Chapter 1

Psychopathology and
Life: A Dimensional
Approach
Chapter 1: Psychopathology and
Life
Kearney, Psychopathology and Life: A Dimensional Approach 4 th Edition. © 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied
or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1
Chapter Objectives
1.1 Explain the importance of the terms psychopathology and mental disorder.
1.2 Evaluate the strengths and limitations of deviance from the norm, difficulties in adaptation,
and personal distress, and the combination of these factors in defining psychopathology.
1.3 Justify the dimensional approach to understanding and explaining psychopathology.
1.4 Create a timeline illustrating approaches to psychopathology from ancient times through the
modern era.
1.5 Compare and contrast key perspectives on psychopathology including dimensional,
prevention, consumer, and multicultural.
1.6 Discuss stigma associated with psychopathology including its origins and impact and how to
fight it.
Icebreaker Activity
• Break into pairs or small groups of students.
• It’s not uncommon for people to learn about something strange that has
happened and say “that’s crazy” or refer to someone who has committed a
gruesome crime as “sick,” but what do we mean when we say those things?
• How do you, personally, decide if something is normal behavior, somewhat
abnormal, or outrageously abnormal? What standards do you use?
• Discuss your thoughts in your group and in the class.
Introduction to Psychopathology
Introduction to Psychopathology
• A mental disorder is a group of emotional (feelings), cognitive (thinking), or
behavioral symptoms that cause distress or significant problems.
• Psychopathology involves the scientific study of problematic feelings,
thoughts, and behaviors associated with mental disorders.
What Is a Mental Disorder?
What Is a Mental Disorder?
Three criteria can be used to determine abnormality:
• Deviance from the norm
− We can use our own judgment or statistical cutoffs, making it easy
− But statistical deviance can be valued, cutoffs can be arbitrary, and different cultures can have
different standards
• Difficulty adapting to life’s demands
− Easy to observe and difficulties can prompt people so seek help
− Unclear who should decide whether an impairment is present and thresholds for impairment may be
unclear
• Experience of personal distress
− Hallmark of many disorders and can be accurately reported
− Not all disorders cause distress and thresholds for distress may be unclear
Discussion Activity 1
Explain the pros and cons of defining psychopathology based on:

• Deviance from the norm
• Difficulties adapting to life’s demands
• Experience of personal distress
Dimensions Underlying Mental
Disorders Are Relevant to
Everyone
Dimensions Underlying Mental Disorders Are
Relevant to Everyone
• Emotions, thoughts (cognitions), and behaviors associated with mental disorders
are present, to some degree, in all of us
− They exist on a continuum
• Deciding whether a behavior is different or deviant from the norm is a matter of
degree
• Occasional atypical emotions, thoughts, and behaviors are common
• When emotions, thoughts, or behaviors cause significant distress and/or
impairment, a disorder may be present
Self-Reflection 1
Have you ever worried about whether you have a mental disorder, or wondered
whether what you were thinking or feeling was normal?
How did you decide?
History of Psychopathology
History of Psychopathology
• Early theoreticians reasons for abnormal behavior:
− Supernatural causes such as demonic possession
• Treatments
− Before 460 BC: Exorcism, trephination
− 460 BC to 476 AD: Therapeutic environments, healthy diets, exercise, massage,
education
− 476 BC to 1453 AD: Prayer, holy objects, relics, pilgrimages, confinement,
exorcism
Early Greek and Roman Thought
Hippocrates (460–377 B.C.)
• Believed that abnormal behavior resulted from brain disorders or dysfunctions
• Led to a scientific approach to learning about causes of abnormal behavior
• Believed treatment should focus on creating therapeutic environments, a healthy
diet, exercise and education.
Middle Ages
• Fall of Roman Empire
− Abnormal behavior due to demonic possession
• Emergence of “mad madness”
− Groups of people afflicted at same time with same behaviors
• End of Middle Ages; beginning of Renaissance
− Natural and scientific approaches to health and human behavior reemerged
Reform Movement
• Introduced significant changes to treating mental disorders
− Accepting of those with mental disorders
− Applying biomedical and psychological methods
• Dorothea Dix
− Credited with helping reform treatment of people with mental disorders in the US
• Philippe Pinel
− Advocated more humane treatment of persons with mental problems
− Lead La Bicêtre, a Paris mental hospital
Breakout Group Activity
• Break into small groups of students.
• It is tempting to dismiss some of the historical views of psychopathology as
nonsense from the past, but some have important messages for us today.
• What could we learn from Hippocrates and the Reform movement? How do the
beliefs of the Middle Ages persist today?
• Discuss your thoughts in the group and with the class.
Psychopathology and Life:
Themes
Dimensional Perspective
• Dimensions or continuum of emotions, thoughts, and behaviors can characterize
mental disorder
• Dimensional view is people differing only in degree of symptoms, from normal,

through mild or moderate symptoms, through less severe and more severe
disorders
Prevention Perspective
• Mental hygiene
 Promote mental health
 Prevents mental disorder via education, early treatment, and public heath measures
• Types of prevention
− Primary address large groups of people
− Secondary address emerging problems
− Tertiary aims to reduce severity, duration, and negative effects
Consumer Perspective
• Become a more informed consumer of scientific information on mental health
that is often presented in the popular press
• Apply research-based information to your own life
Diversity
• Mental disorders can vary across demographic categories.
• Multicultural psychology examines the effects of culture on the way people
think, feel, and act.
Stigma
• Stigma can be reflected in stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminations
• Individuals with disorders can self-stigmatize
• Stigma can be addressed by:
− Providing facts about mental disorders
− Noting mental disorders symptoms are present to some degree in all of us
− Emphasizing people first and mental disorders second
− Reading first-hand accounts of individuals with mental disorders
Self-Assessment
Consider that you now know about psychopathology:
• How would you define psychopathology?
• What do you think of the ways in which mental health professionals define
psychopathology?
• What are the strengths and limitations of this approach?
• How might you change it?
Summary
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Psychopathology and

Explain the pros and cons of defining psychopathology based on:

• Dimensional view is people differing only in degree of symptoms, from normal,

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