What is the medical approach to abnormal psychology?
The medical approach to abnormal psychology focuses on genetic issues that could contribute to atypical behaviors.
What is abnormality?
Under this definition of abnormality, a person's trait, thinking or behavior is classified as abnormal if it is rare or statistically unusual.
How do you define abnormal behavior?
There are several different ways in which it is possible to define ‘abnormal’ as opposed to our ideas of what is ‘normal’. Under this definition of abnormality, a person's trait, thinking or behavior is classified as abnormal if it is rare or statistically unusual.
Is cognitive behavioral therapy an abnormal psychology treatment?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an excellent form of treatment that can treat mood disorders, which fall under the category of abnormal psychology. Want To Learn More About Abnormal Psychology? Chat With A Board-Certified Psychology Expert Today. It's important to understand that there are a variety of psychological disorders.

What is treatment in psychology?
n. 1. the administration of appropriate measures (e.g., drugs, surgery, psychotherapy) that are designed to relieve a pathological condition. 2.
What are the 4 definitions of abnormality?
Definitions of Abnormality: Statistical Infrequency, Deviation from Social Norms, Failure to Function Adequately, Deviation from Ideal Mental Health.
What is an example of treatment modality?
There are several modalities of treatment: individual therapy, group therapy, couples therapy, and family therapy are the most common. In an individual therapy session, a client works one-on-one with a trained therapist.
How do psychologists define what is abnormal?
Rather than the distinction between normal and abnormal, psychologists in this field focus on the level of distress that behaviors, thoughts, or emotions might cause. If a behavior is creating problems in a person's life or is disruptive to other people, then this would be an "abnormal" behavior.
What are the 4 D's in abnormal psychology?
Psychologists often classify behavior as abnormal using 4 D's: deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger. Providing a straightforward definition of abnormality is tricky because abnormality is relative, but the definition has several primary characteristics.
What are the 6 models of abnormality?
Contents Biological (medical) model. 1.1 Evaluation of the biological (medical) model. Behavioral model. 2.1 Evaluation of the behavioural model. Cognitive model. Psychodynamic model.
What are treatment modalities in psychotherapy?
Therapeutic ModalitiesAcceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)Attachment Based Behavioral Therapy (BT)Child-Centered Play Therapy (an Evidence-based practice)Christian Perspective Therapy.Client/Person-Centered Therapy.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)More items...
What are the 4 modalities of behavior?
The four widely accepted learning modalities (or modes) are known by the acronym VARK: Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic.
What is a treatment modality for substance abuse?
Group Therapy. Group therapy is the most widely used treatment modality in substance abuse treatment programs (Etheridge et al.
What are the criteria for abnormality?
Abnormal behavior is any behavior that deviates from what is considered normal. There are four general criteria that psychologists use to identify abnormal behavior: violation of social norms, statistical rarity, personal distress, and maladaptive behavior.
What are the two definitions of abnormality?
Suggested Answer: Two definitions of abnormality include statistical infrequency and and failure to function adequately (FFA). According to the statistical infrequency definition, a behaviour is seen as abnormal if it is statistically uncommon or not seen very often in society.
How do you define normal and abnormal?
Normality is being able to adapt or adjust to changes in life or in the environment. Abnormalities are those that prevent an individual from coping with these changes or behavior that result to maladaptation and maladjustment.
What is abnormal psychology?
Criticism. Abnormal psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with psychopathology and abnormal behavior, often in a clinical context. The term covers a broad range of disorders, from depression to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to personality disorders. Counselors, clinical psychologists, and psychotherapists often work directly in this ...
What is abnormal behavior?
If behavior is creating problems in a person's life or is disruptive to other people , then this would be an "abnormal" behavior.
What is the psychoanalytic approach?
2 The psychoanalytic approach suggests that many abnormal behaviors stem from unconscious thoughts, desires, and memories. While these feelings are outside of awareness, they are still believed to influence conscious actions.
What is the medical approach to mental health?
Medical Approach. This approach to abnormal psychology focuses on the biological causes of mental illness, emphasizing understanding the underlying cause of disorders, which might include genetic inheritance, related physical illnesses, infections, and chemical imbalances.
What is the cognitive approach to abnormal psychology?
Cognitive Approach. The cognitive approach to abnormal psychology focuses on how internal thoughts, perceptions, and reasoning contribute to psychological disorders. Cognitive treatments typically focus on helping the individual change their thoughts or reactions.
What is behavioral therapy?
When dealing with abnormal behavior, a behavioral therapist might utilize strategies such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning to help eliminate unwanted behaviors and teach new behaviors.
What are the different types of anxiety disorders?
Anxiety disorders, such as social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder. Neurodevelopmental disorders, such as an intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder. Neurocognitive disorders like delirium.
What is abnormal psychology?
Abnormal Psychology is the study of mental disorders. Mental disorders are defined as psychological disorders that cause a person to act outside of the norm. Psychologists use the DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to diagnose abnormal psychology disorders.
What is the treatment for addiction?
Substance abuse and addiction are treated with psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, and family therapy.
What is cognitive behavior therapy?
Cognitive Behavior therapy is usually prescribed for these disorders and mood stabilizers and other medications to help manage the symptoms. For patients with extreme behavior disorders that cause danger or threat of danger to themselves or others, inpatient and residential treatment facilities are available.
What is it called when you are not in control of your emotions?
Behavior Disorders. Some abnormal psychology disorders can greatly impact a person's behavior in ways that may make that person dangerous. Behavior disorders are sometimes called impulse control disorders and cause a person to not be in conscious control of their feelings, emotions, and impulses.
What does it mean when you have mania?
People experiencing mania are often described as being arrogant or overly confident.
How many mental disorders are there in the DSM?
There are 12 categories of mental disorders recognized by the DSM and several specific disorders listed under each. Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorders are usually diagnosed during early childhood and impair how a brain develops or works with the neurological systems in the body.
Why do medications help with mood?
Because a chemical imbalance generally causes mood disorders in the brain, medications can help the brain produce and regulate the correct hormones and chemicals in the brain. Anxiety Disorders. People with anxiety disorder often experience constant and persistent worry or fear over real or perceived threats.
What is abnormal psychology?
Abnormal psychology examines psychopathology and abnormal behavior. The term covers a range of disorders. Included are mood disorders, personality disorders and any type of behavior that deviates from the norm. This particular branch of psychology is very important, especially when it comes to diagnosing and treating mental illness.
What is the behavioral approach to abnormal psychology?
The Behavioral Approach. As the name suggests, the behavioral approach to abnormal psychology focuses on the specific conduct of the afflicted individual. The behavioral approach emphasizes positive reinforcement. Positive behavior patterns are important to override the adverse, atypical behaviors.
Why is abnormal psychology important?
This particular branch of psychology is very important, especially when it comes to diagnosing and treating mental illness. There are many factors that contribute to mental disorders. Abnormal psychology allows specialists to study, understand, and diagnose certain conditions. Reviewing Abnormal Psychology.
What is somatic therapy?
A combined approach with both psychotherapy and medications. Somatic treatments include medications, electroconvulsive therapy, vagus nerve stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulations. During treatment, the doctor will monitor your medication, mental disorder, and side effects of any treatment you have.
What is cognitive behavioral therapy?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an excellent form of treatment that can treat mood disorders, which fall under the category of abnormal psychology.
Why do people with borderline personality disorder overreact?
For example, people with borderline personality disorder have trouble with emotional dysregulation, which can cause them to overreact. People with mood disorders often have intense emotions and reactions. It's important not to jump to conclusions because of one small overreaction.
What is neurodevelopmental therapy?
The treatment and rehabilitation, administered for various psychological disorders, vary and depend upon a series of factors. One primarily important factor is simply the approach which the specialist takes to the existence of abnormal psychology.
Why is it important to incorporate psychological treatment along with psychopharmacological treatment?
Because of this, it is also important to incorporate psychological treatment along with psychopharmacological treatment to both address medication adherence, as well as provide additional support for symptom management.
What is the goal of CBT in schizophrenia?
When used in the context of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, CBT focuses on the maladaptive emotional and behavioral responses to psychotic experiences, which is directly related to distress and disability. Therefore, the goal of CBT is not on symptom reduction, but rather to improve the interpretations and understandings of these symptoms (and experiences) which will reduce associated distress (Kurtz, 2015). Common features of CBT in this context include: psychoeducation about their disorder, the course of their symptoms (i.e. ways to identify coming and going of delusions/hallucinations), challenging and replacing the negative thoughts/behaviors to more positive thoughts/behaviors associated with their delusions/hallucinations, and finally, learning positive coping strategies to deal with their unpleasant symptoms (Veiga-Martinez, Perez-Alvarez, & Garcia-Montes, 2008).
What is inpatient hospitalization?
More commonly viewed as community-based treatments, inpatient hospitalization programs are essential in stabilizing individuals experiencing acute psychotic episodes. Generally speaking, individuals will be treated on an outpatient basis, however, there are times when their symptoms exceed the needs of an outpatient service. Short-term hospitalizations are used to modify antipsychotic medications and implement additional psychological treatments so that the individual can safely return to his/her home. These hospitalizations generally last for a few weeks as opposed to a long-term treatment option that would last months or years (Craig & Power, 2010).
Why is psychoeducation important?
Psychoeducation is important for both the client and family members as it is reported that more than half of those recovering from a psychotic episode reside with their family (Haddock & Spaulding, 2011).
What is the effect of impaired ability to interact with individuals in social, occupational, or recreational settings?
This can lead to greater isolation and poorer social support among individuals with schizophrenia.
How does family intervention affect schizophrenia?
Family interventions have been largely influenced by the diathesis-stress model of schizophrenia. As previously discussed, the emergence of the disorder and/or exacerbation of symptoms is likely related to environmental stressors and psychological factors. While the degree in which environmental stress stimulates an exacerbation of symptoms varies among individuals, there is significant evidence to conclude that overall stress does impact illness presentation (Haddock & Spaulding, 2011). Therefore, the overall goal of family interventions is to reduce the stress on the individual that is likely to elicit the relapse of symptoms.
What Is Abnormal?
A significant problem within the field is the definition of abnormal behavior—how do we define what is normal and what is abnormal? Mental health diagnoses have increased over the last several decades, and the behavior required for a mental health diagnosis has been substantially altered over the course of several generations based on cultural, political, and scientific influences.
Approaches to Abnormality
Clinicians have proposed numerous ways of defining abnormal psychology. Statistical normalcy examines the frequency of a behavior within a population. Behavior that occurs at a low frequency, such as social anxiety, is then classified as abnormal.
Criticism of Abnormal Psychology
Some theorists argue that the field of abnormal psychology stigmatizes and demonizes historically oppressed populations and people who exhibit behaviors outside of the cultural norm.

Diagnosing Abnormal Psychology Disorders Through Behavior
- Since abnormal psychology disorders can greatly affect the quality of life of those who face them daily, it is important that they are diagnosed correctly. Diagnoses often get a negative reaction, but they are actually a positive tool as they allow mental health professionals to provide individu…
Outlining Abnormal Psychology Disorders
- Abnormal Psychology Disorders include anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia, delusional disorders, substance use disorders, dissociative disorders, and impulse control disorders. Each of these challenges is explained in greater detail below.
Treatments in Abnormal Psychology and Abnormality
- Treatments for abnormal psychology will always correlate to the underlying disorders. A good place to start is by talking with a licensed therapist. Consider talking to a licensed therapist online at BetterHelp to get sincere and professional guidance from the comfort of your own home. They can both help you and point you toward other services that could be of further assistance in you…
Conclusion
- If you are suffering from an abnormal psychology disorder, do not lose hope. Remember that there are many types of abnormal psychology disorders and despite the phrase "abnormal," these challenges are common. Keep in mind that each type can be treated, and you can receive treatment as well. No matter what you're experiencing, with the right tools, you can move forwar…