The Purpose of This Blog

The purpose of this blog is to build a substantial base of information on abnormal psychology, the study of it and all things related to it.  There will be discussions of the history of abnormal psychology, of abnornal psychology in history, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizo-effective disorder, anxiety disorders and phobias, mania, psychopathic behavior, antisocial personality disorder, borderlin personality disorder and more.  Hopefully, there will be case studies and short bios.

But to get started let me provide you with a links to a few helpful and interesting sites dealing with abnormal psychology and related topics:

• www.purgatory.net/merits/index.html
• www.psychwww.com/resource/bytopic/abnoraml.html
• www.apa.rog/journals/abn.html
• www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/complete-publication.shtml
• www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-psol.html
• www.mayoclinic.com/health.bipolar-disorder/DS00356
• www.nim.nih.gov/medicineplus/phobias.html
• www.mayoclinic.com/health/panic-attacks/DS00338
• http://wilsonslifealert.blogspot.com

The Impact of Abnormal Psychology

A 2005 article in the Washington Post explains that a study done in that year showed that a quarter of all Americans suffered from symptoms of mental illness and a quarter of those had serious and debilitating disorders.  The occurences of mental illness were believed to be significantly higher in the US than in other parts of the world.  The worst part of the news, however, was that large numbers of those suffering from mental illness were not receiving treatment.

Today we know that a large number of the homeless in America are people who are suffering from mental illness and not being treated.  They have a debilitating condition that will not allow them to work and have fallen through the cracks of government assistance programs.

So should we feel threatened by the fact that so many people suffer from mental illness?  Twenty years of research shows that despite some instances of violent crime by the mentally ill, most mentally ill people are no more or probably less apt to be violent than other segments of the population.  The fact is that there is stigma and prejudice surrounding mental illness, which makes the mentally ill more likely to be victims of violent crime and abuse than they are to be perpetrators.

So why is mental illness so prevalent in the US?  Is it just the lack of treatment?  Is it something we are doing wrong?  I do not have the answers to these questions, but I can talk about causation.  Genetics is considered to be a big factor in many mental illnesses.  Other things that bring on mental illness, though, are trauma, abuse, neglect, and poverty.  The fact is that because so many mentally ill people come from these backgrounds this contributes to why they go untreated.

The more we learn about the prevalence and causation of Abnormal Psychology in America the better we will be able to improve the problems surrounding it.  This requires not only having informed psychologist, psychiatrist, social workers and other mental health professionals, but also having a better informed populace.  Even police officers in America lack specialized knowledge in dealing with the mentally ill.  Part of the reason I am writing this blog is because I hope people will read it and become better informed.

Abnormal Psychology in a Braincell

Psychology is, of course, the study of the functioning of the human mind.  Break it down a little further and it is the study of how the functioning of the human mind effects human behavior.  To define abnormal psychology, we have to begin by saying that it is hard to define ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’.  Let’s begin by saying that abnormal behavior is behavior that is atypical or not expected in its cultural context.  Let’s further say that what would be considered abnormal in some of us is less noted in others of us.  The more productive you are in the eyes of society the more deviation or eccentricities society will tolerate.

Let’s also say that it is important to include cultural context in the definition of abnormal behavior because what is considered normal or acceptable in some cultures can be completely abnormal and unacceptable in others.  Consider for instance the significance of eating beef in Hindu culture while to us Macdonalds is commonplace.

Abnormal psychology is also defined as the study of pshological dysfunction.  Then how do we define psychological dysfunction.  Let’s say that it is a dysfunction of the mind associated with causing abnormal behavior and causing personal distress or impairment in human functioning.  To be distressed alone is not a sign of psychological dysfunction but when your mind effects your behavior to the point where you are having trouble functioning as a human then you probably are suffering from a psychological dysfunction.

An accepted definition of pychological dysfunction which is used in the DSM-IV-TR (a text reference that psychologist and psychiatrist use in diagnosing and treating psychological dysfunction) describes behavioral, emotional, or cognitive disfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with persoanl distress or substantial impairment in functioning as abnormal.

However, this definition does not include the fact that the dysfunctions are usually harmful and disruptive to life either of the person suffering or of others around.  For a description of someone’s behavior that was atypical and harmful visit http://wilsonslifealert.blogspot.com.