Transcript abnormal psychology

“I felt the need to clean my room at home every
Sunday and would spend 4 to 5 hours at it. I
would take every book out of the bookcase,
dust and put it back…the clothes in my closet
hung exactly two fingers apart…I made a
ritual of touching the wall in my bedroom
before I went out because if I didn’t
something bad would happen.”
“I can’t find reasons to like myself. I think I’m
ugly. I think no one likes me. I become
grumpy and short-tempered. Nobody wants
to be around me. I’m left alone. Being alone
confirms that I am ugly and not worth being
with. I think I’m responsible for everything
that goes wrong.”
“Voices , like the roar of the crowd, came. I felt
like Jesus; I was being crucified. It was dark…I
just continued to huddle under the blanket,
feeling weak, laid bare and defenseless in a
cruel world I could no longer understand.”
Why are we so
fascinated with
the abnormal?
“To study the abnormal is
the best way of
understanding the
normal.”
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Having a heated argument with someone
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Praying aloud or chanting external to a
religious service

Dancing in excitement over getting a good
grade or hearing good news
The World Health Organization
reports that worldwide, some
450 million people suffer from
mental or behavioral disorders.
These disorders account for
15.4% of the years of life lost due
to death or disability.
Mental Health Workers view
psychological disorders as
patterns of thoughts, feelings,
or behaviors that are deviant,
distressful, and dysfunctional.
Respect for diversity sounds like
a wonderful ideal, but how
should we react when it clashes
with some deeply held value
such as gender equality?
Consider the following issues:

Should the U.S. government be accepting of
brutality such as genital mutilation of women
that is common in certain African countries?

Female U.S. military personnel in Saudi
Arabia have fought against regulations that
require them to wear a veil outside their
bases. Should these personnel be forced to
follow Saudi law or U.S. customs?

Should we object to the law in Saudi Arabia
that forbids women to drive?

In Sudan, a woman may not leave the country
without permission from her husband, father,
or brother. Should we object to such a
practice?
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For a psychological disorder to be present, it
must involve:
Deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional
patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.
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There must be something maladaptive
happening.
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ADHD (not ADD) is in the DSM.

It is technically a psychological disorder
marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or
more of three key symptoms: extreme
inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity.
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Your thoughts???????????