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Understanding Psychopathology Concepts

Psychopathology refers to the origins and development of mental disorders and their symptoms. It is traditionally studied and treated by psychiatrists and psychologists using classification systems like the DSM-V or ICD-10. Throughout history, psychopathology was viewed through lenses like demonology, humoral imbalance, and religion. Modern perspectives emphasize biological and psychological factors, and treatments have shifted from institutions to community-based care and medication. Classification of abnormal behavior brings order to its discussion and allows for clear communication.

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Parishna Bhuyan
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994 views7 pages

Understanding Psychopathology Concepts

Psychopathology refers to the origins and development of mental disorders and their symptoms. It is traditionally studied and treated by psychiatrists and psychologists using classification systems like the DSM-V or ICD-10. Throughout history, psychopathology was viewed through lenses like demonology, humoral imbalance, and religion. Modern perspectives emphasize biological and psychological factors, and treatments have shifted from institutions to community-based care and medication. Classification of abnormal behavior brings order to its discussion and allows for clear communication.

Uploaded by

Parishna Bhuyan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

CONCEPT
• Psychopathology derives from two Greek words: ‘psyche’ meaning
‘soul’, and ‘pathos’ meaning ‘suffering’.
• Currently, ‘psychopathology’ is understood to mean the origin of
mental disorders, how they develop and their symptoms.
• Psychopathology and abnormal behaviour are synonymous
• Traditionally, those suffering from mental disorders have usually been
treated by the psychiatric profession or psychologist, which adheres
to the DSM-V or ICD-10 for classifying mental disorders.
• The four Ds of Psychopathology:
• Deviance: Different, extreme, unusual, bizarre
• Distress: Unpleasant and upsetting to the person
• Dysfunction: Interfering with the person’s ability to conduct daily activities
• Dangerousness: Posing a risk of harm
HISTORY OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
• Ancient Views & Treatments:
• Demonology-psychopathology is the work of demons and evil spirits
• Treatments were exorcism, trephining (drilling a hole through a skull and
taking a part out), bloodletting (cutting the patient and letting blood run
out). Getting the demon out of the body.
• Greek and Roman Views and Treatments: 500 A.D. Demonology
• Hippocrates believed that illnesses has somatic causes (somatogenesis, not
psychogenesis)
• Humors played an important role in peoples mood and psychological
functioning – phlegm, bile, etc. (warm baths and massages) o Unbalance of
the four bodily humors
• Treatments attempted to “rebalance” humors
• Europe in the Middle Ages: (religion based)
• Religious beliefs dominated, and science declined
• Psychopathology (again) was viewed as conflict between good and evil
• Earlier demonological treatments reemerged o Burning people who were
believed to be witches
• The Renaissance:
• Patient care was improved (somewhat)
• Rise of asylums
• They were overcrowded
• Patients were used as entertainment and tourists came to watch them
• The 19th Century – Reform and Moral Treatment:
• Treatment was reformed, and focused on patient’s needs
• Europe: Phillipe Pinel and William Tuke
• U.S.: Dorothea Dix and Benjamin Rush
• Early 20th Century:
• Rebirth of the somatogenic perspective
• Emil Kraepelin
• Biological Discoveries (physical/biological cause between biology and psychopathology)
• Rise of the psychogenic Perspective
• Hypnotism (Put patients in a trance and find the connection between psychological
stressors and the psychological symptoms/physical symptoms)
• Freud (arguing that psychology plays a big role in people’s symptoms)
• Saw people who could be treated without going to the hospital for treatment.
• Psychoanalytic approach
• Current Trends:
• Deinstitutionalization – getting them out of hospitals and into outpatient treatments.
• Rise of community mental health centers
• New psychotropic medicines – Medicine that decrease depression, anxiety, stabilize
mood, decrease psychotic symptoms.
CLASSIFYING ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR
• Classification is important in any science, whether we are studying chemical
elements, plants, planets, or people. With an agreed-upon classification
system we can be confident that we are communicating clearly.
• In abnormal psychology, classification involves the attempt to delineate
meaningful subvarieties of maladaptive behavior.
• Like defining abnormal behavior, classification of some kind is a necessary
first step toward introducing order into our discussion of the nature, causes,
and treatment of such behavior.
• Classification makes it possible to communicate about particular clusters of
abnormal behavior in agreed-upon and relatively precise ways.

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