Psychopathology is the term used to describe psychological function which deviates from the norm. This can include mental disorders, and so explanations of psychopathology attempt to describe why individuals develop these disorders. As with all aspects of psychology, there are many different perspectives, and in this essay the Biological and Cognitive models will be addressed. The biological approach sees mental disorders as caused by abnormal physiological processes such as genetic and biochemical factors. Psychological abnormality, according to this model, is an illness or disease.
Trait theory vs personal contrsuct The psychological study of individual differences traditionally has roots in the clinical, psychometric and experimental traditions (Butt,2007). Trait theory is based in the experimental approach. More recently the phenomenological perspective has made headway into the study of individual differences, as demonstrated by personal construct theory (PCT). This essay will start by describing trait theory and PCT, highlighting the important differences between the two approaches. An evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the two theories will follow.
Outline and Evaluate issues surrounding the classification and diagnosis of Schizophrenia The DSM-IV and the ICD-10 are based on a series of categories. They assume that all mental disorders are distinct from each other, and if you fulfill the relevant criteria you have the disorder. However, some patients show comorbidity, which is where an individual suffers from two or more mental disorders at the same time. This creates problems of reliability and validity in the classification and diagnosis of Schizophrenia. For a classification system to be useful it needs to be reliable.
Additionally, it will discuss definition of severe mental illness and why it is hard to define on a single definition and how it is being assessed for appropriate management and treatment. It will further analyse how stress and vulnerability model help the therapist and patient understand the onset symptoms of schizophrenia. Furthermore, it will examine the role of CBT in reducing the impact of positive symptoms to the patient. Moreover, it will discuss the criticisms on the effectiveness of CBT and how the proponents answered these criticisms. Lastly, it will analyse CBT’s implications to practice in mental health nursing.
Dixon (cited in Hollway, 2007) points out that psychological research treated prejudice as the outcrop of abnormal psychological development. The author went on to mention that according to the work by some writers on the Dogmatic Personality ,prejudice is rooted in abnormal personality development and it is because of this view that prejudice was seen as closely related to cognitive rigidity. Prejudice is also closely linked to intergroup conflict. Intergroup conflict according to Bornstain (2003) generally involves conflicts of interest within groups of people. Bornstain (2003) goes on to point out that intergroup conflicts are rational in the sense that groups do have incompatible goals and are in competition for scarce resources.
It is a huge challenge to find a widely accepted definition of ‘abnormal’ as each individual, culture and country has a different view. To help with these definitional problems, psychologists look at two methods. Firstly, statistical norms; in this definition of abnormality, behaviours which are seen as statistically rare are labelled as abnormal. Due to this, this method has an obvious flaw – people displaying desirable behaviour such as: being extremely intelligent, are seen to be just as abnormal as those on the opposite end of the scale. Secondly is a method looking at social norms.
RUNNING HEAD ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY Abnormal Psychology Heather Bowman 11-29-2010 PSY 410 University of Phoenix Mr. Eric Niler, PhD Abnormal Psychology 1 Often times, there is inadequacy in classifying key terms by simply more than such logical antecedents- yet, the greater the culturally predicated terms require an explanation that includes acccurate, and observable terminologies that simply illuminate such states of the opposing deficiency. In an aim to end this, such scientific characterizations regarding one’s abnormalities can rest on the five following criterias: help seeking, irrationality/dangerousness, deviance, emotional distress and, significant impairment (Damour & Hansell, 2008). While the first three criteria
The cognitive approach to psychopathology assumes that thinking, expectations and cognition direct behaviour. Therefore abnormality behaviour is caused by faulty thinking and irrational cognitive processes. The cognitive model of abnormality is most often applied to patients with anxiety or depression. Ellis (1962) A-B-C model outlines the cognitive model. A refers to an activating event, e.g.
Therefore, understanding the impact of a person’s mental health developmental problem and its medical features becomes a paramount issue when it comes to diagnosis and medical intervention (Kenrick, 2009). In mental health, being normal or abnormal depends on different conditions or circumstances. Similarly, the term ‘abnormal’ has different explanations biologically and psychologically. In order to analyze practical and theoretical challenges in defining the term ‘abnormal’, three approaches are used. The first approach is the statistical abnormality.
What defines what is considered abnormal and normal behaviour? This is a question that only society can answer. “...It is a psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected”. (Barlow, & Durand, 2009. Chp1.