PYC3702 - Abnormal Behaviour and Mental Health (PYC3702)
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University Of South Africa (Unisa)
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PYC3702 - Abnormal Behaviour and Mental Health (PYC3702)
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PYC3702 Study Notes
Abnormal Behaviour and Mental Health
Introduction
Learning Unit 1 Abnormal Behaviour (Chapter 1 PB)
The Concerns of Abnormal Psychology
The Field of Abnormal Psychology
Abnormal psychology focuses on psychopathology, the study of the symptoms and causes of mental distress and the
various treatments for behavioral and mental disorders. Those who study psychopathology attempt to describe,
explain, predict, and modify the behaviors, emotions or thoughts associated with various mental conditions.This
includes behavior that ranges from highly unusual to fairly common.
People who work in the field of psychopathology strive to alleviate the distress and life disruption experienced by
those with mental disorders and the concerns of their friends and family members.
Describing Abnormal Behaviour
If you were experiencing emotional distress, you might decide to seek help from a mental health professional. If so,
the therapist might begin by asking you some questions and observing your behaviour and reactions. The therapist
would then use these observations, paired with information you share about your background and symptoms, to
formulate a psychodiagnosis, an attempt to describe, assess, and understand your particular situation and the
possibility that you might be experiencing a mental disorder. After gaining a better understanding of your situation,
you and the professional would work together to develop a treatment plan, beginning with a focus on your most
distressing symptoms.
Explaining Abnormal Behaviour
Identifying the aetiology, or possible causes, for abnormal behaviour is a high priority for mental health
professionals. No single explanation adequately accounts for complex human behaviour. Normal and abnormal
behaviours result from interactions among various biological, psychological, social, and sociocultural factors.
Predicting Abnormal Behaviour
Civil commitment, or involuntary confinement, represents an extreme decision that has major implications for an
individual’s civil liberties. Our legal system operates under the assumption that people are innocent until proven
guilty. Locking someone up before he or she commits a dangerous act potentially violates that person’s civil rights.
Additionally, it is possible for someone with a deteriorating mental condition to appear relatively normal.
Modifying Abnormal Behaviour
Distressing symptoms can often be modified through psychotherapy, which is a program of systematic intervention
designed to improve a person’s behavioral, emotional, or cognitive state. Mental health professionals focus first on
understanding the cause of a client’s mental distress and then work with the client to plan treatment.
Just as there are many ways to explain mental disorders, there are many therapies and many professional helpers
offering their services.
Views of Abnormality
DSM-5 that a mental disorder has the following components:
(a) involves a significant disturbance in thinking, emotional regulation, or behaviour caused by a dysfunction in
the basic psychological, biological, or developmental processes involved in normal development.
(b) causes significant distress or difficulty with day-to-day functioning; and
(c) is not merely a culturally expected response to common stressors or losses or a reflection of political or
religious beliefs that conflict with societal norms.
,The four major factors involved in judging psychopathology are
1. Distress
2. Deviance
3. Personal Dysfunction
4. Dangerousness
Distress
Most people who seek the help of therapists are experiencing psychological distress that affects social, emotional, or
physical functioning.
In the social sphere:
An individual may become withdrawn and avoid interactions with others or, at the other extreme, may
engage in inappropriate or dangerous social interactions.
In the emotional realm:
Distress might involve extreme or prolonged reactions such as anxiety and depression.
Physically :
Distress also surfaces physically in conditions such as asthma or hypertension or with symptoms of fatigue,
pain, or heart palpitations.
Of course, we all have social, emotional, and physical ups and downs. However if your reaction is so intense,
exaggerated, or prolonged that it interferes with your ability to function adequately, the symptoms may reflect a
mental disorder.
Deviance
Normal behaviour is behaviour that occurs frequently. Abnormal behaviours are those that occur least frequently.
Thus, abnormal behaviors deviate—or represent a significant deviation from— social norms.
Examples:
False perceptions of reality (such as hallucinations)
An intense preoccupation with repetitively washing one’s hands
Demonstrating extreme panic in a social setting.
Defining symptoms of mental illness can be extremely subjective; decisions about what is normal or abnormal are
influenced by the background of the mental health professional evaluating the symptoms and the cultural context in
which the behaviour or symptoms occurs.
Certain sexual acts, criminal activities, and homicide are also behaviors that our society considers deviant. However,
such activities do not necessarily involve the psychological or biological dysfunction associated with mental
disorders.
Additionally, social norms are far from static, and behavioural standards are not always absolute. Such changes in
attitudes make it difficult to subscribe to absolute standards of normality. However, certain behaviours are
considered abnormal in most situations.
Personal Dysfunction
In everyday life, we all fulfil a variety of social and occupational roles, such as friend, family member, student, or
employee. Emotional problems sometimes interfere with the performance of these roles. Therefore, role
dysfunction is often considered when determining if someone has a mental disorder. One way to assess dysfunction
is to compare someone’s performance with the requirements of a role. An employee who suddenly cannot fulfil job
demands may be experiencing emotional difficulties.
Dysfunction can also be assessed by comparing an individual’s performance with his or her potential. For example, a
sudden drop in academic performance may signal that a college student is experiencing effects from substance
abuse or from anxiety, depression, or other common mental disorders.
,Dangerousness
Even though it is a statistical rarity for individuals who are mentally ill to commit violent crimes, media coverage of
national tragedies has led the public to associate mental illness with violence. In reality, only a small minority of acts
of violence involve someone with a severe mental illness.
Drug and alcohol abuse is much more likely to result in violent behavior than are other kinds of mental illness
Even though violence is rare, predicting the possibility that clients might be dangerous to themselves or to others
has become an inescapable part of the role of mental health professionals
Therapists are required by law to take appropriate action when a client is potentially homicidal or suicidal. In the
case of potential harm to others, they have a duty to warn the intended victim or to contact officials who can
provide protection.
Cultural Considerations in Abnormal Behaviour
Psychologists now recognize that all behaviours, whether normal or abnormal, originate from a cultural context.
Culture is the learned behaviour that members of a group transmit to the next generation. Culture includes shared
values, beliefs, attitudes, and the group’s views about the world.
Our cultural background can significantly influence not only our behaviour, but also our definition or view of mental
illness. This is cultural relativism—the belief that lifestyles, cultural values, and worldviews affect the expression and
determination of abnormal behaviour
Cultural relativism:
Cultures vary in what they define as normal or abnormal behaviour.
Focus on the cultural context within which symptoms are manifested.
Cultural universality:
The perspective that symptoms of mental disorders are the same in all cultures and societies. According to
those who see mental illness as a universal phenomenon, specific mental disorders would have the same
causes and symptoms throughout the world.
Focus on specific disorders and minimize cultural factors
Both views are valid. Many disorders have symptoms that are very similar across cultures. In some cases, however,
there are cultural differences in the definitions, descriptions, and understandings of mental illness.
Socio-political Considerations in Abnormality”
We also need to consider behaviour from a socio-political perspective—the social and political context within which
a behaviour occurs.
The importance of considering the socio-political implications of defining mental illness was well-articulated by
Thomas Szasz (1987), who asserted that mental illness is a myth, a fictional creation that society uses to control and
change people.
According to Szasz, people may have “problems in living,” but not “mental illness.”
His argument stems from three beliefs:
a) That abnormal behaviour is so labelled by society because it is different, not necessarily because it reflects
illness;
b) That unusual belief systems are not necessarily wrong; and
c) That abnormal behaviour is frequently a reflection of something wrong with society rather than with the
individual.
Therapists and other practitioners must be sensitive to the fact that personal bias, socio-political factors, or societal
norms and values may influence decisions about diagnosis and treatment.
, How Common Are Mental Disorders?
The prevalence of a disorder is the percentage of people in a population who have the disorder during a given
interval of time.
E.g.: The results from three large studies from the Department of Health and Human Services revealed that 24.8
percent of adults have experienced a mental disorder (not including a drug or alcohol use disorder) during the last 12
months, with 5.8 percent facing a serious mental disorder such as schizophrenia (Bagalman & Napili, 2013).
When looking at prevalence rates, it is important to consider the time interval involved. A lifetime prevalence rate
refers to existence of the disorder during any part of a person’s life, whereas the study just discussed involved a 12-
month prevalence rate.
Mental disorders are very common, even among the young.
This kind of statistical information allows us to determine how frequently or infrequently various conditions
occur in the population.
We can also use prevalence data to compare how disorders vary by ethnicity, gender, and age.
And by monitoring changes in rates we can tell whether current mental health practices are effective in
preventing or treating various disorders.
The cost and distress associated with mental disorders is a major societal concern.
Mental disturbances are widespread, and many people currently are coping with symptoms of mental distress. What
is even more troubling is that up to 57 percent of adults with severe mental disorders are not receiving or seeking
treatment.
Overcoming Social Stigma and Stereotypes”, pages 13-15.
Despite the prevalence of mental disorders in families and communities across the country, many U.S. Americans
hold negative stereotypes such as beliefs that people with mental disorders are dangerous, unpredictable,
incompetent, or responsible for their condition.
Research findings support this perception—that those with mental illness are often strongly disapproved of,
devalued, and set apart from others.
Individuals with mental illness often need to contend with two forms of stigma:
1. Public stigma that is expressed through prejudice (belief in negative stereotypes) and discrimination (actions
based on this prejudice). Prejudice and discrimination are sometimes more devastating than the illness itself
2. Self-stigma can also be very destructive to those coping with mental illness. Self-stigma occurs when
individuals internalize negative beliefs or stereotypes regarding their group and accept the prejudice and
discrimination directed against them. In doing so, they come to accept negative societal stereotypes of being
different, dangerous, unpredictable, or incompetent and then incorporate these negative beliefs into their
self-image.
As you might imagine, this negative self-image can lead to further distress, and maladaptive reactions such
as not socializing or not seeking work because of feelings of uselessness or incompetence. Unfortunately,
self-stigma based on societal prejudices not only undermines feelings of self-worth and self-efficacy (belief in
one’s ability to succeed), but can also hinder recovery.
The belief that those who are mentally ill are somehow responsible for their condition also results in social stigma.
Would stigma be reduced if the public better understood that mental illness is similar to medical conditions, such as
cancer, that result from a variety of factors, including biological vulnerability, rather than voluntary actions by the
individual?
Surprisingly, researchers found that increased focus on biological causes did not lessen social distance toward or
perceived danger from individuals with schizophrenia or major depression.
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