THE HISTORY OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
1. Defining mental disorder
A mental disorder will cause personal distress (emotional pain and suffering, may
also hurt physically), disability (impairment in a key area like work or social life), violation
of social norms (makes other people uncomfortable or causes problems), and
dysfunction (harmful dysfunction- failure of internal mechanisms in the mind to function
properly, leading to excessive distress and maladaptive behavior).
" behavioral, psyc, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their
cultural context and associated with present distress and/or impairment in
functioning or increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or impairment.”
1. Practical consequences
Attitudes about a disorder influence how we attempt to treat it
1. Historical views of abnormal behavior
A. The supernatural: demons, gods, & magic = abnormal behavior was often
attributed to possession. Good or bad possession depended on the person’s
symptoms. Treatment often included exorcism or poking holes in the skull.
B. Somatogenesis: the role of biology = Hippocrates suggested that mental
disorders arise from natural causes, not supernatural causes. He thought that the
brain was the center of all intellectual activity and that mental disorders are due
to brain pathology. He emphasized the importance of heredity.
Hippocrates doctrine of the four humors
Blood = the fluids in your body need to be balanced. If so, you are happy
and even tempered. If there is an unbalance, you are unproductive and
unhappy.
Phlegm = if it’s balanced, you’re productive, consistent, and observant,
but if there is too much then you are sluggish and lazy.
Yellow bile = if balanced, you’re a leader, but if not you can be controlling
or angry
Black bile = if balanced, you are kind and considerate, but if not, you are
obsessed with tragedy and cruelty.
C) The re-emergence of demonology = scientific approaches were rarely used.
This was when the plague was happening, etc. People also blamed things on witchcraft and the
church was mainly responsible for treating mental illness, which often resulted in exorcism.
Bloodletting was also a common treatment because it would reset your body fluids and help
them get back into balance.
D) The era of asylums = these were institutions designed to keep the mentally ill.
They often used harsh tactics to control the patients. They were in very poor conditions. People
thought that being “good or bad” had the choice to do so. No REAL treatment was being done.
People thought you had to break people’s resistance to be irrational.
Ben Rush recommended bloodletting to relieve brain pressure, etc.
E) Humanitarian reform = Phillipe Pinel removed the chains from asylum patients
and treated them kindly, and it worked.
William Tuke established the York retreat, where trainer doctors and nurses would treat
mental illness and treat people with kindness. This began to change public opinion. They
opened the Friends asylum.
Dorothea Dix helped bring awareness to the inhumane treatment of the mentally ill and
established 32 mental hospitals around the world.
, TREATMENT PHILOSOPHIES =
1. Moral management - care providers attempted to satisfy each person’s individual
needs and there was an emphasis on the rehabilitation of a person's moral and spiritual
self rather than their mental illness.
2. Mental hygiene movement - focused on the physical needs of the patients and
keeping them comfortable.
F) Mental illness in modern times
Somatogenesis ( mental disorders have a physiological cause) vs Psychogenesis
(mental disorders have a psychological origin).
Somatogenesis is supported by the scientific research of General Paresis, which was a
degenerative disorder with psychological and physical symptoms. People thought this
was linked with syphilis, and it was. But people took it way too far and started
associating mental illness with STDs and infections. Biological psychopathology gained
credibility. This was also supported by germ theory.
Father of modern psychiatry = Kraepelin. He established a diagnostic system that
presumed biological causes and treatments.
Psychogenesis was supported by Charcot, who believed that hysteria was a
neurological disorder caused by hereditary problems in the nervous system. He used
hypnosis to induce a state of hysteria in patients and studied the results. Freud also
supported this theory. He thought hysteria was caused by psychogenic factors and cured
by psychogenic treatment.
1. Twentieth century deinstitutionalization and treatment
In the 1970s (in the US), there was a deinstitutionalization of mental health and an
increase in community mental health care. Impatient hospitals were replaced with
community-based care, day treatment, and outreach programs. These efforts were
considered to be more humane and cost-effective.
Forces that shaped deinstitutionalization …
Miracle drugs/antipsychotics
The reconceptualization of mental illness and the power of labeling. We need to
avoid labeling and creating and “us versus them” idea
The recognition of institutional hazards
Economic incentives - responsibility was transferred from the state and private
institutions to the government
Did this work?
Pros = fewer patients spend time in inpatient hospitals and more patients are re-
hospitalized BUT because there is no institution, the mentally ill now ended up homeless, in
nursing homes, group homes, or jail.
Cons = bigger focus on meds, more stigma around mental illness, little economic or
social support for mental health programs, and poor job and home placement for the mentally
ill.
1. Later Greek & Roman thought about disorder
A. Galen = used science to contribute to the field, elaborated on the nervous system,
divided the causes of mental illnesses into 2 categories: Physical (injuries to the head,
adolescent probs, and menstrual changes) and Mental (shock, fear, love).
, B. Roman medicine = approached a more pragmatic and scientific approach to mental
illness. They just wanted to treat the problem.
PARADIGMS
Paradigm = a perspective or conceptual framework from within which a scientist operates. It’s
basically just a way that people think. No one paradigm can fully explain psychopathology.
1. One dimensional vs multidimensional models
A. One dimensional
Explains behavior in terms of a single cause
Tends to ignore info from other areas
Can refer to a paradigm or one idea
ex) explaining OCD as the result of ONLY family history
B) Multidimensional
Says that a SYSTEM of influences can cause and maintain suffering
Draws upon info from SEVERAL sources
Says that abnormal behavior results from multiple influences
Interdisciplinary
CURRENT PARADIGMS …
1. Genetics
Heredity plays a role in most behavior
Genes get passed down
The relationship between genes and the environment is bidirectional
Nature v nurture
Important genetic terms …
Gene expression = proteins influence whether the actions of a specific gene will occur
Polygenic transmission = multiple gene pairs vs a single gene
Heritability = the extent to which variability in behavior is due to genetic factors. The
heritability estimate ranges from 0 to 1. This tells you the extent to which a given trait is
genetic. Close to 1 = more genetic, closer to 0 = more environmental
Behavior genetics …
= the study of the degree to which genes and environmental factors influence behavior.
Genotype = unobservable, genetic material inherited by an individual
Phenotype = visible genetic characteristics, depends on interaction of genotype and
environment
Just because there are underlying genetic probs in your fam history does NOT mean they will
be phenotypically expressed in you.
Gene-environment interaction …
Outcomes are a result of interactions between vulnerabilities and experience
o EX) depression
Genetics may make people more likely to seek out certain environments, thus affecting
their experiences
1. Defining mental disorder
A mental disorder will cause personal distress (emotional pain and suffering, may
also hurt physically), disability (impairment in a key area like work or social life), violation
of social norms (makes other people uncomfortable or causes problems), and
dysfunction (harmful dysfunction- failure of internal mechanisms in the mind to function
properly, leading to excessive distress and maladaptive behavior).
" behavioral, psyc, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their
cultural context and associated with present distress and/or impairment in
functioning or increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or impairment.”
1. Practical consequences
Attitudes about a disorder influence how we attempt to treat it
1. Historical views of abnormal behavior
A. The supernatural: demons, gods, & magic = abnormal behavior was often
attributed to possession. Good or bad possession depended on the person’s
symptoms. Treatment often included exorcism or poking holes in the skull.
B. Somatogenesis: the role of biology = Hippocrates suggested that mental
disorders arise from natural causes, not supernatural causes. He thought that the
brain was the center of all intellectual activity and that mental disorders are due
to brain pathology. He emphasized the importance of heredity.
Hippocrates doctrine of the four humors
Blood = the fluids in your body need to be balanced. If so, you are happy
and even tempered. If there is an unbalance, you are unproductive and
unhappy.
Phlegm = if it’s balanced, you’re productive, consistent, and observant,
but if there is too much then you are sluggish and lazy.
Yellow bile = if balanced, you’re a leader, but if not you can be controlling
or angry
Black bile = if balanced, you are kind and considerate, but if not, you are
obsessed with tragedy and cruelty.
C) The re-emergence of demonology = scientific approaches were rarely used.
This was when the plague was happening, etc. People also blamed things on witchcraft and the
church was mainly responsible for treating mental illness, which often resulted in exorcism.
Bloodletting was also a common treatment because it would reset your body fluids and help
them get back into balance.
D) The era of asylums = these were institutions designed to keep the mentally ill.
They often used harsh tactics to control the patients. They were in very poor conditions. People
thought that being “good or bad” had the choice to do so. No REAL treatment was being done.
People thought you had to break people’s resistance to be irrational.
Ben Rush recommended bloodletting to relieve brain pressure, etc.
E) Humanitarian reform = Phillipe Pinel removed the chains from asylum patients
and treated them kindly, and it worked.
William Tuke established the York retreat, where trainer doctors and nurses would treat
mental illness and treat people with kindness. This began to change public opinion. They
opened the Friends asylum.
Dorothea Dix helped bring awareness to the inhumane treatment of the mentally ill and
established 32 mental hospitals around the world.
, TREATMENT PHILOSOPHIES =
1. Moral management - care providers attempted to satisfy each person’s individual
needs and there was an emphasis on the rehabilitation of a person's moral and spiritual
self rather than their mental illness.
2. Mental hygiene movement - focused on the physical needs of the patients and
keeping them comfortable.
F) Mental illness in modern times
Somatogenesis ( mental disorders have a physiological cause) vs Psychogenesis
(mental disorders have a psychological origin).
Somatogenesis is supported by the scientific research of General Paresis, which was a
degenerative disorder with psychological and physical symptoms. People thought this
was linked with syphilis, and it was. But people took it way too far and started
associating mental illness with STDs and infections. Biological psychopathology gained
credibility. This was also supported by germ theory.
Father of modern psychiatry = Kraepelin. He established a diagnostic system that
presumed biological causes and treatments.
Psychogenesis was supported by Charcot, who believed that hysteria was a
neurological disorder caused by hereditary problems in the nervous system. He used
hypnosis to induce a state of hysteria in patients and studied the results. Freud also
supported this theory. He thought hysteria was caused by psychogenic factors and cured
by psychogenic treatment.
1. Twentieth century deinstitutionalization and treatment
In the 1970s (in the US), there was a deinstitutionalization of mental health and an
increase in community mental health care. Impatient hospitals were replaced with
community-based care, day treatment, and outreach programs. These efforts were
considered to be more humane and cost-effective.
Forces that shaped deinstitutionalization …
Miracle drugs/antipsychotics
The reconceptualization of mental illness and the power of labeling. We need to
avoid labeling and creating and “us versus them” idea
The recognition of institutional hazards
Economic incentives - responsibility was transferred from the state and private
institutions to the government
Did this work?
Pros = fewer patients spend time in inpatient hospitals and more patients are re-
hospitalized BUT because there is no institution, the mentally ill now ended up homeless, in
nursing homes, group homes, or jail.
Cons = bigger focus on meds, more stigma around mental illness, little economic or
social support for mental health programs, and poor job and home placement for the mentally
ill.
1. Later Greek & Roman thought about disorder
A. Galen = used science to contribute to the field, elaborated on the nervous system,
divided the causes of mental illnesses into 2 categories: Physical (injuries to the head,
adolescent probs, and menstrual changes) and Mental (shock, fear, love).
, B. Roman medicine = approached a more pragmatic and scientific approach to mental
illness. They just wanted to treat the problem.
PARADIGMS
Paradigm = a perspective or conceptual framework from within which a scientist operates. It’s
basically just a way that people think. No one paradigm can fully explain psychopathology.
1. One dimensional vs multidimensional models
A. One dimensional
Explains behavior in terms of a single cause
Tends to ignore info from other areas
Can refer to a paradigm or one idea
ex) explaining OCD as the result of ONLY family history
B) Multidimensional
Says that a SYSTEM of influences can cause and maintain suffering
Draws upon info from SEVERAL sources
Says that abnormal behavior results from multiple influences
Interdisciplinary
CURRENT PARADIGMS …
1. Genetics
Heredity plays a role in most behavior
Genes get passed down
The relationship between genes and the environment is bidirectional
Nature v nurture
Important genetic terms …
Gene expression = proteins influence whether the actions of a specific gene will occur
Polygenic transmission = multiple gene pairs vs a single gene
Heritability = the extent to which variability in behavior is due to genetic factors. The
heritability estimate ranges from 0 to 1. This tells you the extent to which a given trait is
genetic. Close to 1 = more genetic, closer to 0 = more environmental
Behavior genetics …
= the study of the degree to which genes and environmental factors influence behavior.
Genotype = unobservable, genetic material inherited by an individual
Phenotype = visible genetic characteristics, depends on interaction of genotype and
environment
Just because there are underlying genetic probs in your fam history does NOT mean they will
be phenotypically expressed in you.
Gene-environment interaction …
Outcomes are a result of interactions between vulnerabilities and experience
o EX) depression
Genetics may make people more likely to seek out certain environments, thus affecting
their experiences
