B, diagnosed with depression, citation from Thorne, 1993)