Psychopathology

Psychopathology

Psychopathology is the scientific study of mental illness and the factors relevant to mental disorders. Pathology is the study of disease, and psycho refers to the behavior or mind. Psychopathology is distinct from psychology, or the study of the mind and behavior. Mental illness may be psychological, social, or genetic in origin (Social Work Degree Guide, 2017). Psychopathology should be distinguished from psychopathological functioning; an individual may lack any defined mental illness, but experiences psychopathological functioning. Psychopathological functioning is disruptions in emotional, behavioral or thought processes that make it more difficult to meet goals (American Psychological Association (APA), 2017a).

It is also helpful here to discuss how mental illnesses are diagnosed and categorized today. Mental illnesses cannot be diagnosed with a simple physical test; there is not an easy measurement via a blood test or another diagnostic. Psychiatrists and psychologists rely upon medical history, personal interviews, and questionnaires to assess and diagnose mental illness. Both psychiatrists and psychologists use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder produced and published by the APA to understand and categorize mental illness. You will frequently see this publication abbreviated as the DSM.

Changing Misconceptions

It is helpful to first understand the difference between a conception of psychopathology and a theory of psychopathology. Conceptions of psychopathology define psychopathology by looking at what experiences are psychopathological and what experiences are not; they do not attempt to explain it (Maddux & Winstead, 2012 p. 3). Theories of psychopathology, which you will study later in this course, do strive to find explanations for psychopathology.

You may want to take a moment and consider why the conceptions of psychopathology matter. Think about the myths that surround mental illness in America today. According to Sarah Powell at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, these include:

· Mental illness is uncommon

· Mental health conditions in children are bad parenting

· People are faking mental illness

· Mental illness is a personal weakness

· People with mental illness are potentially violent or dangerous

· Positive thought or ideas can fix mental illness (2015)

Now, imagine that you conceive of mental illness as a health condition. It has no moral impact–it is no different than, for instance, high blood pressure. How do you think people will then respond to mental illness? Are they more or less likely to seek treatment and to treat those with mental illness kindly? Throughout your study in this course, it is essential to remember that mental illnesses are legitimate medical issues, no different than other medical issues (Powell, 2015).

Psychopathology can be thought of as abnormal psychology; patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that statistically deviate from the norm. This is a relatively common conception of psychopathology and is also subjective. What is normal? How far off from normal is necessary to be abnormal? In order to effectively conceive of psychopathology as statistical deviance, you must be sure of what is normal and agree upon how far off normal something must be to be pathological.

Psychopathology can also be thought of as maladaptive behavior. Maladaptive behaviors are dysfunctional. This is not a measure of norms, but rather of how effective or ineffective behaviors are within a particular context. This is a relatively popular conception of mental illness; however, it does not consider the fact that some forms of psychopathology may be less maladaptive, and some may even be quite effective.

In some cases, psychopathology may be thought of as subjective distress, or unhappiness, and disability, or a restriction in ability. These are also rather limited; some individuals experiencing mental illness may experience no subjective distress. In addition, people may differ widely in what level of mental illness causes distress or disability.

Psychopathology has also been considered social deviance, or variation on what is normal within a culture or society. This is a particularly conflicted conception. For instance, homosexuality, masturbation, and many other relatively ordinary behaviors were, for many years, socially deviant behavior. It is not, however, considered a form of psychopathology.

Another conception of psychopathology defines it as an inability to control or regulate thoughts and behaviors. This is a particularly limited definition, and relies upon an understanding of what can and cannot be controlled by the individual.

Psychopathology can also be defined as harmful dysfunction; in this case, dysfunction that does not harm the individual is not considered pathological. Dysfunction that does cause harm is pathological.

Underpinnings of Psychopathology

One of the most common questions related to psychopathology is what causes a particular disorder. Knowing the contributing cause of a disorder helps to clinicians to understand the best therapy and helps doctors, such as psychiatrists, to know the most appropriate medications to treat the disorder. This is often a particularly complex issue. Many mental illnesses have multiple causes and contributing factors.

Extensive research has gone into understanding the basis for each disorder included in the DSM-V. The basis for each disorder includes both environmental and biological causes. In other words, both “nature” (biological) and “nurture” (environmental) are considered as influences in the development of psychopathology.

Some environmental causes, or experiences in the life and development of the individual, can be theoretical, and some factual. An example of a factual environmental cause would be a patient telling you that they experienced severe trauma as a child. Adverse childhood experiences, or specific traumas during childhood, increase the risk of many mental illnesses. Knowing this information, a clinician would be able to hypothesize that the traumatic experience as a child likely influenced the development of a particular psychological disorder. An example of a theoretical cause would be applying a theory of psychopathology to an individual’s presenting symptoms, in order to best hypothesize the origins of their disordered

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