When one’s behavior reaches a point at which they are not able to function properly, or when their daily functioning is hindered, this then becomes dysfunctional (Comer, 2011). Danger reaches a point when an individual’s behavior becomes dangerous to themselves or also to others (Comer, 2011). Each society has its own set of what is considered normal for that culture.
These are beliefs or morals that are considered “normal”. It is hard to define what is “normal” and abnormal at times though because what may be considered normal for some clinicians may seem abnormal to others. I think that a lot of it has to do with interpretation. Yes, the abnormality is universal, but the way in which it is interpreted is where the variation lies. An example of this would be in different cultures, the way in which psychological distress is described varies.
When one thinks about disorders, schizophrenia is a disorder that all cultures are affected by, whereas taking one’s life by committing suicide is considered abnormal, while in certain cultures when one commits suicide they are hailed as a martyr. Abnormal Psychology Over Time. (n. D. ). The history of the deontological approach to abnormal behavior came into play when there became a distrust in science back in the Middle Ages.
The religious beliefs of people were also questioned, which then allowed for the deontological approach to dominate people’s lives. It was also during this time period that there were many people that started to believe in false beliefs, which caused large amounts of chaos. Due to the fact that this time period dealt with a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety, abnormal behavior became greater. According to Comer (2011), the cure was to perform exorcisms for abnormal behavior (p. 8). It was not until the Middle Ages were over that demonology seemed to lose the power that it had.
The development of treatment centers started during the Renaissance period. It was in Europe that the first places that people were treated for mental disorders were at religious shrines. Then people with disorders were treated in people’s homes, where they were provided a loving environment, much like that of a foster home. There were a few mental hospitals, but it was during the mid-sixteenth century that these homes were not enough to house the people that needed to be in them.
According to Comer (2011), these hospitals and homes were too small and too few (p. 9). Due to the need for more places to treat people, hospitals and monasteries were turned into asylums. These asylums were institutions that were in place to treat the mentally ill. The asylums had good intentions of providing great care and treating patients, but due to overcrowding and a much bigger need for them, these asylums quickly turned into more of a jail environment, where tenants were severely mistreated. By the sass’s, there were a number of mental hospitals.
These hospitals at first treated patients with good care, but that was quickly lost, and hospitalizing was right back where we started, which was long- term hospitalizing. Due to the cruel treatment to the patients that were in the mental and state hospitals, there was a reform movement that was put into place to make the conditions at these treatment facilities better. This reform movement began in the sass. The reform was to aka it so that patients were treated better.
Through what was called moral treatment, which was according to Comer (2011) “approach to treating people with mental dysfunction that emphasized moral guidance and humane and respectful treatment” (G-9). It is important to recognize the important people that were instrumental in the reform movement. The first of these people was Philippe Pined who argued that the sick patients at the hospital that he was chief at, should be treated with sympathy and kindness, rather than the cruel treatment that they were receiving (Comer, 2011).
The next instrumental person as William Takes who was bringing reform to England by treating patients in the York Retreat with rest, prayer, talk, and manual work (Comer, 2011). Last was Throated Dig who made it her mission to take on human care to the forefront. She led a campaign for new laws and funding for much-improved treatment for people with mental disorders (Comer, 2011). If it were not for these three individuals, the reform would not have started when it did. Comer, Worth Publishers. 6. The difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist is the following.
According to Comer (2011), a psychiatrist is, “a physician who n addition to medical school, has completed three to four years of residency training in the treatment of abnormal mental functioning”. Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology (6th deed New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Whereas a psychologist according to the PAP (2014), “has a doctoral degree in psychology from an organized, sequential program in a regionally accredited university or professional school”. While the psychiatrist has attended medical school, the psychologist studies the brain or mind and behavior.
The scientific method according to Comer (2011), ” is the process of systematically gathering and evaluating information through careful observations to gain an understanding of phenomenon” (G-1 3). The five steps to the scientific method are:
- Decide on what the research question is going to be.
- Make observations about the question and do the research.
- Form a hypothesis.
- Complete an experiment to test the hypothesis.
- Analysis of the data that you gathered during the experiment and raw a conclusion.
- Either accept or reject the hypothesis.
A correlation study is a research study that is performed to determine what if any relationship that there is between variables. The advantages of this type of study are: Observes the degree to which events or characteristics vary together.
Allows for broader conclusions about an abnormality in a larger population than a group that was studied. The validity can be checked through repeating the relation to other groups. The testing of the researcher’s conclusions can be made with a statistical analysis using the principles of probability. Provides general information, and is also replicable. The disadvantages of this study are: This study can suggest that there is a relationship between two variables; it cannot prove that one variable causes a change in another variable. This study also can be biased based on the group of people being studied.
The cause and effect cannot be found out through this method. People oftentimes are not honest when answering questions, as they answer the way in which they are thought to be answering not how they really feel. A longitudinal study is important in abnormal psychology because, in this type of study, individuals are watched or studied over a long period of time in many different situations. These time periods can vary upon the individual and circumstance. These studies can be done for months and can also go for years.
It is during this type of study that a researcher is able to see how things change over the time period that is being studied. Another reason that this type of study is important is when looking at the developmental and fiestas of individuals. The reason that thinks that people sometimes cling to false beliefs about human behavior is that there could be some truth to the false beliefs and that little bit of truth is what people cling to.
Because people want to tie a misfile to something when they were growing up to believe. This is a psychological mechanism that we all have. There have been studies that have been done that have shown that even when given the correct information, most people rarely change their minds. In fact, instead of changing their minds, they become more entrenched in their beliefs false or not. There is psychological research as well showing that people tend to interpret information in a way that reinforces their preexisting view (Keenan, 2010).
This helps to make people more confident in the beliefs that they have. No one ever wants to be wrong, let alone have to let go of something that they have believed for so long. I think that the reporting that was done on the Zloty story was to only not responsible but also was not accurate as well. Often times the media will spin a story in such a way that it will grab readers and attention that is wanted.
This makes the media to report inaccurate reports about things because it wants to draw more viewers. Before the media makes any statement the credibility of the statement that they are making should be fully checked out to make sure that what they want to report is accurate and reliable information for consumers. It seems that in this situation that the media rushed to judgment and made a statement that still to this day has not been founded according to too the FDA. Depression in itself makes individuals contemplate suicide.
If a teen is on Zloty they have might have already contemplated suicide, which would have nothing to do with the drug. Clearly, the anti-depressants that are being given to children are helping more than they are hindering. The New York Times. (2014).
