Abnormal psychology

**Abnormal psychology **is a part of psychology which studies the minds of people who have a mental disorder. Abnormal behaviour is when someone is not able to change how they behave to fit different settings. This is often also used to define some mental disorders.

When someone cannot change their behaviour to fit the people and situations around them when they need to, it can cause distress and suffering. Their behaviour could be unreasonable or hard to understand. Their behaviour can even be dangerous. Not everyone with a mental disorder struggles to adjust to their surroundings.

## History
### Supernatural traditions
A supernatural belief is a belief in a force that is beyond scientific understanding. There are a lot of cultures that believe in supernatural events. These cultures include religious cultures, as well as the Ancient Chinese, Ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, and Ancient Greeks. These cultures have writings that say demons or Gods that would take over a person and act through those people. This was called possession. In the Roman Catholic Church, exorcisms were done to make these demons leave the body of the individuals they possessed. Exorcism involved prayer, noises and potions.p.&nbsp;11 People who had abnormal behaviour were often told they were possessed.

In some cultures, trepanation was often used. This was when a hole was made in someone's head to release the "bad spirit".

### Asylums in Europe
"Lunatic asylums" were buildings that kept patients that had abnormal behaviour. They became popular with the Madhouse Act of 1774, although they did exist before the Act. Asylums were meant to look after people who could not take care of themselves. But they were known for being cruel and abusive to their patients. The buildings were often dirty and not looked after very well.

During the late 1700s, William Tuke made a religious retreat for patients. This was a turn away from the horrors of mental asylums.p.&nbsp;13

### Psychological explanations
Psychological explanations for abnormal behavior sometimes take a behavioral approach in which the positive behaviors are reinforced and negative ones are not. This approach is more focused on changing the actual behavior of a person than the cause of it.
 couch and office in the Freud Museum. Freud pioneered psychoanalysis and was hugely influential in Western psychology.]]

#### Freud 
Sigmund Freud was one of the most popular psychological theorists of the 20th century. The method he used to study and treat patients was known as psychoanalysis. Methods of hypnosis were used by Freud, but also by Franz Mesmer and physicians in the Nancy School. Freud attempted to have his patients confess their deepest, truest emotions, which was referred to as a catharsis. He would have his patients speak freely about themselves, in free association. He would conduct dream analysis where patients would record and discuss their dreams. 

#### Other psychoanalytic theorists 
Freud's work led to other great psychoanalytic theorists such as Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and Harry Stack Sullivan. Wilhelm Wundt and William James were credited for opening up the first experimental psychology laboratories. This led to many studies and psychological methods, such as classical conditioning led by Ivan Pavlov and John B. Skinner, while Edward Thorndike and B. F. Skinner were the leaders of the study of operant conditioning. The DSM divides mental disorders into groups and provides descriptive signs and symptoms that define each disorder. In addition, it lists statistics for each disorder ranging from its frequency in the general population to the most effective form of treatment

Before diagnosing an individual with a *specific* mental disorder, a professional must first determine whether that individual does in fact suffer from a mental disorder. The DSM defines a mental disorder as a condition that:

*Is primarily psychological and alters behavior, personality, or motivation,
*When in its full-blown state, causes stress, impairment in social functioning, or behavior that one would like to stop because it poses a threat to physical health, and
*Is distinct from other conditions, and is considered treatable.

### ICD-10
The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) is the universal diagnostic system for mental disorders. It was created by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The ICD is widely used. Health officials from 193 WHO member countries have approved the ICD, and it is available for free on the internet. Its purpose is to help countries reduce the problems associated with mental disorders. 

The coding system used in the DSM is designed to be compatible with the system used in the ICD; however, some codes may not match because the two publications get revised at different times. The ICD-10 was made public in 1994; its most recent update occurred in 2010. Chapter 5 of the ICD-10 covers over 300 mental and behavioral disorders which are divided into the following categories:

***F00-F09** Organic mental disorders
***F10-F19** Mental and behavioral disorders caused by drug use
***F20-F29** Schizophrenia and delusional disorders
***F30-39** Mood disorders
***F40-49** Neurotic, stress-related disorders
***F50-59** Behavioral disorders linked with bodily disturbances and physical factors
***F60-F69** Disorders of adult personality and behavior
***F70-F79** Mental retardation
***F80-F89** Disorders of psychological development
***F90-F98** Behavioral and emotional disorders that develop during childhood
***F99** Unspecified mental disorders

*The Online ICD-10 can be found in its entirety here*

## Treatment
### Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy based on psychoanalytic theory. This theory states that human behavior is controlled by unconscious forces such as instinct and that there is no such thing as free will. Many ideas found in the theory can be traced back to Sigmund Freud. Freud believed mental disorders are a result of repressed memories and emotions from childhood; psychoanalysis is designed to search for these hidden memories and emotions and bring them to the patient's attention. Techniques such as hypnosis are used to tap into the unconscious mind with the hopes that the source of the disturbance is found. Freud also believed dreams had hidden meanings, and often asked patients to record their dreams for analysis. Because of the lack of scientific evidence supporting most Freudian ideas, psychoanalysis is rarely used by clinical psychologists and has been replaced by more effective forms of therapy.

### Behavioral therapy
Behavior therapy is based on the theory of behaviorism, which states that all human behavior is a result of a stimulus and reinforcement. Famous behaviorists include James Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Joseph Wolpe. The goal of this therapy is to increase one's positive or socially reinforcing behavior. Behavior therapy can be broken down into three areas:
#Applied behavior analysis uses a form of operant conditioning where positive reinforcement is used to modify behavior.
#Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on conditioning the negative thoughts and feelings behind patients' behavior in order to alter that behavior.
# Social learning theory is used in the treatment and understanding of anxiety disorders. It goes beyond the traditional classical conditioning assumption that fear and anxiety must be learned directly; social learning theory suggests that a child could acquire a fear of snakes, for example, by observing a family member show fear in response to snakes.

### Humanistic therapy 
Humanistic therapy is a method taken from Carl Rogers, which aims to focus on a client as a human rather than the problem that they have. A therapist can adjust the environment and mood of a session in a way that mimics normal conversation. This often helps the patient realize the issues they have, and share them with the therapist more successfully than in a traditional counseling session. Humanistic therapy creates an effective means of getting to the source of a problem and treating it properly.

Roger's own term was "client-centered therapy", which has the idea that the therapist is helping the client to become a genuine psychological adult.

## References