Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought, which could possibly be understood as a mental disorder. Although many behaviors could be considered abnormal, this branch of psychology typically addresses behavior in a clinical context. There is a long history of attempts to understand and control behavior deemed to be aberrant or deviant (statistically, functionally, morally, or in some other sense), and there is often cultural variation in the approach taken. The field of abnormal psychology identifies multiple causes for different conditions, drawing on diverse theories from the broader field of psychology and beyond, and much still hinges on what exactly is meant by "abnormal". There has traditionally been a divide between psychological and biological explanations, reflecting a philosophical dualism regarding the mind–body problem. There have also been different approaches in trying to classify mental disorders. Abnormal includes three different categories; they are subnormal, supernormal and paranormal.
The science of abnormal psychology studies two types of behaviors: adaptive and maladaptive behaviors. Maladaptive behaviors suggest that some problem(s) exist and can also imply that the individual is vulnerable and unable to cope with environmental stress, leading to difficulties functioning in daily life across emotions, thinking, physical actions, and speech. Adaptive behaviors are well-suited to the nature of people, their lifestyles and surroundings, and the people they communicate with, allowing them to understand each other.
Clinical psychology is the applied field of psychology that seeks to assess, understand, and treat psychological conditions in clinical practice. The theoretical field known as abnormal psychology may form a backdrop to such work. Still, clinical psychologists in the field are unlikely to use the term 'abnormal' in reference to their practice. Psychopathology is a similar term to abnormal psychology, but may have more of an implication of an underlying pathology (disease process), which assumes the medical model of mental disturbance and as such, is a term more commonly used in the medical specialty known as psychiatry.
History
Humors
Hippocrates (460–377 BCE) hypothesized that the body and mind become unwell when the so-called humors, vital fluids in the body, become unbalanced. The four temperaments theory originated in the 5th century BC and posits four such humors: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. In the 5th century it was believed to examine the bodily functions of humans as fluids. Each humor was associated with a particular temperament: too much phlegm causes a person to be fatigued, too much black bile causes melancholia, yellow bile causes a quick temper, and too much blood causes optimism, cheerfulness, and confidence.
Asylums The act of placing individuals with mental illness in a separate facility known as an asylum dates to 1547, when King Henry VIII of England established the St. Mary of Bethlehem asylum in London. This hospital, nicknamed Bedlam, was famous for its deplorable conditions. Asylums remained popular throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance era. These early asylums often had miserable conditions. Patients were seen as a "burden" to society, locked away and treated almost like beasts to be dealt with, rather than patients needing treatment. However, many of the patients received helpful medical treatment. There was scientific curiosity into abnormal behavior, although it was rarely investigated in the early asylums. Inmates in these early asylums were often put on display for profit, as they were viewed as less than human. The early asylums were basically modifications of the existing criminal institutions.
In the late 18th century, the idea of humane treatment for patients gained favor due to the work of Philippe Pinel in France. He pushed for the idea that the patients should be treated with kindness, and not the cruelty inflicted on them, as if they were animals or criminals. His experimental ideas, such as removing the chains from the patients, were met with reluctance. The experiments in kindness proved a great success, helping reform how mental institutions would be run.
Institutionalization would continue to improve throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, as a result of the work of many humanitarians such as Dorothea Dix and the mental hygiene movement, which promoted the physical well-being of people with mental health conditions. "Dix, more than any other figure in the nineteenth century, made people in America and virtually all of Europe aware that the insane were being subjected to incredible abuses." Through this movement, millions of dollars were raised to build new institutions to house the mentally ill. Mental hospitals grew substantially in number during the 20th century as care for the mentally ill increased.
By 1939, there were over 400,000 patients in state mental hospitals in the US. Hospital stays were normally quite long for the patients, with some individuals being treated for many years. These hospitals, while better than the asylums of the past, still lacked the means to provide effective treatment for patients. Even though the reform movement had occurred, patients were often still met with cruel and inhumane treatment.
Things began to change in 1946, when Mary Jane Ward published the influential novel The Snake Pit, which was adapted into a popular movie of the same name. The book called attention to the conditions that people with a mental health condition faced, and helped to spark concern in the general public to create more humane mental health care in these overcrowded hospitals.
That same year, the National Institute of Mental Health was also created, providing support for training hospital employees and research into patients' conditions. During this period, the Hill–Burton Act was also passed, a program that funded mental health hospitals. Along with the Community Health Services Act of 1963, the Hill–Burton Acts helped create outpatient psychiatric clinics, inpatient general hospitals, and rehabilitation and community consultation centers.
Deinstitutionalisation In the late twentieth century, however, many mental hospitals were closed in many countries. In England, for example, only 14 of the 130 psychiatric institutions established in the early 20th century remained open at the start of the 21st century. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy launched the community health movement in the United States as a "bold new approach" to mental health care, aimed at coordinating mental health services for citizens in mental health centers. Over the span of 40 years, the United States saw about a 90 percent drop in the number of patients in psychiatric hospitals.
Deinstitutionalisation ended the long-term confinement of patients in isolating mental hospitals, which could and did cause long-term negative adaptations. For instance, institutionalizing people with schizophrenia worsens negative symptoms.Lifelong Course of Positive and Negative Symptoms, Branislav Mancevski; John Keilp; Matthew Kurzon; Robert M. Berman; Vladimir Ortakov; Jill Harkavy-Friedman; Gorazd Rosoklija; Andrew J. Dwork. Psychopathology (2007), vol. 40, no. pp. 83-92 However, the practice is sometimes criticised for a perceived rise in homelessness amongst people who were previously institutionalized, or are presumed to have been in the institution era.
Explaining abnormal behaviour
People have tried to explain and control abnormal behavior for thousands of years. Historically, there have been three main approaches to abnormal behavior: the supernatural, biological, and psychological traditions. Abnormal psychology revolves around two major paradigms for explaining mental disorders, the psychological paradigm and the biological paradigm.The psychological paradigm focuses more on the humanistic, cognitive, and behavioral causes and effects of psychopathology. The biological paradigm includes theories that focus more on physical factors, such as genetics and neurochemistry.
Supernatural explanations In the first supernatural tradition, also known as the demonological method, abnormal behavior is attributed to agents outside the human body. According to this model, abnormal behaviors are caused by demons, aliens, or spirits, or the influences of the Moon, planets, and stars. During the Stone Age, trepanning was performed on those who had mental illness, to literally cut the evil spirits out of the victim's head. Conversely, Ancient Chinese, Ancient Egyptians, and Hebrews believed that these were evil demons or spirits and advocated exorcism. By the time of the Greeks and Romans, mental illnesses were thought to be caused by an imbalance of the four humors, which led to treatments such as draining fluids from the brain. During the Medieval period, many Europeans believed that the power of witches, demons, and spirits caused abnormal behaviors. People with psychological disorders were thought to be possessed by evil spirits that had to be exorcised through religious rituals. If exorcism failed, some authorities advocated steps such as confinement, beating, and other types of torture to make the body uninhabitable to witches, demons, and spirits. The belief that witches, demons, and spirits were responsible for abnormal behavior persisted into the 15th century. Swiss alchemist, astrologer, and physician Paracelsus (1493–1541), on the other hand, rejected the idea that abnormal behaviors were caused by witches, demons, and spirits and suggested that the movements of the moon and stars influenced people's mind and behaviors. This tradition is still alive today. Some people, especially in developing countries, as well as some followers of religious sects in developed countries, continue to believe that supernatural powers influence human behavior. In Western academia, the supernatural tradition has been largely replaced by the biological and psychological traditions.
Supernatural traditions
Throughout history, societies have proposed several explanations for abnormal human behavior. In some hunter-gatherer societies, animists have believed that people exhibiting abnormal behavior are possessed by malevolent spirits. This idea has been associated with trepanation, the practice of cutting a hole into the individual's skull to release the malevolent spirits. Although it has been difficult to define abnormal psychology, one definition includes characteristics such as statistical infrequency.
A more formalized response to spiritual beliefs about abnormality is the practice of exorcism. Performed by religious authorities, exorcism is thought of as another way to release evil spirits who cause pathological behavior within the person. In some instances, individuals exhibiting unusual thoughts or behaviors have been exiled from society, or worse. Perceived witchcraft, for example, has been punished by death. Two Catholic Inquisitors wrote the Malleus Maleficarum (Latin for "The Hammer Against Witches"), which many Inquisitors and witch-hunters used. It contained an early taxonomy of perceived deviant behavior and proposed guidelines for prosecuting deviant individuals.
Biological explanations In the biological tradition, psychological disorders are attributed to biological causes. In the psychological tradition, disorders are attributed to faulty psychological development, and to social context. The medical or biological perspective holds the belief that most or all abnormal behavior can be attributed to a medical factor; assuming all psychological disorders are diseases.