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Abnormal
Psychology PSY404
VU
LESSON
1
ABNORMAL
PSYCHOLOGY
According
to William James (1842-1910)" To study
the abnormal is the
best
way of understanding the 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
1