Those in the field of abnormal psychology study people's emotional, cognitive,

and/or behavioural problems. Abnormal behaviour may be defined as behaviour that

is disturbing (socially unacceptable), distressing, maladaptive (or selfdefeating), and
often the result of distorted thoughts (cognitions).
Several perspectives (models, approaches derived from data) and theories attempt
to explain the causes of abnormal behaviour.

1. The medical perspective. Those who hold a medical perspective focus on biological
and physiological factors as causes of abnormal behaviour, which is treated as a
disease, or mental illness, and is diagnosed through symptoms and cured through
treatment. Hospitalization and drugs are often preferred methods of treatment
rather than psychological investigation. (Recent research linking biochemical
disorders with some abnormal behaviours has provided some support for this
approach.)
2. The psychodynamic perspective. The psychodynamic perspective, proposed as an
alternative to the medical model, evolved from Freudian psychoanalytic theory,
which contends that psychological disorders are the consequence of anxiety
produced by unresolved, unconscious conflicts. Treatment focuses on
identification and resolution of the conflicts.
3. The behavioural perspective. Those espousing a behavioural perspective contend
that abnormal behaviour results from faulty or ineffective learning and
conditioning. Treatments are designed to reshape disordered behaviour and,
using traditional learning procedures, to teach new, more appropriate, and more
adaptive responses. For example, a behavioural analysis of a case of child abuse
might suggest that a father abuses his children because he learned the abusive
behaviour from his father and must now learn more appropriate parenting tactics.
4. The cognitive perspective. According to the cognitive perspective, people engage in
abnormal behaviour because of particular thoughts and behaviours that are often
based upon their false assumptions. Treatments are oriented toward helping the
maladjusted individual develop new thought processes and new values. Therapy
is a process of unlearning maladaptive habits and replacing them with more
useful ones.
5. The socialcultural perspective. From the socialcultural perspective, abnormal
behaviour is learned within a social context ranging from the family, to the

community, to the culture. Cultural variables, acquired through learning and

cognitive processes, are believed to be important in producing abnormal
behaviour. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia, for example, are psychological
disorders found mostly in Western cultures, which value the thin female body.

Definitions of abnormality
Deviation from social norms
One can be regarded as abnormal if they deviate from social norms, i.e. they do not
do what is regarded to be socially acceptable.
Weaknesses of deviation from social norms definition:

Cultural relativism: social norms differ from culture to culture. E.g. the social norm
in one culture (Muslim country) would be to fast. However this social norm does

not apply to a Western culture.

One may be independent or eccentric so that person does not follow the norm, so
this does not make him abnormal because that person is different from others.

Deviation from ideal mental health

Main characteristics of the ideal mental health. These include:

Managing stress effectively.

Strong sense of identity.
Actualisation of ones potential.

If one does not have these attributes then they do not have the ideal mental health
and they are therefore abnormal.
Weaknesses:

Not everybody has these attributes all the time. This would suggest that we are

all abnormal to some extent.

Cultural relativism: the ideal mental health changes from culture to culture. For
example in a culture where people are very poor, their ideal mental health would
involve the basic necessities and nothing more. However, the idea mental health
of people living in a rich part of America would include the necessities but also a
lot of luxuries as well.

Failure to function adequately

If one cannot carry out basic tasks such as eating or sleeping then they have failed
to function adequately and they are abnormal. This is what this definition suggests.
Weaknesses:

Some maladaptive actions may be adaptive for the person afterwards. An

example is complaining, this would seem to be maladaptive. However, it would
get the attention of others and may help that person out in that situation, so

failing to function adequately is not always something which causes abnormality.

Cultural relativism: In one culture functioning adequately will be different to
people than in another culture. For example, in Iraq, there are many places which
have poor people and their idea of functioning adequately will be to be able to
survive. Whereas in a rich part of America, their idea of functioning adequately
will be to be able to do more than that such as sleeping comfortably etc.

Biological approach to Psychopathology

Abnormalities can be passed on by genetic inheritance this approach states that

if somebody has schizophrenia, then their children are more likely to have
schizophrenia than children who have parents who do not have this disorder.

Abnormalities can be caused by abnormalities in somebodys neurochemistry. So

low serotonin levels can cause abnormalities such as having a sleeping disorder.

Abnormalities can be caused by abnormalities in somebodys neuroanatomy such

as having little brain tissue around the ventricles. This can cause schizophrenia.
Weaknesses:

Szasz found that abnormalities do not have a physical base like this approach
suggests because abnormalities are related to a persons psychology and how

they view things in the world.

cCause or effect we do not know whether or not abnormalities in neuroanatomy
and neurochemistry cause abnormalities or vice versa. Therefore, we cannot
assume that abnormalities in neurochemistry or neuroanatomy cause

abnormalities
Inconclusive evidence if abnormalities were genetic, then concordance rates of
identical twins for schizophrenia should be 100%. However research shows that
concordance rates between identical twins are around 50% suggesting that there
are other factors which cause schizophrenia even though the genes may make
the person more vulnerable to get it.

Behavioural approach

Abnormalities can be caused by conditioning we condition ourselves to have a

phobia of something from before, sometimes without even realising it. So, we use
classical conditioning to associate something to something that is negative and as a
result, we have a phobia from it.

Abnormalities can be caused by the situation that the person is in. For example
somebody who suffers from agoraphobia will be more stressed about going outside
to a place where they have never been than somebody who enjoys going outside.

The behavioural approach suggests that the reasons why people have
abnormalities are because of other people and the environment in which they are in.
Weaknesses:

Very limited view of looking at abnormalities because there are many other
causes of abnormalities such as psychological, from the unconscious and

genetic.
Inconclusive evidence because research has shown that a person who has a
phobia of something does not remember having a previous experience with what

that person has a phobia of and conditioning that to something negative.

The treatments deal with the symptoms and not the problem itself because the
treatments would involve conditioning what the patient has a phobia of with
something pleasant. This would only deal with the problem because it means that
the patient will not be able to deal with other phobias, only that one.

Psychodynamic approach

Distress is caused by conflict between the id (irrational part of a personality), ego

(rational part of the personality) and superego (rational part of the personality which
aims for perfection for the individual). Ego defences can be used to reduce the
anxiety caused by the conflict between the id and the ego. Ego defences include
repression (moving unwanted thoughts into the unconscious) and regression
(behaving like a child when faced with a difficult situation). If ego defences are used
too much this can cause abnormalities.

Abnormalities can be caused by the unconscious because in the past, that

individual may have kept all of these unwanted thoughts and feelings to the
unconscious so all of a sudden, that person may have an abnormality because of all
these thoughts and feelings that they have dismissed.

Abnormalities can be caused by experiences that the individual has had when
that person was a child because a childs ego is not mature enough to deal with
situations which deals with the problem itself so ego defences are used as a child
and if this is repeatedly used as the child grows up, it could lead to an abnormality.
Weaknesses:

Very abstract concepts the concepts are not very specific and therefore difficult

to trust.
Lack of solid research support which shows that abnormalities can be caused by

the unconscious.
Sexist Freuds concepts are mainly directed to males which means that it would
be difficult to generalise and to use the psychodynamic approach to treat
abnormalities that females have. An example of Freuds ideas is the Oedipal
conflict which is when a male child develops feelings for his mother.

Cognitive approach

Abnormalities are caused by maladaptive thoughts and it is because of these

maladaptive beliefs which cause the abnormality.

This approach puts the individual in full control over the abnormality because if
abnormalities are psychological, then the individual can deal with the abnormality
himself.

Ellis ABC model:

o A: Action something happens which would lead the individual to believe something.
o B: Belief the individual could either think of the action in an adaptive manner or a
maladaptive manner.
o C: Consequence if the individual thinks maladaptively, then that person will be
more likely to behave maladaptively and if the individual thinks adaptively, then that
person will be more likely to behave adaptively.
Weaknesses:

The individual is in full control so the person may be wasting time trying to see
what is wrong with them and focusing on themselves when they could be finding

the root of their abnormality.

Cause or effect we do not know whether maladaptive thoughts cause
abnormalities or vice versa. Therefore, it is difficult to assume that maladaptive
thoughts cause abnormalities.

Sometimes irrational thoughts may be more appropriate than rational ones if it is

something that you have to think maladaptively about because you cannot think
in the positive side of everything or else that is unrealistic. This is the sadder but
wiser effect.

Biological ways to approach psychopathology

Electroconvulsive Therapy
Process:

Patient is given a muscle relaxant and oxygen is administered before the

therapy starts.
A small current is then passed through the brain lasting around half a second.
This causes a seizure.
It changes the way that the neurotransmitters used to work.
We are still unsure about exactly how the therapy works, however research
has shown that it has worked on people who are severely depressed.

Strengths:

It can save lives only people who are severely depressed use this therapy.

Therefore, if it works on them, it could prevent suicide.

Weaknesses:
Side effects: memory loss, cardiovascular disorders

Chemotherapy
Anti-psychotic drugs
Anti-psychotic drugs reduce the amount of dopamine going to the brain and this
combats the symptoms of psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia.
Anti-depressant drugs
Anti-depressant drugs such as SSRIs block the mechanism which reabsorbs
serotonin, so this means that less serotonin is absorbed so more is available. This
combats the symptoms of depression because low levels of serotonin can cause
depression.
Anti-anxiety drugs
Benzodiazepines and Beta-Blockers

Psychological ways to approach psychopathology

Psychoanalysis
This therapy uses the psychodynamic approach to abnormalities to treat
abnormalities. The process is:

Free association the patient talks about whatever is in his/her mind to the

therapist and why they think that they have this abnormality.
Dreams analysis is used the therapist monitors the patients dreams to see if
(s)he is having nightmares and nightmares about what to see how this could be

linked to the abnormality.

The patient associates certain things that the patient is going through with the
abnormality and goes over these issues again and again with the patient until the
therapist knows more about the patients abnormality source. The point of the
psychoanalysis is for the patient to make the thoughts and feelings in the
unconscious conscious.

Strengths:

The longer the psychoanalysis the more effective it is because the therapist can
go through more issues and look at the different ways in which the abnormality
could have been caused.

Weaknesses:

The therapist may plant false memories into the patient by mistake because the
therapist may have said something which (s)he thought is the cause of the
abnormality and the patient may have agreed even though (s)he cannot

remember. This would have made the situation worse.

There is a reason why those memories are repressed ethical issues
psychological harm that the patient is suffering from.

Systematic desensitisation
This therapy focuses on the behavioural approach to psychopathology.
Process:

The patient is taught how to relax in stressful situations and taught how to
recognise a stressful situation.

The patient and therapist make a desensitisation hierarchy which consists of

scenarios which cause more anxiety than the previous scenario and this

scenarios involve the thing that the patient has a phobia of.
The patient goes through each scene in the desensitisation hierarchy and relaxes
during each scenario as well and when the patient is ready to move onto the next
scene the patient goes to the next scene which would cause more anxiety than
the previous one.

Strengths of systematic desensitisation:

Effective research shows that it is effective for phobias mention

Meichenbaum.
Psychological treatment which takes the least amount of time.

Weaknesses:

Difficult to avoid bad habits maybe the patient has a phobia of it and is used to
it - even after the treatment, it will still be difficult for the patient to not have a
phobia of it after years of having a phobia of it.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (REBT)

This therapy is based on the cognitive approach to psychopathology. The process is:

The patient is taught that the abnormality is caused by faulty thinking and it is up

to the patient whether or not the abnormality is going to remain.

The therapist disputes with the patient about whether or not the current beliefs
are adaptive for the patient or not. There are 3 types of disputing logic,
pragmatic and empirical disputing these ways of disputing the patients current
beliefs involve asked the patient whether it is logical to think like that, where the
evidence for their belief came from and whether or not their beliefs will benefit
them in any way.

Strengths:

Research has shown that CBT (REBT) has been very effective in dealing with
patients who suffer from depression.

The psychodynamic model

The psychodynamic model was first formulated by Sigmund Freud at the end of the
19th century and since that time has had an enormous influence on the entire area
of abnormal psychology. It still offers for many therapists a preferred alternative to
biological approaches to abnormality. The core assumption of this approach is that
the roots of mental disorders are psychological. They lie in the unconscious mind
and are the result the failure of defence mechanisms to protect the self (or ego) from
anxiety. Many of these intrapsychic conflicts involve basic biological instincts,
especially sexual ones. Many adult problems are reflections of these earlier conflicts,
particularly those stemming from infancy and early childhood (such as the Oedipus
conflict).

Treatments based on the psychodynamic model focus on gaining access to the

unconscious and exploring the conflicts with the patient so that they are able to
confront them and resolve them in an adult way. The emphasis is on the patient
gaining insight into the origins of their problems. This technique is known as
psychoanalysis. The method of psychoanalysis first developed by Freud is still
practised, but perhaps more common today are the psychodynamic
psychotherapies. These share the fundamental principles of psychoanalysis, but are
more eclectic and relaxed in their treatment of patients.
Example
A patient presenting with anxiety symptoms would be encouraged to explore his past
in order to discover problems occurring during one of the psychosexual stages (oral,
anal, phallic and genital). In order to deal with this problem the patient has used egodefence mechanisms, such as repression or denial. These have taken up a lot of
psychic energy, leaving the patient with fewer resources to deal with everyday life.
The anxiety itself may have become directed towards someone or something else in
the patients world (displacement). Treatment would involve, among other things,
helping the patient to gain insight into the causes of his anxiety.

Evaluation of the psychoanalytic model

The psychodymamic model has a number of strengths which account for its enduring
popularity:

Many observations of psychodynamic therapists appear to be borne out in

everyday life, e.g., defence mechanisms

Many people with psychological disturbances do recollect childhood traumas

Freudian theory provides a comprehensive framework to describe human

personality

Freud rehumanised the distressed, making their suffering more

comprehensible to the rest of society

By developing a method of treatment, Freud encouraged a more optimistic

view regarding psychological distress. Mental illness could, in some cases at
least, be treated!

Weaknesses of the psychoanalytic model are:

The tendency to ignore the patients current problems by focusing on past

conflicts (though this is not true of many later versions of psychoanalysis)

A lack of scientific evidence concerning major theoretical assumptions

As the source of many of the conflicts are often parents, there is a tendency to
give a lot of responsibility to parents for the psychological health of their
children

Psychodynamic theory underestimates the role of situation and context, and

overemphasises internal instincts and conflicts

The behavioural model

The behaviourist approach dominated psychology in the first half of this century,
especially in the USA. The goals of behaviourism were to move psychology toward a
scientific model, which focused on the observation and measurement of behaviour.
Its assumptions were that behaviour is primarily the result of the environment rather

then genetics (or instincts) and so the behaviourists reject the view that abnormal
behaviour has a biological basis. Like the psychodynamic theorists, behaviourists
have a deterministic view of mental disorders: they believe that our actions are
largely determined by our experiences in life. However, unlike Freud, they see
abnormal behaviour is a learned response (through conditioning) and not as the
result of mysterious (and they would argue unknowable) unconscious processes.
While much of our behaviour is adaptive, helping us to cope with a changing world, it
is also possible to learn behaviours that are abnormal and undesirable. However,
such maladaptive learning can be treated by changing the environment so that unlearning could take place.
Example
A patients fear (phobia) of heights would be explained through the process of
classical conditioning. Some time in the past, she would have learned to associate
the emotion of fear with the stimulus of being in a high place through a chance
association between the two stimuli. As a result, she would avoid heights, and
therefore not have the opportunity to relearn the association in a more adaptive way.
Treatment would involve desensitising the fear through conditioning techniques.

Evaluation of the the behavioural model

Among the strengths of the model are:

It has led to the development of specific behavioural therapies, many of which

have had high success rates

It is widely regarded as lending itself to scientific study and evaluation

Proponents of the model argue that once the symptoms of an illness are
alleviated, the complaint disappears

Weaknesses include:

The model is reductionist in the sense that it reduces the complexity of human
behaviour to behavioural responses to environmental stimuli

Only the symptoms of illnesses are treated, not the underlying causes

The model provides a limited view of the causes of mental illness and does
not explain the evidence relating to genetic predispositions to mental illness

Environmental causes of abnormal behaviours are only rarely discovered in

patients

One important extension of the behaviourist approach is known as social learning

theory (SLT). These theorists (e.g. Bandura) argue that observation and imitation
(known as modelling) are an important forms of learning neglected by the early
behaviourists. Thus maladaptive behaviour can be learned from poorly functioning
parents through imitation. But it can also be treated by therapies based on modelling
(for example a person with a snake phobia might learn from watching a person
handle snakes). Because many therapists who use this approach act as a bridge
between the behaviourist and the cognitive approaches, they are usually known as
cognitive-behavioural therapists.

The cognitive model

The cognitive approach is both an outgrowth from, and a reaction to, the behaviourist
approach. The basic assumption of the cognitive approach holds that mental events
cause behaviour in that we interpret our environment before we react to it. In the
case of abnormal behaviour, it is the interpretations and disordered cognitions that
lead to the behaviour. Emotional problems can be attributed to distortions in our
cognitions or thinking processes. These distortions are in the form of
overgeneralisations, irrational beliefs, illogical errors or negative thoughts. The focus
of treatment is on understanding the disordered thoughts and working with the
patient to change these.

Example

A patient suffering from a depressed mood after failing a driving test may be having
negative thoughts not only about that specific failure but may be generalising those
to other areas of her life. She may believe she is a failure in all aspects of her life
and will never be successful again. These thoughts are irrational and polarised, and
the therapist would strive to teach the patient ways of changing her thoughts. The
therapist might also emphasise the importance of increasing positive reinforcements,
and suggest ways in which this might be achieved.

Evaluation of the cognitive model:

Supporters of the cognitive approach claim that the strengths include:

There is much evidence of maladaptive thought processes in people with

psychological disorders

This model promotes psychological well being by teaching people the means
of control over their own lives

On the other hand, weaknesses of the cognitive model:

The disordered cognitions may be a result of the disorder, not the cause

The emphasis on the individual draws attention away from social support
systems and the need to locate the causes of psychological distress in wider
social, political and cultural contexts

The humanistic model

Sometimes referred to as the third force in psychology, the humanistic movement
was a reaction against the determinism of the psychodynamic and behaviourist
paradigms. It attempted to focus more on the individual as a whole person.
According to Carl Rogers and other leading figures in this movement, people are

rational beings, able to make their own choices, and are motivated toward a state of
fulfilment. Psychological problems occur when people experience an incongruence
between their real self and their ideal self. This generates a feeling of low self-worth.
The humanistic model does not believe in labelling people by diagnosing them as
having specific mental disorders. Every individuals problems are seen as unique
and the therapy lies in providing nurturing therapeutic conditions which enable the
person to find his/her own way forward in dealing with problems.

Example
An individual with feelings of despair and a lack of motivation to live would be
understood in terms of a low sense of self-worth, perhaps to do with the lack of a
nurturing environment. This has led to them losing touch with their true self. They are
valuing themselves in overly negative ways, and feel that they are unacceptable and
unlovable as a person. In order to get in touch with their true self, it is necessary to
experience conditions that offer empathy, acceptance and genuine understanding.

Strengths of the humanistic model:

There is a large body of research, particularly case histories, to back up the

claims of the humanistic model

The model offers an optimistic view of personality

It is regarded as an ethical model because it focuses on the person rather

than the diagnosis

The model facilitates the human capacity for self-cure

Weaknesses of the humanistic model:

The focus on the individual carries the assumption that people should be able
to help themselves, and may neglect important environmental and social
factors (e.g., poverty and discrimination)

Some disorders requiring medical treatment may go untreated due to the

reluctance to diagnose

The model tends to espouse western ideals of individuality and freedom,

which may not take into account more collectively based cultures.

http://aspsychologyblackpoolsixth.weebly.com/explanations-of-abnormality.html