Category: Abnormal Psychology

Introduction

According to Nevid (2011) the concept of normal and abnormal behaviour continues to be a subject of debate within mental health field and in the society. They can change from time to time, and this show how controversial the topic of normal and abnormal behaviour is. The purpose of this assignment is to give the explanation of normal and abnormal behaviour and also show their differences. The assignment will also provide an overview of historical developments in abnormal behaviour. The author the example to prove role and implications of culture in determining and differentiating between normal behaviour and abnormal behaviour. The assignment will close by discussing the mental health in South Africa and access to mental health services.

According to Weiten (2014) the antonym normal and abnormal behaviour show that people can be divided into two groups which are the people who are normal and those who are not. The author further state that it is often difficult to differentiate between normality and abnormality. However people behave in different ways, they display maladaptive behaviour, whereby everyone come across personal distress. In result people are judged and critised to have psychological disorders if they have extreme maladaptive behaviour or stressing a lot.

Normal Behaviour

According to Weiten (2014) what join as normal differs somewhat from one culture to another. However if an individual violate the standards and expectations within the community they may be labelled as mentally ill. In my opinion I think normal behaviour is a behaviour that is normal for a certain person not a certain group of people because the person can know and feel that whatever they do is normal to them regardless of what the society say about it.

Abnormal behaviour

According Nevid (2011) society is a collective of people who are defined by the language that is spoken, religious practices and ethnic diversity. However the societies is fluid and constantly changing. The author further state that what was the norm for a society one hundred years ago may not be the norm of the same society today. I think in most communities or cultures it depends on how an individual behaves within a group, it will be determined by the rules and norms governed in a certain community or society.

The author further state that when an individual lives within a group, the definition of normal behaviour is usually classified by a consensus of what is considered to be normal for that certain group. However certain groups of people can push the boundaries but even this has limitations.

According to Novello (1999) abnormal behaviour is defined as the psychological disoders that include many elememts, whhich include the behaviour that deviates from nornal and norms that violates cultural values and unable to adjust to normal life.

In my opinion I think abnormal behaviour is dysfunctional state of mind where a person cannot function well in a day-to-day to life. However the society also play a role as what is normal and abnormal. For example in some cultures it is normal for a person eat a dog whereas in some cultures is a taboo to eat a dog. If they find a person eating a dog within their culture it will be an abnormal behaviour.

Difference between Normal and Abnormal behaviour

Weiten (2014) argue that there is no sharp boundary between normal and abnormal behaviour. The author mentioned that it depends on the extent to which one behaves, how much stress they have and their personality.

According Porther (2014) abnormal behaviour lacks effectiveness, is unproductive to goal achievement and problem solving and also make matters worse if an individual tries to solve a problem. According to Pienaar (2013) it is broadly accepted rules of the individual’s culture of origin. However when the behaviour is unusual, the observed behaviour is labelled as to be disturbing to others if it has been seen and it will be reflected violation of cultural norms.

In my opinion I think sometimes the behaviour is resistant to change or manage it. However the behaviour may results in unfortunate effects in multiple areas of life.

Overview of Historical Developments in Understanding Abnormal Behaviour

Supernatural Model

According to Nevid (2011) abnormal behaviour has been shaped to some point by the prevailing world view of the time. However in the past hundreds years beliefs in the supernatural forces, demons and evil spirits, where abnormal behaviour is taken as sign of possession.

The Pre-scientific Era

According to Lenau (2017) abnormal behaviour was seen as a victory for evil spirits, where the cure was to force the demons from a victim’s body. This view might have existed in the Stone Age as skulls from that period, which were found in Europe and South America, show evidence of an operation known as trepidation. In this operation, a stone instrument was used to cut away a circular section of the skull. According to Barlow (2015) the reason for removing pieces of the skull was to release the evil spirits that were apparently causing the problem. However, trepidation may have been used to remove bone splinters or blood clots caused by stone weapons during tribal warfare.

The Demonological Model

Barlow (2017) Argue that Aetiologists found human skeleton from the Stone Age with egg-sized cavities in the skull. The author further argue that the interpretations of the holes is prehistoric ancestors believed that it was caused by inhabitation of evil spirits. According to Nevid (2011) the notion of supernatural forces of abnormal behaviour was well-known in the western society until the Age of Enlightenment. Moreover the ancients explained nature in terms of the actions of the gods.

According to Barlow (2017) people turned to magic and sorcery to solve problems, however during that time the bizarre behaviour of people cursed and was seen as the work of the of the devil and witches. The author further state that the judgement that sorcery and wishes are the causes of madness and other evil that still continue in the fifteenth century, and evil is still to be blamed as the unexplainable behaviour.

Religion

According to Barlow (2015) the treatment for abnormality in religious societies was more related to exorcisms. The idea was to coax evil spirits to leave the person or to make the person’s body uncomfortable for the spirit to force them to leave. The author further state that the priest would recite prayers, plead with the evil spirits, insult the spirits, make loud noises, or have the person drink bitter poisons. If however the exorcisms failed, the priest would perform a more extreme form of exorcism involving

The Biological Model

According to Barlow (2017) Physical causes of mental disorders have been need since early in history because it is important because many play a big role in the biological tradition. However the Greek physician Hypocrites is the father of the Western medicine. He is correlated with a body of work called Hippocratic Corpus. The author further state that Hippocrates believed that Psychological disorder could be treated like any other disease.

The Nineteenth Century

According to Barlow (2017) the biological tradition went on with the alternate increases and decrease during the centuries after Hippocrates and Galen. They discovers the nature and cause of syphilis and strong support from well supported from the well-respected American Psychiatrist.

Syphilis

According Austin (2014) syphilis is a behavioral cognitive symptoms that is sexually transmitted disease that is caused by a bacterial microorganism entering the brain. The author further state that it includes delusions where a person believes that everyone is plotting against them or he is God.

Barlow (2017) argue that the symptoms are similar to psychoses they are both labeled as deterioration, and becoming paralyzed.

The Psychological Tradition

According to Nevid (2011) in the middle centuries Plato thought that there were social and cultural influences in an individual’s life. He based his thoughts on the enviroment that the child grow in.Accrding to Weiten (2014) development in psychology has been the emergence of evolotionery psychology and as an influencial theoretical perspective. However the basic premise of evolutionery psychology is that the natural behaviour favours the behaviour that enhance organism reproductrive success that is passed from one geneation to the other.

Implications of Culture in Determining and Differentiating

According to Porther (2014) within a society we have norms; unwritten guidelines, rules, and standards which make our interactions with others more orderly and predictable. We also have roles and position in society regulated by norms about how that person should act. If we violate these norms and roles we can be labelled as “crazy” in the community. However the norms and roles are given by the majority in society and most of us tend to obey and conform to them most of the time to fit in.

Crouch (2014) state that there are possible reasons for extreme behaviour whereby the early signs of the illness are not regnised, poor treatment or traditonal intervention which are tried first before they go to Western therapy. The authour also mentioned that the ordinary people have little knowledge in the Western medicine. However they however go to an expert of herbal medicine interpreting the spirit of the ancencestors or will of the gods.

According to Allwood (2016) psychopathology has also been conceived as behavior that deviates from social or cultural norms. This conception is simply a variation of the conception of psychopathology as abnormality, only in the case that judgments about deviations from normality are made informally by people. The author further express that doing things that most other people do not do and that are conflicting with socially accepted and culturally allow the ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving are recognized as disrespectful to culture.

Culture and Tradition

Barlow, (2017) argue that the diversity of human culture affect the maner in which normal and abnormal behaviour appears. The authour further state that the diverse sociaty encounter similar symptotms that are traditional caused by agencies, spiririts and ancestors. However in South Africa there are conditions such as “amafufunyana” and “ukuthwasa” which are both traditional.

According to Barlow (2015) “amafufunyane” is more closely to mental health and is belived to relate to ancenstral anger with poisoning, bewitched and tokoloshe. The author explain “ukuthwasa” as the calling from the ancesntors to bedcome a traditonal healer,cfor example the people who have calling they experience syptoms that are similar to schizophrenia. The person who has the calling have dellusions and halluscinations. Most of them start by constant dreams of scary things, start by seeing their grandparents who died long time ago, dressed in sangoma cloths.

They feel victimised by spiritual attacks and witches.Their day to day functioning start to change. They start to see things that other people do not see and hear voices that talk to them in their heads. However in the traditional setting and culture such behaviours are normal signs to show that an individual has a calling from his ancestors. Nevertheless in the western setting such symptoms can be seeing as schizophrenia. It depends weather the in a certain culture they believe in such rituals or not.

In some cultures when a person is showing such behaviour that is linked or known as abnormal behaviour was suspected of witchcraft. It is probably that anyone with any type of mental illness would certainly have been condemned as being a witch. Individuals behaving outside of traditional norms were seen by the Church as being undesirable or uncooperative and were tortured in order to obtain confessions, with thousands of individuals being burned alive and mutilated in the name of the Church

According to Nicholas (2010) the cultural modes of expressions are understood by the members of the same culture or language group. The author further argued that the traditional healers felt that were not recognised by medical practitioners. Among the Xhosa culture there are local idioms of distress. However depending on the cultural influences in operation, depression is often reported either as a psychological representation, such as guilt, or it may be represented as a somatic complaint, such as a headache

Mental Health in South Africa and Access to Mental Health Services

According to Pienaar (2013) mental health care in South Africa is sorrounded by family and the broader community. This include the holistic-therapeutic care whereby the health support team of mental health care user may consult both the indigenous hearlers and Western health practioners.

According to Dau (2017) it is very concerning that over 100 mental health patients died as a result of the neglect of certain individuals in the health department. However this has been a big alert for South Africans and for the government. The author further state that in this alert it point out the fact that our country’s mental health services and resources are not enough in and they are very limited resources available to those who are suffering from mental health problems.

According to Crouch (2014) there are more people with mental illness or disability in the community that there are in the institution. Therefore there are more people with mental illness who are treated as outpatient departments in South Africa. The author further state that there is big need to prevent mental illness in our country and this may be best dealt with if it is started in the community.

Dau (2017) it also revealed that there is a lack of awareness around mental health in South Africa. There is a stigma that exists around mental health problems or people suffering from mental health problems. This shows how far we still need to go as a country in terms of understanding mental health and the importance of preserving one’s mental health. The author further state that there are many people and organisations that opened social media pages that serve to bring awareness about mental health to people, some of which also provide a space where people can share their experience with mental health.

Dau (2017) show that in result there are some of the posts on these pages that reveal that many people actually suffer from a variety of mental health problems, some of whom have had to deal with them on their own because of the way mental health is viewed in their culture or communities.

Crouch (2014) Argue that the majority of people with mental health problems are mostly found in communities and most of them cannot afford to go to therapy, however they consult to traditional healers.

However in my opinion I think the stigma of being afraid to seek professional help must end, because many families in South Africa can actually see that there are mental illness labelled as depression which can cause and more. However they still afraid to seek professional help from counsellors.

Conclusion

In this assignment I discussed the difference between normal and abnormal behaviour I also provided an overview of historical developments in abnormal behaviour. Mentioned the mental health in South Africa how it affects us the society and the community. This assignment helped me to see the importance of knowing the mental state in South Africa and also help me to know the history of developmental behaviour

References

1. Allwood, M. (2016). The Nature and Challenges of Indigenous Psychologies. United State ,UK: Cambridge University Press.
2. A.Novello. (1999). Abnormal Psychology. Western Cape: THOSON Publishing.
3. A.Pienaar. (2013). Mental Health Care in Africa. Johannesburg: Van Schaik.
4. D. Barlow, V. D. (2017). Abnormal Psychology. CENGAGE Learning.
5. Dau, P. (2017, November 10). Hope for the children who are affeced by trauma & abuse. jelly beans, pp. 2-9.
6. H. Barlow, V. (2015). Abnormal Psychology. Stamford, CT: CENGAGE Learning.
7. J. Nevid, S. R. (2011). Abnormal Psychology. Boston BA: PEARSON.
8. Lenau, L. (2017, January 26). History of Abnormal Psychology. Ancient Views, pp. 1-7.
9. Nicholas, L. (2009). Introduction to Psychology. Pretoria: Juta and Company Ltd Publishers.
10. Nicholas, L. (2010). An Introduction to Psychology. Cape Town: UCT.
11. Porther, D. (2014, October 12). Cultural Differences in Definitions of Abnormality. theravive, pp. 2-6.
12. R. Crouch, V. A. (2014). Occupational Therapy in Psychatry and Mental Health. Wiley Blackwell.
13. T-L. Austin, C. B. (2014). Abnormal Psychology. Cape Town: OXFORD .
14. Weiten, W. (2014). Psychology Themes and Variatios. Las Vegas: Cengage Learning.

How do psychologists determine what symptoms or behaviors are abnormal enough to diagnose their patients with a disorder? It can be difficult to diagnose sometimes, especially when culture plays a role into the diagnosis as well. The goal of a psychologist is to help the patient, but they don’t want to diagnose them with something if they don’t truly have the disease, but they also don’t want to not diagnose them and not give them a treatment that they could benefit from. Something that may seem abnormal from a certain cultural belief could be totally normal in another cultural belief. If there was a clear cut way of deciding if a patient has a disease or not, it would be easy, but there is not and that’s why it can sometimes be difficult to diagnose people.

So, what do we mean when someone is considered abnormal? Someone who has difficulties in the following seven departments could likely have some type of mental disorder: Subjective distress, maladaptiveness, statistical deviancy, violation of the standards of society, social discomfort, irrationality and unpredictability, and dangerousness (Hooley et al., 2020). Subjective distress is considered abnormal for someone who suffers or experiences psychological pain. When suffering from subjective distress, there may be feelings of anxiety or emotional distress because of their behaviors. If a patient committed a serious crime and didn’t feel any distress they could be considered abnormal. Maladaptiveness is when the behavior interferes with the person’s everyday life and well-being such as not getting enjoyment out of relationships or work. Often times people get depressed and aren’t getting an enjoyment out of life, but having a maladaptive behavior is extreme. These types of people may not work for months or need to go to the hospital. When this happens to people, they could consider their behaviors abnormal. Statistical deviancy is something that is statistically uncommon or rare. An example is having a rare talent like Mariah Carey’s voice. Her voice range can reach to 5 octaves, but it doesn’t cause her any harm or distress and she isn’t considered abnormal, it’s just not as common as the average person. A rare talent doesn’t make a person mentally ill, so when this happens, psychologists one has to use value judgments to determine if a person would be considered mentally ill or not.

Violation of the standard of society is also something that could help classify a person as abnormal (Hooley et al., 2020). This happens when a person violates or fails to follow the social and moral rules of their culture. For example, something that is common for the average American citizen like driving would be very uncommon or abnormal for Amish people (Hooley et al., 2020). Abnormalism will also depend on the magnitude of a violation or broken law. In America, a lot of people have been pulled over for speeding and breaking the law, that wouldn’t be abnormal, but if they were to deliberately drive their car into a side of a building, that would be considered abnormal.

Sometimes, abnormality depends on how a person was raised and what culture they follow as to how they could violate the norms within their culture. For example, in India the social norm is to eat their food with their hands. If somebody from India were to come to the United States and eat their food with their hands, that person would probably get some weird looks, even though that is completely to them. Social discomfort is when a person violates an unwritten social norm (Hooley et al., 2020). Everyone around them might get uncomfortable, but the person violating this social norm may not think anything of it. Some of this can depend on the circumstances that are happening around them as well. If it’s someone you know it may not be so awkward, but if it’s someone you don’t know, it could be considered an abnormal behavior. Irrationality and unpredictability is another criteria for determining abnormality. This is when a person starts acting out or screaming at something for no reason. This type of behavior is unpredictable and irrational because there should be no reason for this person to be doing what they are doing at that moment. Lastly, dangerousness can help determine abnormal behavior. Dangerousness is considered abnormal when someone wants to intentionally cause harm to themselves or other people. Dangerousness is one of the most helpful when determining if a person’s behavior is abnormal; it’s an obvious behavior.

Overall, when it comes to determining abnormal behaviors, society as a whole and social judgements are always involved. This can change from year to year or decade to decade because what was considered abnormal a few years ago may not even be the cause with today’s culture and society. Diagnosing abnormal behaviors is ever changing (Hooley et al., 2020).

In the 19th and 20th centuries four major advances changed how abnormal behaviors were treated and viewed. From brain discoveries, to a new classification system, to theories about unconscious motives, and to experiments involving memory and sensation. The discoveries that were found and made has changed the way psychologists figure out if a patient is considered abnormal. The four major advances were: biological discoveries, development of an agreed-upon classification system for mental disorders, scientifically informed views about causes of abnormal psychology, and experimental psychology emerged. Biological discoveries study both the physical and mental disorders, and during this time scientists found that general paresis, which is syphilis in the brain, was a mental disorder and the scientists found some of the reasons why general paresis even existed. The development of an agreed-upon classification system for mental disorders is all thanks to Emil Kraepelin. Kraepelin put together a classification system with all of the mental disorders and grouped them together according to the similarity of symptoms (Hooley et al., 2020). He also included genetics, the course, and the outcomes of mental illnesses in his classification system. Scientifically informed views about abnormal psychology started to emerge when Freud studied decades worth of observation, treatment, and writing to develop theories about the inner dynamics of unconscious motives within a person (Hooley et al., 2020). Finally, experimental psychology emerged when Wilhelm Wundt conducted a study involving memory and sensation. Since then there have been so many advancements in technology that just about anything can be tested. (Hooley., et al 2020).

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), is a reference book that is used by psychologists or health care professionals. It includes descriptions and symptoms of all of the mental disorders. It acts as a guide to help professionals properly diagnose their patient. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the DSM-5 Cross-Cultural Issues Subgroup (DCCIS) worked together to form something called the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI). The CFI is an evidence-based tool that includes a series of questions that help the psychologist get a great view into the patient’s everyday life. The CFI has four domains that cover a thorough cultural evaluation that can help diagnose and plan treatments (Desilva et al., 2015). The first domain is the cultural definition of the problem. This domain asks questions such as the reason for the visit, how the circumstances are described with the people closest to the patient, and what is the most troubling thing for the patient. The second Domain is cultural perceptions of cause, context, and support. This domain is used for clarifying what the patient and his or her social network consider to be the problem. Questions used in this domain include what makes the problem better or worse, how their culture relates to the problem, and how their background causes other problems for them. Domain 3 is cultural factors that affect self-coping and past help seeking. This domain asks the patients what coping skills the patient has tried in the past by themselves to see what worked and what didn’t work for them. The final Domain is cultural factors that affect current help seeking. In this domain, the goal is to figure out what the patient prefers for future care or treatment, including the patient’s social network. This helps both the patient and the psychologist by knowing that if the patient ever needed help in the future, the patient and psychiatrist can know what to expect. It also emphasizes that it is something that the patient wants (DeSilva et al., 2015).

“Culture is defined as a set of behavioral norms, meanings, and values or reference points utilized by members of a particular society to construct their unique view of the world, and ascertain their identity” (Alarcón, R., 2009 “Culture and Cultural Factors In Psychiatric Diagnosis”). Culture plays a much bigger role into a diagnosis than the average person might expect. According to Alarcón (2009), To diagnose a patient, the patient’s cultural beliefs and background should be fully understood by the therapist. Knowing their cultural beliefs and background also includes knowing the patient’s race, ethnicity, and languages. Knowing these can unlock some questions that the therapist may have. Being able to understand and get those answers can be a huge stepping stone to getting the patient the diagnosis or help that they may need. c A few things that are suggested to be added to a modern-day diagnosis is: cultural variables, family data, pathogenic and pathoplastic factors, explanatory models, and the patient’s strengths and weaknesses. Within cultural variables, specifics that should be included is language and how it is mastered, religion and spirituality and the main rules, gender and sexual orientation, traditions and beliefs, and migration history. In family data it’s important to figure out what the patient’s eating habits, social interactions, help-seeking patterns, and activities that add value to their life. Pathogenic and pathoplastic factors should ask the questions that can answer what their rituals are, schedules, schooling, church affiliation, sociopolitical structures, and public health behavior. Explanatory models could be considered the most important factor that is suggested for a modern-day diagnosis. This type of model could answer the “why?” question as to why the patient is experiencing symptoms and why are they a “target.” It’s important to try to figure these out so they can try to help their patient try to overtake their symptoms. Lastly there is the patient’s strengths and weaknesses. This part of the exam is based off the family members or the patient’s own answers. Questions asked are: issues of self-image and self-esteem, social skills, interaction styles, or wanting a change (Alarcón, R., 2009).

When deciding to diagnose a patient with a mental illness or abnormal behavior, it is best to fully understand them. There are resources that a psychologist can use, but the best way to properly diagnose a patient is getting to know them on a deeper level, all of the other resources are ways that can back up what the psychologist is trying to accomplish. Getting to know as much as possible about the patients will be very beneficial when it comes time to decide if they should or should not be diagnosed with a mental illness.

References

1. Alarcón, R. (2009, October). Culture, cultural factors and psychiatric diagnosis: Review and projections. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755270/
2. DeSilva, R., Aggarwal, N. K., & Lewis-Fernandez, R. (2015, June 30). The DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview and the Evolution of Cultural Assessment in Psychiatry. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/dsm-5-cultural-formulation-interview-and-evolution-cultural-assessment-psychiatry
3. Hooley, J. M., Nock, M. K., & Butcher, J. N. (2020). Abnormal psychology (18th ed.). Boston: Pearson. doi:https://revel-ise.pearson.com/courses/5f330a0bea3154001a6a64aa/contents

Understanding the mind is a complex process on its own. Now add mental illnesses, chemical imbalances and more, that is a puzzle many aim to put together and unravel. With the study of Disco Di, this paper aims to understand the abnormal behaviors of a patient with mental disorders connecting it to the different diagnostic features, cultural impacts as well as social impacts, and the paradigms that can be used in the case of Disco Di. At the end of this paper the reader should understand what Disco Di was diagnosed with, the treatments she went through, her story, and the influences in her life leading her to be diagnosed the way she was diagnosed. In the great words of William James “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” From a young age Disco Di did not have the best start, so, throughout this essay, the research will demonstrate the trends in abnormal psychology to understand at the end why Disco Di had the life she had.

Diagnostic Features/Differential Diagnosis

Disco Di was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) after several hospitalizations. With the information provided this seems to be the right diagnosis. Disco Di attempted suicide a couple of times landing her into these hospitalizations. The first attempt was through the severe slitting of her wrist and later attempting with a high dose of valium and alcohol. As shown in the text Disco Di experienced and showed diagnostic features of MDD and BPD. She first experienced MDD as those who experience MDD later tend to develop diagnostic features of BPD. Those with MDD tend to self-medicate with either drugs or alcohol, express themselves with anger, have distracting behaviors such as sexual hyperactivity, and even personal relationship withdrawals (Bryant‐Bedell & Waite, 2010). Similar to Disco Di who utilized alcohol intensively along with valium of around 40mg/ day which later increased to 80mg/ day with also the abuse of marijuana and hallucinogens. Disco Di was also extremely sexually hyperactive as she would go around sleeping with random men in their car. Said by Gobbler (2013), those who have MDD have suicidal thoughts, are easily agitated, as well as have negative thoughts. Disco Di’s attempt at suicide, easy agitation from her mother messing up on certain things such as placing her food in a particular order are symptoms pointing to someone with MDD. MDD comes about with family dysfunction, death in the family, and unemployment (Bryant‐Bedell & Waite, 2010), with this knowledge it is not surprising that Disco Di was diagnosed with MDD has she lost her sister in a fatal car crash when she was 11 and her father left Disco Di at the age of 3. Apart from being diagnosed with MDD, Disco Di was also diagnosed with BPD. Said by Furnham et al., “the hypothetical person with BPD was judged as least happy and second least successful at work, and having good personal relationships” (pg. 318). With this definition Disco Di could not attain a job or even have good personal relationships, noted in the text Disco Di’s best relationship was with her dog yet found that to be a bit boring. “Borderline Personality Disorder is manifested by a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood” (Fossati, 2014, pg. 20). As one can see BPD has similar symptoms as MDD which can cause it to be easily unnoticed yet, Disco Di’s low self-image shown by her eating binges but the need to go on a diet and obsession with calories, her fear of abandonment shown through her needing to call her therapist many times a day and wanting 100% attention from her parents are little signs a therapist must pick up and distinguish from other mental disorders such as MDD. Those with BPD have an impulsive nature which Disco Di had at the age of 15 where she ran away with a 17-year-old boy; she craved excitement shown through drinking, dancing on tables and the impulse to leave with a different man every night. From these activities, Disco Di also had feelings of boredom, isolation, and even the feeling of being anxious which led to these behaviors and thoughts led by MDD. Due to the research provided the diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder and Borderline personality is correct and well assigned.

Aside from MDD and BPD, one may see that Disco Di is also experiencing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Throughout the study of Disco Di, she was extremely concentrated on assuring that different things are arranged and placed in a particular order, so extreme that she would throw tantrums to the point where plates were broken and she had to be restrained by her father. A person with OCD is someone who repetitively has unwanted thoughts and even urges, they have compulsions of repetitive behaviors and thoughts (Hirschtritt, 2017). Similarly, Disco Di had urges to eat a certain amount of calories and have her food met a certain way mentioned above. Along with all this, she has repetitive negative behaviors such as going on binges of food and immediately crashing to go on a diet repetitively. Another disorder that the doctor failed to diagnose Disco Di is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which occurs when a traumatic event happens. In the case of Disco Di, her sister died when Disco Di was 11 years old. This is where the lack of interest, the use of hallucinogens, as well as estrangements from others (Gautam, 2017), as she was unable to make friends and unable to maintain a positive relationship with her dog began to start.

Cultural and Gender Factors

Culture shapes the diagnosis by making it harder to improve as western culture makes it hard for people with MDD and BPD to get help. Not getting help causes diagnostic features/symptoms to worsen and even lead to suicide. A study shown that those who are in the -isms groups, so, age, gender, ethnicity, education and more were less likely to seek help (Magaard et al., 2017), this study showed how many fail to seek help and places them in a situation that will worsen their situation, similarly to Disco Di, after several attempts of therapy her situation worsened as she would not seek help rather just rant about her family, not wanting to go anywhere and closing herself off. Another way culture shapes the diagnosis and the diagnostic features/ symptoms is that in western culture it is very rare for BPD to be diagnosed (Pascual et al., 2008). Due to this, it can cause maltreatments as well as confusion and worsening symptoms. Disco Di’s diagnosis could have missed BPD or even confused it with another disorder because of the culture and lack of communication around BPD and resources provided for those with MDD. Nevertheless, culture is not the only factor that can shape someone’s diagnosis and diagnosis feature. Gender shapes the diagnosis and diagnosis features as women are seen to be more susceptible to MDD. A study found that women are more prevalent in the somatic and atypical subtype of depression (Delisle, 2012). This study demonstrates that if you are a woman you are more likely to be depressed as well as feel the symptoms more than a male; not to say men do not feel depressive symptoms. With this knowledge, one can see Disco Di has a better chance of having MDD and feeling the way she felt so strongly due to her gender. Gender was able to shape the number of symptoms and the susceptibility of MDD.

Finally, the social environment encompasses both gender and culture, it shapes the diagnosis as one’s environment such as peers and family can influence someone’s behavior, knowledge, and thoughts. The culture of their environment through social media can harm the way they view themselves and the way gender roles are portrayed also influences such diagnosis and how someone’s point of view might lead to a certain diagnosis. For example, Disco Di’s peers were negative got her doing drugs and drinking which later on was an addiction to suppress MDD and BPD which then after was the aid for her suicide attempt. Her environment has been negative since she lost her sister who they had strong connections with along with her dad leaving her, it is easy to feel abandoned developing symptoms of MDD and BPD. The social environment is very crucial for someone’s development and growth with their mental state, physical state, and even emotional state which Disco Di did not have very positive social environments around her which could have prolonged her progress in therapy.

Paradigm/Treatment Methods

When looking at Disco Di’s case the cognitive behavioral paradigm would be the best to examine her nature of behavior. The cognitive behavior paradigm is a 20th-century paradigm that is used to release mental stress. Said by Jane Milton (2001) “a patient is trained to recognize and modify the maladaptive, conscious thinking and beliefs that are, it is argued, maintaining his or her problems and distress” (pg. 434). In Disco Di’s situation to train her to cognitively understand and learn her emotions through writings, to help her recognize negative automatic thoughts, and later on challenging her logic and reality-testing of thoughts (Milton, 2001) can aid in helping her find the motivation to do a task as well as understanding the thoughts and feelings that she feels, it helps her distinguish her reality from her thoughts and deescalate a situation she might face leaving her feeling as if it is not her fault, as well as, leave her distressed so in return, it can help her leave the drugs and alcohol alone to calm herself down. It examines the environmental impacts that surround her life and can filter out the negative ones which one can see that her environment played a big part in her changes and development. Due to her situation, the best paradigm to examine Disco Di is CBT.

Disco Di was diagnosed with MDD and BPD. If she was just diagnosed with MDD the best treatment would be the biological treatment of antidepressants, but, since she was diagnosed with both, a treatment that can be beneficial is psychotherapy. Psychotherapy helps those with BPD which ultimately lifts those with depressive symptoms from MDD. It forces the patient to talk and reflect on the emotions felt. In Psychotherapy specifically behavioral cognitive therapy can help Disco Di manage her thoughts as they can be reflected on her actions, manage distress, learn skills to cope with strong emotions, as well as, open the mind of Disco Di to better understand her behaviors and why she is thinking the way she does (Salters-Pedneault, 2020). Many would suggest that Disco Di should also pair antidepressants with psychotherapy but, because of her history with drugs and utilizing them as an attempt to suicide it is not recommended as there is much different psychotherapy she can take part in to soothe her depression and anxiety from MDD and BPD.

References

1. Bryant‐Bedell, W. (2010). Understanding major depressive disorder among middle‐aged African American men. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66(9), 2050–2060. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05345.x
2. Delisle, B. (2012). Revisiting Gender Differences in Somatic Symptoms of Depression: Much Ado about Nothing? PloS One, 7(2), e32490–e32490. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032490
3. Fossati, A. (2014). Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence: Phenomenology and Construct Validity. In Handbook of Borderline Personality Disorder in Children and Adolescents (pp. 19–34). Springer New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0591-1_3
4. Furnham, F. (2015). Mental health literacy and borderline personality disorder (BPD): what do the public “make” of those with BPD? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 50(2), 317–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0936-7
5. Gautam, J. (2017). Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Panic Disorder (PD). Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 59(5), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.196975
6. Grobler, G. (2013). Major depressive disorder. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 19(3), 157. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A343258862/AONE?u=yorku_main&sid=AONE&xid=bff6ee51
7. Hirschtritt, B. (2017). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 317(13), 1358–1367. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.2200
8. Magaard, S. (2017). Factors associated with help-seeking behavior among individuals with major depression: A systematic review. PloS One, 12(5), e0176730–e0176730. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176730
9. Pascual, M. (2008). Immigrants and borderline personality disorder at a psychiatric emergency service. British Journal of Psychiatry, 193(6), 471–476. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.107.03820
10. Salters-Pedneault, K., PhD. (2020). Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment Psychotherapy, Medications, Hospitalization, and Self-Help. Verywellmind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/borderline-personality-disorder-treatment-425451

Psychology insights

The psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. The word psychology comes from The Greek words psychic means life and ‘logos’ means interpretation. Psychology is common

Psychology is the study of the human mind and behavior. The theme revolves around how those around us think, what kind of feelings they are experiencing, how they act and interact and what motivates them. The students of psychology learn to understand why they behave in a certain way, how they respond to the world around them and the main factors that can affect it. These can be social, biological, cognitive, or emotional.

Using scientific methods, psychologists explain our behavior. Knowing what to look for, they scan, test, and use statistics to find patterns. But instead of simply explaining human behavior, psychologists use their experiences to provide support and generate positive change.

There is a superimposition between the psychology and a series of other disciplines like medicine, the anthropology, the philosophy, the biology and the linguistics.

Famous people who studied psychology

Various Hollywood actors studied psychology, including actor Natalie Portman, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Wes Craven, actor Marcia Cross and Jon Stewart.

Other renowned psychology graduates include the singer; Lil Wayne, the hip-hop artist; and Monica Lewinsky, former White House Fellow.

Guy Kawasaki, the former chief evangelist for Apple, best known for bringing the first Macintosh to the market, also studied psychology. The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, studied psychology, along with computer science, but dropped out of college during the second year of his career to devote his time to creating the social network.

PARANORMAL INSIGHTS

Religious psychologists have long suspected that belief in the paranormal could serve as a shield against the harshest truths in the world. The idea is that when something unexpected happens – death, natural disaster, or job loss – the brain tries to find answers by searching for meaning in the chaos. “It’s such a repulsive state that if it can’t be controlled objectively, we get it by noticing more structures around us, even if they don’t exist, asking people to recall times when they felt unruly, you can. She found that people see illusory forces at work. This included observing patterns in random movements of the stock market, for example, but it could also appear when linking two unrelated events, such as the belief that knocking on wood for good luck would increase your chances of being interviewed.

“Shortly after World War II, Winston Churchill visited the White House when it is said that he had a strange experience. After taking a long whiskey and cigar bath, he reportedly entered an adjoining bedroom where he was greeted by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Undeterred, even completely naked, Churchill said clearly, “Good evening, Mr. President. It seems to put me at a disadvantage. The spirit smiled and disappeared.

Paranormal phenomena are supposed phenomena that are described in popular and popular culture and other areas of non-scientific knowledge, the existence of which in these contexts is described as beyond ordinary experience or scientific explanation. ‘

In contrast, those who openly support the existence of the paranormal base their arguments not on empirical evidence, but on anecdotes, testimonies and suspicions. Notable paranormal beliefs include those associated with ESP (such as telepathy), spiritism, and the pseudosciences of ghost hunting, cryptozoology, and ufology.

This can be considered the best part of pseudoscience. Outside of the natural sciences, it depends on human explanations for the more complex events. Therefore, unusual phenomena include Exxon consciousness, telekinesis, ghosts, polyester doctors, life after death, reincarnation, faith healing, blindness, etc. The explanations for these related events are unclear, such as ‘psychic forces’, ‘labor camps’, etc. This is in stark contrast to many other abnormal scientific explanations, although it is very bad science and is still scientifically accepted.

Abnormal psychology

Abnormal psychology can be defined as the study of unusual behaviors and experiences, including (but not limited to) those that are often termed ‘paranormal.’ It seeks to understand the strange experiences that many people go through, without assuming a priori that there is something paranormal in them. This involves an attempt to explain paranormal and related beliefs and supposedly paranormal experiences in terms of known physical and psychological factors.

If paranormal forces do not really exist, how can we explain the widespread belief in them and the considerable minority of the population who claim to have had a direct personal experience of the paranormal? One possible answer is that there are certain events and experiences that may appear to be related to the paranormal, but can in fact be fully explained in non-paranormal, usually psychological terms. This is the approach taken by anomalous psychologists. In general, anomalous psychologists try to explain such phenomena in terms of known psychological effects, such as hallucinations, false memories, unreliable eyewitness accounts, placebo effects, suggestibility, reasoning biases, etc.

Qualifications and training

The abnormal psychology course is offered as a module of the Psychology Undergraduate and Postgraduate Program accredited by the British Psychological Association (BPS) and the American Psychological Association. The university with US and UK faculties is one of a relatively small group of similar faculty offering such course options, although their number is increasing.

In general, abnormal psychologists try to explain such phenomena in terms of known psychological effects such as hallucinations, false memories, unreliable eyewitness testimony, placebo effects, suggestibility, reasoning bias. It is noteworthy that in just a few decades, abnormal psychologists have created many examples of reproducible effects that adequately explain the so-called paranormal phenomenon.

Abnormal psychology is definitely on the rise. Now, not only is it offered as an option for many psychology degree programs, it is also an option for the UK’s most popular A2 psychology program. Every year more books and articles are published in high-quality journals in this field, and more conferences and symposiums on abnormal psychology are held. There is no doubt that abnormal psychology is developing.

Research in the unit covers all topics in abnormal psychology, including (but not limited to):

• Cognitive biases associated with so-called paranormal activities.
• Personality traits associated with supernatural beliefs and experiences.
• To develop and maintain supernatural and related beliefs.

Functions of supernatural and related beliefs

• Changing states of consciousness

Hypnosis

• Dissociative states, including dissociative personality disorder.

False memories

Reality monitoring

• Psychology of deception and self-deception, psychology of chance.

Hallucinations

Career

Currently, this field of psychology (anamolic psychology) has received little attention in INDIA and its importance is underestimated and is considered a snobbery. However, clinical practice in the UK and USA is a growing field, with careers in academics, research scientists, professors, and investigative psychologists.

Contribution

Exposure to abnormal psychology can not only cause people to question supernatural claims, but also to challenge strong religious beliefs. One of the implicit messages of abnormal psychology is: ‘Question everything, but use appropriate critical thinking tools.’ For some people, this will be a problem they choose not to face.

For those taking on the challenge, abnormal psychology can be an extremely useful topic. The wide variety of topics covered is outstanding. On the one hand, they are very entertaining stories of scam methods that cheaters use to convince players that they have real psychic abilities, and also examine the psychological processes that lead many more people to a false but sincere belief. they are psychic themselves.

He will be able to question superstitions, blind practices, tyranny of black magic, verify the scientific justification of religion, which is sometimes used by politicians to manipulate people and to aid the development of society and a promising futuristic society.

Conclusion

Anomalistic psychology should be seen as a complement to parapsychology, not as a precaution. To date, the wider scientific community is still not convinced by the evidence parapsychologists put forward to support paranormal claims. But at some point in the future, if parapsychologists manage to produce sustained and reproducible paranormal effects under well-controlled conditions, abnormal psychologists will serve them greatly. They will help them separate the wheat from the chaff, distinguishing the truly paranormal from the only visible.

But of course it may turn out to be nothing but straw. However, if that’s the case, that’s pretty interesting nonsense! Many ghost sightings appear to be based on sleep-related hallucinatory experiences. Understanding alien abduction allegations and hypnotic past lives will almost certainly improve our understanding of false memories. Claims about mental recovery need to be scrutinized in terms of what they tell us about the placebo effects and the power of suggestion. These are just a few examples of how abnormal psychology can provide insights that are not only fascinating in themselves but have meanings far beyond the paranormal world.

References

1. www.saylor.org/books
2. www.timeshighereducation.com
3. www.bbc.com
4. www.theguardian.com
5. www.psycologytoday.com
6. www.wikipedia.org