Abnormal psychology

Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought, which could possibly be understood as a mental disorder. Although many behaviors could be considered as abnormal, this branch of psychology typically deals with behavior in a clinical context. There is a long history of attempts to understand and control behavior deemed to be aberrant or deviant (statistically, functionally, morally, or in some other sense), and there is often cultural variation in the approach taken. The field of abnormal psychology identifies multiple causes for different conditions, employing diverse theories from the general field of psychology and elsewhere, and much still hinges on what exactly is meant by "abnormal". There has traditionally been a divide between psychological and biological explanations, reflecting a philosophical dualism in regard to the mind–body problem. There have also been different approaches in trying to classify mental disorders. Abnormal includes three different categories; they are subnormal, supernormal and paranormal.

The science of abnormal psychology studies two types of behaviors: adaptive and maladaptive behaviors. Behaviors that are maladaptive suggest that some problem(s) exist, and can also imply that the individual is vulnerable and cannot cope with environmental stress, which is leading them to have problems functioning in daily life in their emotions, mental thinking, physical actions and talks. Behaviors that are adaptive are ones that are well-suited to the nature of people, their lifestyles and surroundings, and to the people that they communicate with, allowing them to understand each other.

Clinical psychology is the applied field of psychology that seeks to assess, understand, and treat psychological conditions in clinical practice. The theoretical field known as abnormal psychology may form a backdrop to such work, but clinical psychologists in the current field are unlikely to use the term abnormal in reference to their practice. Psychopathology is a similar term to abnormal psychology, but may have more of an implication of an underlying pathology (disease process), which assumes the medical model of mental disturbance and as such, is a term more commonly used in the medical specialty known as psychiatry.

Hippocrates (460–377 BCE) hypothesized that the body and mind become unwell when the so-called humors, vital fluids in the body, become unbalanced. The four temperaments theory posits four such humors: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Each humor was associated with a particular temperament: too much phlegm causes a person to be fatigued, too much black bile causes melancholia, yellow bile causes a quick temper, and too much blood causes optimism, cheerfulness, and confidence.

The act of placing individuals with mental illness in a separate facility known as an asylum dates to 1547, when King Henry VIII of England established the St. Mary of Bethlehem asylum in London. This hospital, nicknamed Bedlam, was famous for its deplorable conditions. Asylums remained popular throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance era. These early asylums often had miserable conditions. Patients were seen as a "burden" to society, locked away and treated almost like beasts to be dealt with, rather than patients needing treatment. However, many of the patients received helpful medical treatment. There was scientific curiosity into abnormal behavior, although it was rarely investigated in the early asylums. Inmates in these early asylums were often put on display for profit, as they were viewed as less than human. The early asylums were basically modifications of the existing criminal institutions.

In the late 18th century, the idea of humanitarian treatment for the patients gained much favor, due to the work of Philippe Pinel in France. He pushed for the idea that the patients should be treated with kindness, and not the cruelty inflicted on them, as if they were animals or criminals. His experimental ideas, such as removing the chains from the patients, were met with reluctance. The experiments in kindness proved to be a great success, which helped to bring about a reform in the way mental institutions would be run.

Institutionalization would continue to improve throughout the 19th and 20th century, as a result of the work of many humanitarians such as Dorothea Dix, and the mental hygiene movement which promoted the physical well-being of the mental patients. "Dix, more than any other figure in the nineteenth century, made people in America and virtually all of Europe aware that the insane were being subjected to incredible abuses." Through this movement, millions of dollars were raised to build new institutions to house the mentally ill. Mental hospitals began to grow substantially in numbers during the 20th century, as care for the mentally ill increased in them.

By 1939, there were over 400,000 patients in state mental hospitals in the US. Hospital stays were normally quite long for the patients, with some individuals being treated for many years. These hospitals, while better than the asylums of the past, were still lacking in the means of effective treatment for the patients. Even though the reform movement had occurred, patients were often still met with cruel and inhumane treatment.