Class notes
Class notes PSYC 1010
- Course
- PSYC 1010
- Institution
- York University (Ebor )
Notes for this first year course
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
Content preview
Brief History on Views about Psychological Disorders• Stone age – people were possessed by demons/spirits and trephining allowed for their
escape
• Hippocrates (460-367 BC) - psychological functioning was due to disturbances in body
fluids called “humours”
• Europe in Middle Ages
-exorcisms were performed to drive away evil
-asylums began to appear but the mentally ill were treated inhumanely
• 18th century (age of enlightenment)
- Pinel ordered humane treatment and initiated the medical model (whose influence remains
today)
Medical Model – proposes that abnormal behavior be viewed as a disease and treated as
one (like physical illnesses)
-this eventually gave rise to psychiatry and patients were treated in mental hospitals
Defining Abnormal Behavior
•No clear-cut way of distinguishing normal from abnormal behavior
•Context must sometimes be taken into consideration
4 Major Criteria for Defining Abnormal Behavior (all have short-comings)
1) Statistical Frequency
-behavior that’s infrequent is abnormal
-definition is based strictly on numbers
Problem – not all infrequent behaviors are judged as “abnormal” (eg. exceptional athletic
ability)
2) Deviation from Social Norms Problem
-abnormality is culturally relative -norms change over time
-not all socially deviant behaviors are indicative of “abnormality” (eg. burping in public)
3) Behavior is Abnormal if it’s Maladaptive
-everyday adaptive behavior is impaired
Problem – this view makes a judgment about the consequences of behavior, which can be
subjective (eg drinking alcohol isn’t abnormal but if it interferes with daily functioning, it is)
4) Psychological Distress
- is based on a person’s subjective feeling of distress (they might not exhibit maladaptive
behavior)
Problem – distress is not always experienced by people with psychological disorders
• Normality/abnormality should be seen as a continuum.
Diagnosing
- involves matching symptoms to pre-established categories of psychological disorders
(listed in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – DSM)
- is the basis for selecting a therapy and making a prognosis
• A diagnosis can be derived from:
a) a formal and standard diagnostic interview
b) personality and projective tests
c) interview with patient’s family/friends
, • The DSM increases reliability in diagnosing (like using an answer key to grade a test)
• The DSM has undergone several revisions (disorders are added, removed, or renamed)
•Most recent revision was in 2013 (DSM-5)
•It contains 16 major categories of psychological disorders and over 300 specific disorders
Problems with Diagnosing
a) labeling may lead to a “self-fulfilling prophecy” (patient behaves in accordance to
expectations)
b) a label can lead to social stigma
c) labels can “color one’s perception” (eg, Rosenhan’s study)
Anxiety Disorders
1) Generalized Anxiety Disorder (free-floating anxiety)
-pathological worry about minor matters
-difficulty making decisions and concentrating
-headaches, fatigue, nausea, sweating
-restless, feeling on edge, difficulty sleeping
2) Phobic Disorders
a) Simple or Specific Phobia
- anxiety is in response to a specific stimulus or setting
- most common phobias –fear of animals, height, blood, flying, closed spaces, water, storms
b) Social Anxiety Disorder
- fear of being negatively evaluated by others
- examples: public speaking, eating in restaurants, going to parties
3) Panic Disorder
-repeated, sudden and unexpected attacks of extreme anxiety
-worry about when the next attack will occur
-sweating, chest pains, weakness, faintness
-feel like you’re having a heart attack
4) Agoraphobia
- fear of leaving the house alone, being in open/public spaces (parking lots, markets),
standing in line, crowds, public transportation.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessions – recurrent, involuntary thoughts or images
Compulsions – ritualistic behaviors (sometimes unobservable such as counting or praying)
that one feels compelled to carry out
e.g. obsessed with the thought of germs leads to excessive/repeated hand-washing
-the compulsive behavior relieves the anxiety caused by the obsessive thoughts
• Hoarding, nail-biting, skin-picking fall under this category
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller briannahiddleston. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for CA$11.50. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
73918 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now