Psychopathology Essay

Psychopathology

Amanda Combs

Altamaha Technical College

Abstract

This paper is about psychopathology, the study and treatment of mental disorders. Beginning with a brief history of the subject and moving on to recent thinking involving diagnosing disorders. The report also discusses two specific disorders, social anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder, along with their treatment medically and therapeutically.

Introduction

Psychopathology is the study of mental illnesses and abnormal behavior, which is extended to include diagnosis and illness management (Knott, 2010). Psychopathology began with the belief that mental illness and abnormal behavior was the result of someone being possessed by an evil spirit or demon. This theory resulted in the unnecessary torture of individuals as a remedy for the evil. If the torture didn't correct the person's irrationality then execution was ordered. Finally, in the 18th century, things changed when people began to understand abnormal or mental behavior as an illness rather than an evil spirit (Heffner, 2010). What does the term illness refer to when discussing someone's mental health? The National Alliance on Mental Illness defines a mental illness as a, "medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning" ("What is mental," 2011). Abnormal behavior, which is also referred to as "mental illness" should only be diagnosed by a trained physician.

Abnormal behavior

How does society differentiate between abnormal behavior and that which is rational but downright strange? Normal and abnormal behavior can be hard to distinguish without first understanding different cultures, religious beliefs, and the personal situations of an individual. For example if a woman of the Christian faith noticed a dead cow on the highway and stop to shed tears, bless the animal, and possibly have a burial this would be consider very abnormal behavior (Mojo21, 2008). However, if the same events took place involving a Hindu woman the behavior would be acceptable. The best way to understand abnormal behavior is to discuss the four D's of psychological abnormality deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger (Mojo21, 2008).

Deviance

Deviance, as stated in the Sociology Guide, "consists of those areas which do not follow the norms and expectations of a particular social group" ("Deviance," 2011). A person can be deviant in a positive or negative manner. For example if a soldier puts himself in elevated danger willfully it can be seen as deviant, but the soldier might receive some type of honor for his acts. A person who commits murder is also consider deviant but will receive widespread reactions of anger and disgust for his acts. The Sociology Guide goes on to state, "deviance is culturally determined and cultures change over time and vary from society to society". For this reason it is important to remember an act considered deviant one day may be acceptable by society the next. ("Deviance," 2011)

Distress

Another one of the four D's that I previously mentioned is distress. Kerry Mulherin, writer of Abnormal Behavior: Mental Disorder or Eccentric explains, "When thoughts, actions or emotions cause an individual to become distressed, those functions can be considered abnormal" (2009). Distress may be very helpful in deciding if behavior is abnormal, but it can't be used as the sole decider in determining abnormality. The reason for this is that many people who show signs of abnormal behavior don't necessarily display distress. For example it is possible for a serial killer to feel no distress after committing a crime because certain mental disorders affect an individual's ability to feel remorse or sympathy. This allows a person to become very destructive without signs of distress. (Mulherin, 2009)

Dysfunction

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary defines dysfunction as either, "abnormality or impairment in the function of a specified bodily organ or system," or, "deviation from the norms of social behavior in a way regarded as bad" (2011). When trying to discern normal from abnormal behavior this category is important, although it can't be used single-handedly to decide. To put it in more simply, dysfunction is the inability to handle ordinary stressful situations or perform what is thought to be ordinary tasks based on an individual's cultural differences (Mulherin, 2009).

Danger

At last, there is danger, which is involving the level of threat an individual poses to themself and others. Danger is associated with abnormality, but not every person that shows signs of abnormal behavior is considered a threat. Paranoia and delusions are two examples of abnormal behavior that can become dangerous (Mulherin, 2009).The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a delusion as, "an inability to distinguish between what is real and what only seems to be real, often as the result of a disordered state of mind"(2011). On the other hand, Marcia Purse describes a paranoid person as, "hostile, fearful, extremely suspicious of others, sensitive to rejection, and self-important, all without any factual reason for these feelings" (Bipolar, 2011). It is easy to imagine how both of these abnormalities can cause a person to display dangerous or reckless behavior.

The four D's of abnormality help psychopathologist to pinpoint what type of behavior is abnormal. Abnormality helps them to discern individuals who live joyful fulfilling lifestyles from their counter parts who live with untreated mental illnesses. I would like to discuss two of the most prevalent examples of mental illnesses in the United States: social anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder, then, I would like to speak a little about how to deal with these disorders through therapeutic and medical forms of treatment.