PSYC 3390 | Ch.2 Book Notes on \"Historical & Contemporary Views of Abnormal Behavior\" PDF

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Book:Abnormal Psychology (17th Edition by Jill M. Hooley, James N. Butcher, Matthew K. Nock, Susan Mineka)
Professor: Angie Teran...

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Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

PSYC 3390 | Ch.2 - “Historical & Contemporary Views of Abnormal Behavior” Historical Views of Abnormal Behavior (2.1) ➡ Explain how abnormal behavior has been viewed throughout history. ! • Include both humor & tragedy. ! ➡ The Edwin Smith papyrus (named after its 19th century discoverer) contains detailed descriptions of the treatment of wounds & other surgical operations. !

• In it, the brain is described as the site of mental functions. ! ➡ There’s evidence from legal & religious literature that some people w/ personality problems posed serious challenges to earlier societies going back the beginning of civilization. !

➡ In ancient Mesopotamia (before the 18th century b.c.) there was a clear recognition of the types of mental health problems that are currently described as personality disorders in contemporary diagnostic manuals, the ICD-10 & DSM-5. !

➡ The behavioral problems were dealt w/ NOT through medicine but through religious rites or incantations that were made by people who sought exorcism from antisocial traits & behaviors by repeating explicit phrases. !

Demonology, Gods, & Magic ➡ References to abnormal behavior in early writings show that the Chinese, Egyptians, Hebrews, & Greeks often attributed such behavior to a demon or god who had taken possession of a person. !

➡ Whether the “possession” was assumed to involve good spirits or evil spirits usually depended on the affected individual’s symptoms.!

➡ If a person’s speech or behavior appeared to have a religious or mystical significance, it was usually thought that he or she was possessed by a good spirit or god. ! 1

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

➡ Most possessions were considered work of an angry god OR an evil spirit! • When a person became excited / overactive / engaged ! ➡ Apparently this “punishment” was thought to involve the withdrawal of God’s protection & the abandonment of the person to the forces of evil. !

➡ Every effort was made to rid the person of the evil spirit ! ➡ Exorcism was the primary treatment for demonic possession ! • Included various techniques for casting an evil spirit out ! - Magic ! - Prayer! - Incantation ! - Noisemaking ! - Horrible-tasting concoctions made from sheep’s dung & wine !

Hippocrates’ Early Medical Concepts ➡ Hippocrates denied that deities & demons intervened in the development of illnesses & instead insisted that mental disorders, like other diseases, had natural causes & appropriate treatments.!

➡ Hippocrates believed that the brain was the central organ of intellectual activity & that mental disorders were due to brain pathology. !

➡ Hippocrates emphasized importance of heredity & predisposition + that injuries to the head could cause sensory & motor disorders. !

➡ Hippocrates classified all mental disorders into 3 General Categories: ! • Mania ! • Melancholia ! • Phrenitis (brain fever) ! ➡ Hippocrates relied heavily on clinical observation, his descriptions !

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Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

➡ Maher & Maher (1994) , best known of the earlier paradigms for explaining personality OR temperament is the doctrine of the 4 humors, associated w/ the name Hippocrates & later w/ Roman physician Galen. !

➡ 4 Elements of the material world: ! • Earth ! • Air ! • Fire ! • Water ! - Heat ! - Cold ! - Moistness ! - Dryness ! ➡ These elements combined to form the 4 essential fluids of the body: ! • Blood (sanguis) ! • Phlegm ! • Bile (choler) ! • Black bile (melancholic) ! ➡ Different proportions in different individuals ! ➡ A person’s temperament was determined by which of the humors was dominant. ! ➡ Earliest & longest lasting typologies of human behavior: ! - The sanguine ! ‣ Temperament was optimistic, cheerful, & unafraid.! - The phlegmatic ! - The choleric ! - The melancholic ! • Each come w/ a set of personality attributes ! 3

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

➡ Hippocrates considered dreams important for understanding a patient’s personality. !

Early Philosophical Conceptions of Consciousness ➡ The Greek philosopher Plato (429–347 b.c.) studied individuals w/ mental disturbances who had committed criminal acts & how to deal w/ them. !

➡ Plato wrote that they were NOT responsible for their acts & should NOT receive punishment in the same way as normal persons. !

➡ Plato made provision for mental cases to be cared for in the community. ! ➡ Plato viewed psychological phenomena as responses of the whole organism, reflecting its internal state & natural appetites.!

➡ In The Republic, Plato emphasized the importance of individual differences in intellectual & other abilities & took into account sociocultural influences in shaping thinking & behavior.!

➡ His ideas for treatment: ! • Provision for “hospital” care! - For individuals who developed beliefs that ran counter to those of the broader social order. !

- They’d be engaged periodically in conversations (psychotherapy) to promote the health of their souls. !

➡ Plato shared the belief that mental disorders were in part divinely caused. ! ➡ Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote extensively on mental disorders. ! • Descriptions of consciousness ! • Viewed that “thinking” would eliminate pain & help to attain pleasure. ! • Rejected that mental disorders could be caused by psychological factors (such as frustration & conflict) !

• Subscribed to the Hippocratic theory of disturbances in the bile. ! - EX: He thought that very hot bile generated sexual desires, verbal fluency, & suicidal impulses. ! 4

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

Late Greek & Roman Thought ➡ Alexandria, Egypt ! • Medical practices developed to a higher level ! ➡ Pleasant surroundings were considered of great therapeutic value for pateinets w/ mental illness!

• EX: ! - Parties! - Dances! - Walks in the temple gardens! - Rowing along the Nile ! - Musical concerts ! • EX: Therapeutic measures ! - Dieting ! - Massage ! - Hydrotherapy ! - Gymnastics ! - Education! • EX: Some less desirable practices ! - Bleeding ! - Purging ! - Mechanical restraints ! ➡ Greek physician Asclepiades practiced medicine in Rome ! • Developed the theory of disease that was based on the flow of atoms through the pores in the body & came up w/ treatments !

- EX: To restore the body! ‣ Massage! 5

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

‣ Special diets ! ‣ Bathing! ‣ Exercise ! ‣ Listening to music ! ‣ Rest & quiet ! ➡ 1 of the most influential Greek physician, Galen ! • Practiced in Rome ! • Elaborated on the Hippocratic tradition but DIDN’T contribute much that was new to the treatment OR clinical descriptions of mental disorders. !

• He made a # of original contributions concerning the anatomy of the nervous system. !

- Based on dissections of animals ! • He took a scientific approach to the field, dividing the causes of psychological disorders into physical & mental categories. !

• Among the causes he named were: ! - injuries to the head, ! - excessive use of alcohol, ! - shock, ! - fear, ! - adolescence, ! - menstrual changes, ! - economic reversals, ! - & disappointment in love. ! ➡ Roman medicine reflected the characteristic pragmatism of the Roman people. ! • Therapies used: ! - Warm baths & massage !

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Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

➡ Principle of Contrariis Contrarius: (or “opposite by opposite”) having their patients drink chilled wine while they were in a warm tub, for example. !

Early Views of Mental Disorders in China ➡ China was 1 of the earliest developed civilizations in which medicine & attention to mental disorders were introduced !

➡ Chinese medicine was based on a belief in natural rather than supernatural causes for illnesses. !

• EX: In the concept of yin & yang, the human body, like cosmos, is divided into positive & negative forces that both complement & contradict each other. !

- If the 2 forces are balanced, the result is physical & mental health; if they’re NOT, illness results. !

➡ Treatments focused on restoring balance. ! ➡ Chung Ching well known as Hippocrates of China , wrote 2 well-known medical works. !

• Like Hippocrates, he based his views of physical & mental disorders on clinical observations, & he implicated organ pathologies as primary causes.!

• He also believed that stressful psychological conditions could cause organ pathologies, & his treatments, utilized both drugs & the regaining of emotional balance through appropriate activities. !

➡ Chinese views of mental disorders regressed to a belief in supernatural forces as causal agents. !

➡ Ghosts & devils were implicated in “ghost-evil” insanity, which presumably resulted from possession by evil spirits. !

➡ A return to biological, somatic (bodily) views & an emphasis on psychosocial factors occurred in the centuries that followed. !

Views of Abnormality During the Middle Ages ➡ During the Middle Ages, the more scientific aspects of Greek medicine survived in the Islamic countries of the Middle East. ! 7

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

➡ 1st mental hospital ! • Established in Baghdad in A.D. 792! • Followed by others in Damascus & Aleppo ! • Individuals w/ mental disturbances received humane treatment ! ➡ One outstanding figure in ancient medicine was Avicenna from Persia.! • “Prince of physicians” ! • Was the author of The Canon of Medicine ! - The most widely studied medical work ever written ! • Avicenna frequently referred to in his writings, hysteria, epilepsy, manic reactions, & melancholia. !

➡ During the Middle Ages in Europe • Scientific inquiry into abnormal behavior was limited! • The treatment of individuals who were psychologically disturbed was characterized more often by ritual or superstition than by attempts to understand an individual’s condition. !

➡ The Middle Ages in Europe were largely devoid of scientific thinking & humane treatment for those w/ mental illness !

➡ Medieval institutions, social structures, & beliefs began to change drastically. ! ➡ Supernatural explanations of the causes of mental illness grew in popularity. ! ➡ Within the environment at this time, it was difficult to make steps to understand & create treatments for abnormal behavior. !

➡ “Sin” was NOT always cited as a casual factor in mental illness. ! ➡ Mass Madness ! • Mass Madness: the widespread occurrence of group behavior disorders that were apparently cases of hysteria. !

• Dancing manias: epidemics of raving, jumping, dancing, & convulsions. ! - 1 episode that occurred in Italy, early 13th century was known as tarantism ! 8

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

- Tarantism: a disorder that included an uncontrollable impulse to dance that was often attributed to the bite of the southern European tarantula or wolf spider. !

- Later spread to Germany, then the rest of Europe, where it’s known as Saint Vitus’s dance !

• Lycanthropy: a condition in which people believed themselves to be possessed by wolves & imitated their behavior. !

• Occurred periodically all into 17th century ! - 14th & 15th centuries! ‣ Social oppression ! ‣ Famine ! ‣ Epidemic diseases ! • Many of the peculiar cases of mass madness were related to the depression, fear, & wild mysticism engendered by the terrible events of “Black Death” !

• Mass Hysteria ! - occurs occasionally! - The affliction usually mimics some type of physical disorder such as fainting spells or convulsive movements. !

- Threatened to have serious political repercussions because some Arab leaders !

➡ Exorcism & Witchcraft ! • In the Middle Ages in Europe, management of people who were mentally disturbed was left largely to the clergy.!

• Monasteries served as refuges and places of confinement.! • During the early medieval period, people w/ mental disturbances were typically treated w/ kindness.!

- Treatments: ! ‣ Prayer ! 9

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

‣ Holy water ! ‣ Sanctified ointments ! ‣ The breath or spittle of the priests ! ‣ The touching of relics ! ‣ Visits to holy places ! ‣ & mild forms of exorcisms! • Exorcisms: ! - Performed by the gentle “laying on of hands” ! • Medical treatments derived mainly from Galen! • Recent resurgence of superstition ! • EX: ! - Those who believe that supernatural forces cause psychological problems & that “cures” should involve exorcism rid people of unwanted characteristics or “spells” !

• During the Middle Ages, many people w/ mental disturbances were accused of being witches. !

- Resulted in punishments or even killed. ! • Some people w/ mental illness were punished as witches. ! • 2 types of demonically possessed people: ! - Those physically possessed were considered mad ! - Those spiritually possessed were likely to be considered witches !

Toward Humanitarian Approaches ➡ The Resurgence of Scientific Questioning in Europe ! • Aleppo, a Swiss physician, an early critic of superstitious beliefs about possession. !

- He insisted dancing mania was NOT a possession but a form of disease. ! 10

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

- Suggested a conflict between the instinctual & spiritual natures of human beings !

- Formulated the idea of psychic causes for mental illness, ! - Advocated treatment by “bodily magnetism” later called hypnosis. ! • Paracelsus rejected demonology, viewed abnormal psychology in astral influences !

- Was convinced that the moon exerted a supernatural influence over the brain !

• Johann Weyer, a German physician & writer, was so deeply disturbed by the imprisonment, torture, & burning of people accused of witchcraft that he made a careful study of the entire problem. !

- He argued that a considerable number of those imprisoned, tortured, & burned for witchcraft were really sick in mind or body & that, consequently, great wrongs were being committed against innocent people. !

- Was 1 of the 1st physicians to specialize in mental disorders! - His wide experience & progressive views justify his reputation as the founder of modern psychopathology. !

- Nicknamed : “Weirus Hereticus” & “Weirus Insanus”! - His works were banned by the Church & remained so until the 20th century. ! ➡ The Establishment of Early Asylums ! • From the 16th century on ! • Asylums: sanctuaries or places of refuge meant solely for the care of people w/ mental illness. !

• These special institutions grew in number ! • Early asylums started as a way of removing from society troublesome individuals who could NOT care for themselves. !

• Although scientific inquiry into abnormal behavior was on the increase, most early asylums, often referred to as “madhouses”, were NOT pleasant places or “hospitals” but primarily residences or storage places for people who were insane. ! 11

Abnormal Psychology

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Monday, February 8, 2021

- Residents lived & died amid of horrific conditions. ! • 1st Asylum ! - Established in Europe ! - Was officially made into an asylum by Henry VIII ! - Name had contracted to “Bedlam” & became widely known for its deplorable conditions & practices. !

- The more violent patients were exhibited to the public for one penny a look, & the more harmless inmates were forced to seek charity on the streets of London. !

• Later established in other countries ! - Mexico (1566) ! - France (1641) ! - Moscow (1764), etc. ! • The notorious Lunatics’ Tower in Vienna was constructed in 1784 ! - Was a showplace in Old Vienna ! - Patients were put on exhibit to the public for a small fee ! • These early asylums were primarily modifications of penal institutions, & the inmates were treated more like beasts than human beings. !

• The Public Hospital in Williamsburg, Virgina, constructed in 1768, was the 1st hospital in the U.S. devoted exclusively to patients w/ mental illness. !

- Treatments in the U.S. was NO better than that offered by European institutions !

- Their treatment methods showed the philosophy of treatment involved the belief that the patients needed to choose rationality over insanity. !

- Treatment techniques were aggressive, aimed at restoring a “physical balance in the body & brain.”!

‣ Were designed to intimidate patients ! ‣ Included: ! 12

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Abnormal Psychology

Monday, February 8, 2021

- Powerful drugs ! - Water treatments! - Bleeding & blistering ! - Electrical shocks ! - Physical restraints ! ➡ Humanitarian Reform ! • Late 18th century, most mental hospitals in Europe & America were in need of reform. !

• The humanitarian treatment of patients received great impetus from the work of Philippe Pinel (1745–1826) in France. !

• Pinel’s Experiment: ! - In 1792, Pinel was placed in charge of La Bicétre, a hospital in Paris. ! - Received permission to remove the chains from some of the inmates as an experiment to test his views that patients w/ mental illness should be treated w/ kindness & consideration — as sick people, NOT as vicious beasts or criminals. !

‣ Was a success ! ‣ Idea of straitjackets popped up & were used instead of chains. ! ‣ Order & peace ! - Tuke’s Work in England: ! ‣ William Tuke established the York Retreat, a pleasant country house where patients w/ mental illness lived, worked, & rested in a kindly, religious atmosphere. !

‣ This retreat represented the culmination of a noble battle against the brutality, ignorance, & indifference of Tuke’s time. !

‣ The Quakers believed in treating all people, even the insane, w/ kindness & acceptance. !

- VIEW: Kind acceptance would help people w/ mental illness recover.! 13

Tu / Th 1:00pm - 2:15pm

Abnormal Psychology

Monday, February 8, 2021

- This view sparked the growth of more humane psychiatric treatment during a period when such patients were ignored & mistreated. !

‣ The Lunacy Inquiry Act (1842) passed, which included a requirement that asylums & houses be effectively inspected every 4 months to ensure proper diet & the elimination of the use of restraints. !

‣ 1845 The Country Asylums Act passed in England, which required every county to provide asylum to “paupers & lunatics.” !

- Britain’s policy of providing more humane treatment of people w/ mental illness was expanded to the colonies after a widely publicized incident of maltreatment of patients that occurred in Kingston, Jamaica. !

- “Tanking” patients w/ mental illness were held under water in a bathing tank by nurses & sometimes other patients until they were near death. !

- Rush & Moral Management in America ! ‣ The success of Pinel’s & Tuke’s humanitarian experiments revolutionized the treatment of patients w/ mental illness throughou...