HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology

Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology

Introduction

There are periods where it may be acceptable to arrange some terms together by little more than their logical genealogy. Having said that the more uncertain or culturally based the term the more that answer requires a more concise answer and to have a more observable terminology. Abnormal would fall into the category of needing a more concise answer. There are five criteria used to classify abnormality. These criteria would be; help seeking, irrationality, deviance, emotional distress, and significant impairment. The help seeking, irrationality, and deviance criteria would best be used as indicators rather than actual markers of an abnormality. The last two criteria; emotional distress, and significant impairment are more helpful. This makes them the more preferred diagnostic tool of psychopathology. The criteria perform together as a working explanation which is typically beneficial.

History of Abnormal Psychology

Over the years abnormal psychology has undergone so many different changes but finding the root of abnormal behaviors has been the one key element to these theories to help treat those suffering from a mental illness. In the paragraphs below there will be discussion about the origins of abnormal psychology and the challenges of defining and classifying normal and abnormal behavior. An overview of how abnormal psychology has evolved into scientific discipline and how psychosocial, biological/medical, and socioculture models are related to the development of abnormal psychology. Everybody around us is not perfect and we all have some type of misunderstanding about us but with some it is worse than others. Some people have problems with depression to obsession-compulsion and these behaviors would fall under abnormal psychology. For us to understand abnormal psychology we have to know what the meaning of abnormal means. Many of our behaviors follow what is called a normal curve. This curve is shaped like a bell and most individuals are clustered at the highest tip of the curve, which would be considered normal or average. Many things in our life can cause stress or disruption, which might trigger abnormal behavior. If we find that our behavior is affecting our personal life and the people around us we may need to get some type of mental health intervention (Shieff, Smith, Wadley, 1997).

Various Concepts

There are six core concepts that explain to us that abnormal psychology “involves the study of disorders and diagnoses, the field is ultimately about people and ideas”. ...