Understanding

Abnormal
Psychology
Julla Deah Sajiran / Teejay Oropel / Jeremy Batay-an

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 REPORT OUTLINE*
Understanding Abnormal Psychology
What is Abnormality?
Various Perspective on Abnormal Psychology
Psychoanalytic Approach
Behavioral Approach
Medical Approach
Cognitive Approach
Understanding Psychopathology
What is Psychological Disorder?
Dysfunction
Distress or Impairment
Atypical or not Culturally Expected

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I. Understanding Abnormal Psychology
Think about how we define abnormal. Normalcy is the majority concept that is the standard of many and
not the standard of one person. It is defined by what the majority of people think and do. Consequently, normal is
culturally defined and it can change across cultures and over time. We have to consider the context in which the
behavior occurs. Among other things, we’ll look at the criteria for defining abnormality. Now, there have been a lot
of changes in the field of abnormal psychology over the years in the understanding and treatment of mental
disorders. These include an increased use of technology in treatment including the use of social robots. For example,
the Zeno robot. The Zeno robot is a humanoid robot. It has a very advanced facial expressions and this technology
makes them ideal for therapies that focus on emotion and social relationships. It
also has its special software called “Robots4Autism” which is an extensive
intervention program for Zeno. Its goal is to learn the robot skills like improving
concentration and awareness, reduce negative behavior, less stress, improved
communication skills, and more social interaction, and with these, it’s believed
that Zeno can help us better diagnose and understand autism because some
autistic children are more likely to interact with the robot which is seen as less
threatening than human interaction (Hanson et al., 2007).
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What is Abnormal Psychology?

According to Cherry (2021), abnormal psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with the
classification, etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders. It is also called Psychopathology.
In addition, it focuses on the patterns of emotions, thoughts, and behavior that can be signs of a mental health
condition. Moreover, psychologists in this field focus on the level of distress that behaviors, thoughts, or emotions
might cause rather than the distinction between normal and abnormal.

Furthermore, Lilienfeld and Marino (1995, 1999) stated that it is difficult to define what constitutes a
psychological disorder. They discussed that the most widely accepted definition used in the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-V; American Psychological Association, 2013) describes
behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated
with present distress and impairment in functioning, or increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or impairment. This
definition of mental disorder was developed for clinical, public health, and research purposes.
What is Abnormality?
Abnormality is the condition of not conforming to
standard recognized patterns of structure, function, behavior, or
phenomenon. In some social contexts, normality is no more
than a statistical concept, and may be entirely relative. What is
normal in one population or group may be abnormal in another.
So, deciding when abnormality exists is not always that easy.
Consider these examples: a man kissing another man; a man
barking like a dog; a woman slapping a child; a woman refusing
to eat for several days; a man driving a nail though his hand; a
woman making a shrine and offerings to her dead husband. As
you can see, we may need some more information and we have
to consider other things before deciding whether someone is
behaving abnormally or not. Would you say these individuals
are in need of treatment or are they deviant? And would you
diagnose them as mentally ill? So, we need some criteria to help us decide whether abnormality exists. But before
that, let us briefly discuss the various perspective on abnormal psychology.
(Photo Credit: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bd/cc/51/bdcc51fcb8410a9f729ae8e37c93d5a1.jpg)
(References: abnormality. (n.d.) Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. (2003). Retrieved September 11 2021 from
https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/abnormality; abnormality. (n.d.) Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary. (2012). Retrieved September 11 2021 from https://medical-
dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/abnormality;)
I. Various Perspective on Abnormal Psychology
Many mental health professionals use elements from different areas in order to understand, study, and treat
psychological disorders. The various perspective on abnormal psychology are as follows:

Psychoanalytic Approach
Psychoanalytic approaches are those that take the importance of unconscious cognitive, affective, and
motivational processes; conflicting mental processes; compromises among competing psychological tendencies that
may be negotiated unconsciously; defense and self-deception; the influence of the past, directly or in interaction
with genetic predispositions, on current functioning; the enduring effects of interpersonal patterns laid down in
childhood; and the influence of sexual, aggressive, attachment-related, self-esteem, and other wishes and fears on
thought, feeling, and behavior, whether or not the person is aware of it.( Westen, D., Gabbard, G. O., & Ortigo, K.
M. 2008).
 The psychoanalytic approach suggests that unconscious thoughts, desires, and memories are the causes of
many abnormal behaviors.
 These feelings are believed to influence conscious actions even though they are outside of our awareness.
 Therapists who use this approach believes that through analyzing memories, thoughts, behaviours, and
dreams, can uncover and deal with various feelings that leads to maladaptive behaviours and distress.
 It 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.

Behavioral Approach
 The behavioral approach focuses on the behavior itself, and not its underlying causes.
 A behavioral therapist might utilize strategies such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning to
help eliminate unwanted behaviors and teach new behaviors.
 Its focus is on reinforcing positive behaviors and not reinforcing maladaptive behaviors.

A mental health professional who focuses in this perspective believes that abnormal behavior results from faulty
or ineffective learning and conditioning. Treatments are designed to reshape disordered behavior and, using
traditional learning procedures, to teach new, more appropriate, and more adaptive responses.
Medical Approach
 This approach to abnormal psychology focuses on the biological causes of mental illness, emphasizing
understanding the underlying cause of disorders, which might include genetic inheritance, related physical
illnesses, infections, and chemical imbalances.
 Hospitalization and drugs are often preferred methods of treatment rather than psychological investigation.

Cognitive Approach
The cognitive approach to abnormal psychology focuses on how internal thoughts, perceptions, and
reasoning contribute to psychological disorders. Cognitive treatments typically focus on helping the individual
change their thoughts or reactions.

According to the cognitive perspective, people engage in abnormal behavior because of thoughts and
behaviors 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.
II. Understanding Psychopathology
We all try to understand other people. Determining why
another person does or feels something is not easy to do. In fact, we do
not always understand our own feelings and behavior. Figuring out
why people behave in normal, expected ways is difficult enough;
understanding seemingly abnormal behavior can be even more
difficult.
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Moreover, abnormal psychology focuses on psychopathology

which is the scientific study of symptoms and causes of mental
disorders. Its objectives are describing, explaining, predicting, and
modifying behaviors associated with mental disorders. Note that there
are four objectives here. People who work in the field strive to alleviate
the stress and life disruption of those with mental disorders. The next group will the be one to explain and lists the
various mental health professions and the training education and credentials needed to practice as a clinical
psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, a social worker, or a substance abuse counselor for example.

Now, we’re going to take a closer look at the four objectives of abnormal psychology starting with the first
objective, describing behavior. If someone is experiencing symptoms, they may ask for help from one of the mental
health professionals (clinical and counselling psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, psychiatric
nurses) because they are healthcare practitioners and they assist in the care of the client’s mental health. After
gathering information about the person’s history and presenting problem (why the person came to the office), the
professional will write an assessment and form a psychodiagnosis. Providing a diagnosis is like detective work
because the professional have to investigate and gather evidence. Clinicians use the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders or the DSM, which is now in its fifth edition, so it’s the DSM-5.

The second objective of abnormal psychology is explaining behavior. In explaining behavior, we try to
determine the etiology (why a disorder begins or what causes it). It is a high priority for mental health professionals.
The problem is, human behavior is complex. There are multiple contributing factors and the human brain is
enormously complex. There are billions of neurons and trillions of synapses, add to that the influences of life
experiences and cultural issues and you can see why mental illness is hard to understand. Joel Paris is a longtime
mental health clinician, and in his book “Intelligent Clinician’s Guide to the DSM-5”, he wrote that psychiatry has
been called the Cinderella of medicine and it has placed emphasis on neuroscience to shed light on how the brain
functions. But, despite all the great findings we have through brain imaging, we still don’t have enough
understanding of the brain or specific explanatory reasons for severe mental disorders.
 Predicting behavior is the third objective of abnormal psychology and this requires an understanding of the
causes of behavior. We can make educated guesses but we need evidence to pursue court-ordered treatment. As
being pointed out, there are various factors for violent behavior and a vast majority of those diagnosed with a mental
illness or a mental disorder are not dangerous and do not hurt other people. There are examples however of people
who have hurt others and one wonder why they weren’t stopped earlier. One reason is civil commitment which is
involuntary confinement and it is an extreme. To take away someone’s freedom is a major decision. In these types of
proceedings, they require a lot of evidence that someone is a clear and present danger to self or others. This is based
on the premise of the legal system, an individual is innocent until proven guilty (Art. III., Sec 14 (2), Phil.
Constitution). Also, with some mental disorders, a person can appear relatively normal so there are no immediate
warning signs such as in antisocial personality disorders where there are highly impulsive behaviors. In a
commitment hearing, the judge or mental-health review officer will seek to place a person in the least restrictive
setting, so, someone may be placed in court-ordered outpatient treatment rather than inpatient (Murdach, 1993).

The fourth objective is modifying behavior. This involves treatment itself. The objective of psychotherapy
is to improve a person’s behavioral, emotional, or cognitive state. There are many types of therapies and
professional helpers. As an ethical mental health professional, only appropriate therapies that have empirical support
for their effectiveness are used. In fact, managed care companies want to see in treatment plans, those treatments
that have been shown to be effective with a particular diagnosis.

Lastly, as we approach the study of psychopathology, this field is concerned with the nature, development,
and treatment of mental disorders. Keep in mind that the field is continually developing and adding new findings.
Within this field, psychological disorders or mental disorders are studied (Barlow et al., Abnormal Psychology: An
Integrative Approach, 8th Edition).

What is a Psychological Disorder?

The best current definition of psychological disorder or mental disorder is one that contains several characteristics.
The DSM-5 defined mental disorder as:

“A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s

cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or
developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with
significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or
culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental
disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily
between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a
dysfunction in the individual, as described above.”
On the surface, these three criteria may seem obvious, but they were not easily arrived at and it is worth a moment to
explore what they mean. As we delve ourselves into studying these, we may see, importantly, that no one criterion
has yet been developed that fully defines a psychological disorder (Barlow et al., Abnormal Psychology: An
Integrative Approach, 8th edition).

Psychological Dysfunction
This refers to a breakdown in cognitive, emotional,
or behavioral functioning (Barlow et al., Abnormal
Psychology: An Integrative Approach, 8th edition).
In addition, the individual’s behavior causes a
disturbance in their ability to think, regulate
emotion, or regulate behavior. This dysfunction
might be psychological, biological, or
developmental in nature that results in atypical
behavior. For example, if a person is out on a date,
it should be fun. But if the person experiences
severe fear all evening and just want to go home, even though there is nothing to be afraid of, and the severe fear
happens on every date, his/her emotions are not functioning properly. However, if all his/her friends agree that the
person who asked him/her is unpredictable and dangerous in some way, then it would not be dysfunctional for the
person to be fearful; and avoid the date.

So, knowing where to draw the line between normal and abnormal dysfunction is often difficult. For this reason,
these problems are often considered to be on continuum or a dimension rather than to be categories that are either
present or absent (McNally, 2011; Stein, Phillips, Bolton, Fulford, Sadler, & Kendler, 2010; Widiger & Crego,
2013). This is one of the reasons why just having a dysfunction is not enough to meet the criteria for a psychological
disorder.
Distress or Impairment
One characteristic used to define mental disorder is
personal distress — that is, a person’s behavior may be
classified as disordered if it causes the person great
distress. Barlow et al. (Abnormal Psychology: An
Integrative Approach, 8th edition) explained that the
behavior must be associated with distress to be classified
as a disorder adds an important component and seems
clear: the criterion is satisfied if the individual is
extremely upset. Moreover, we should remember that this
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criterion does not define problematic abnormal behavior
by itself, for it is often quite normal to be distressed, for example, if someone close to you dies. Saying that the
human condition is such that suffering and distress are very much part of life. This is not likely to change. Thus,
defining psychological disorder by distress alone doesn’t work, although the concept of distress contributes to a
good definition.

Impairment, on the other hand, its concept is useful, although not entirely satisfactory (Barlow et al., Abnormal
Psychology, 8th edition). For example, Jeremy and Teejay consider themselves shy or lazy but this doesn’t mean that
they’re abnormal. But if say that Jeremy is so shy that he finds himself impossible to date or even interact with
people and he makes every attempt to avoid interactions even though he would likely to have friends, then we can
say that his social functioning is impaired.

Atypical or Not Culturally Expected

Finally, the criterion that the response be atypical or not culturally expected is
important but also insufficient to determine is a disorder is present by itself. At
times, something is considered abnormal because it occurs infrequently; it deviates
from the average. The greater the deviation, the more abnormal it is. We might say
that someone is abnormally short or abnormally tall, meaning that the person’s
height deviates substantially from average, but this obviously is not a definition of
a disorder. Many people are far from the average in their behavior, but few would
be considered disordered. We might call them talented or eccentric. For example,
we say that it is not normal to wear a dress made entirely out of meat, but, at the
2010 MTV Video Music Awards, American singer Lady Gaga wore a dress made
of raw beef, which was commonly referred to by the media as the meat dress and
were named by Time magazine as the top fashion statement of 2010
(https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/956399/lady-gaga-explains-her-meat-
dress-its-no-disrespect). Just 4 years later, an Indian lady, Starlet Tanisha Singh also wore a goat meat dress
(https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/indian-lady-gaga-starlet-tanisha-singh-wears-meat-dress-
180300-2014-02-08). These people are well-paid and seem to enjoy their careers. In most cases, the more productive
you are in the eyes of society, the more eccentricities society will tolerate (Barlow et al., Abnormal Psychology, 8th
edition). Therefore, “deviating from the average” does not work well as a definition for problematic abnormal
behavior.

Another view is that behavior is disordered if a person is violating social norms, even if a number of people
are sympathetic to the person’s point of view. This definition is useful in considering important cultural differences
in psychological disorders. An informative example of this view is provided by Robert Sapolsky (2002), the
prominent neuroscientist who, during his studies, worked closely with the Masai people in East Africa. One day,
Sapolsky’s Masai friend Rhoda asked him to bring his vehicle as quickly as possible to the Masai village where a
woman had been acting aggressively and had been hearing voices. The woman had actually killed a goat with her
own hands. Sapolsky and several Masai were able to subdue her and transport her to a local health center. Realizing
that this was an opportunity to learn more of the Masai’s view of psychological disorders, Sapolsky had the
following discussion:

“So, Rhoda,” I began laconically, “what do you suppose was wrong with that woman?”
She looked at me as if I was mad.
“She is crazy.”
“But how can you tell?”
“She’s crazy. Can’t you just see from how she acts?”
“But how do you decide that she is crazy? What did she do?”
“She killed that goat.”
“Oh,” I said with anthropological detachment, “but Masai kill goats all the time.”
She looked at me as if I were an idiot. “Only the men kill goats,” she said.
“Well, how else do you know that she is crazy?”
“She hears voices.”
Again, I made a pain of myself. “Oh, but the Masai hear voices sometimes.” (At ceremonies before long cattle drives, the
Masai trance-dance and claim to hear voices.) and in one sentence, Rhoda summed up half of what anyone needs to know
about cross-cultural psychiatry.
“But she hears voices at the wrong time.”

(Taken from: Barlow, David H; Durand, V. Mark; Hofmann, Stefan G, Abnormal Psychology: An Integrated Approach, 8th Edition, p.5).
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Westen, D., Gabbard, G. O., & Ortigo, K. M. (2008). Psychoanalytic approaches to personality. In O. P.
John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 61–113).
The Guilford Press. Retrieved from: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-11667-003

https://cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/psychology/psychology/abnormal-psychology/perspectives-on-
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https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-abnormal-psychology-2794775

Cherry, K. (June 22, 2021). Understanding Abnormal Psychology. Retrieved from:

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-abnormal-psychology-2794775
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https://psychologisthere.blogspot.com/2017/11/4-ds-of-abnormality.html
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Murdach, A. (1993). Practice forum: Working with potentially assaultive clients. Health and Social Work, 18(4),
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