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Causes of abnormal behavior
Causes of abnormal behavior
Biological explanations to abnormal behavior essays
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Abnormal behavior was once viewed as an embarrassment to society. Those who suffered from a mental illness or displayed abnormal behavior were locked away and never spoken of. Today abnormal behavior is viewed much differently. With the study of psychology and the help of the medical field, abnormal behavior has become better understood. This essay will discuss the major theories for the cause of abnormal behavior, how abnormal behavior is diagnosed and what type of behavioral issues are related to abnormal behavior. Abnormal behavior is defined as a psychological dysfunction within an individual associated with distress or impairment in functioning and response that is not typical or culturally expected (Durand, 2005). There are currently six influential theoretical perspectives. The first one is the biological perspective. The biological perspective is a medical point of view. It is a theory that believes that lack of or defects in the structural or functional integrity of the nervous system lead to abnormal behavior. It tries to explain individual’s behavior in terms of biological principles such as structural problems, disease and genetics. The brain plays an important part in how a body functions. Abnormalities in the brain may cause abnormal behavior. Abnormalities are sometimes genetically inherited. Each cell in the human body and the human brain contains twenty three pairs of chromosomes. Each chromosome consists of a pair which was inherited from one of the individual’s parents. Each chromosome contains many genes. A gene is a tiny structure inside of the chromosome that is responsible for transferring heredity. Genes can make people more prone to certain defects and diseases. Genes can make peopl... ... middle of paper ... ...ll should anyone feel like hiding just because they can not sleep at night? Works Cited Cori, Jasmin Lee (2008) Healing from Trauma: A Survivor's Guide to Understanding Your Symptoms and Reclaiming Your Life Da Capo Press. Durand, V. M. and Barlow, D. H., (2005). Abnormal psychology: An integrative approach (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Miklowitz, D. J. (2002). The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide. New York: Guilford Press. Sarason & Sarason, (2005). Abnormal psychology, the problem of maladaptive behavior (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall Smith, M. (2010) "Feeding and Eating Disorders in Childhood." International Journal of Eating Disorders (2010): NA. DSM-5. American Psychiatric Association. Web. 7 Dec. 2014. Kaplan and Sadock. (2007) "Synopsis of Psychiatry". 10 th ed. India (Delhi): Oxford University Press.
When considering the 5 D’s of abnormality, he possesses characteristics of them all. For dysfunction, he experiences social dysfunction by being unable to create and maintain relationships. He also experiences emotional dysfunction by having a fear of being alone, bouts of crying, and feelings of low self-worth. Physiological symptoms such as insomnia,
Kaplan, H. I., Sadock, B. J., & Grebb, J. A. (1994). Synopsis of psychiatry: behavioral sciences,
Psychology consists of countless different components that help describe various aspects of individuals both mentally and physically. Though Psychology is used for multiple different areas, one of the most common areas to observe in this field is behaviors. Behaviors range from person to person and can be altered by different situations and variables. The point when behaviors can become of interest is when an individual’s actions and behavior are extreme or they are inconsistent with the appropriate behavior in certain circumstances. These abnormal behaviors are often consistent and can be related to psychological disorders. Though some psychological disorders may be manageable to live
Barlow, H. D., Durand, V. M. (2012). Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Olley, B. O., & Kola, L. (2005). The british journal of psychiatry. Community study of
2. Behaviors are perceived by the patient to be "normal" and "right" and they have little insight as to their responsibility for these behaviors.
Kahn, Ada P., and Jan Fawcett. The Encyclopedia of Mental Health. 2nd ed. New York: Facts On File, 2001.
When I think of abnormal behavior, the first thing that comes to mind is one of my aunt’s. She committed suicide when I very young, so early 1970’s. As I got older, inevitably stories of her would arise during holiday get togethers. She was married with three children and in her early thirties, residing in Florida, when she walked out and away from her husband and small children. For over a year, no one knew what happened to her, she made no effort to contact anyone. Eventually, the Salvation Army somewhere in Michigan called my grandmother and they sent her home on a bus. She never returned to her husband or children. The doctors diagnosed her as a paranoid schizophrenic. My mother told me that when she was on her medication she was fine, but once she felt “fine”, she would stop her medication. When the medication left her system, she became anxious and afraid. She once chased my grandmother, who was in her late sixties down the driveway with an ax, because she thought her mother was trying to kill her. After several inpatient stays in mental hospitals, she came back home again and she was doing good. She left my grandmother’s one night while everyone was sleeping, made it approximately fifteen miles away to a lake.
Rastem, M. and Gillberg, C. (1991) Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolscent Psychiatry,30, 238-239.
With children as early as age 7 showing dissatisfaction with their body, and as young as 9 starting dieting, eating disorders are a serious issue in our society. Taking a look at perceptions, behaviors, and medical issues associated with the disorders of anorexia and bulimia, scholars have tried to categorize and find answers to the problems which certain adolescents suffer. In this paper I focused on the two major eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia.
Irwin G. Sarason and Barbara R. Sara, Abnormal Psychology: The Problem of Maladaptive Behavior,10th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2002)
Halgin, R. P., & Whitbourne, S. K. (2010). Abnormal psychology: clinical perspectives on psychological disorders (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Shapiro, C. M. (2012). Eating disorders: Causes, diagnosis, and treatments [Ebrary version]. Retrieved from http://libproxy.utdallas.edu/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/utdallas/Doc?id=10683384&ppg=3
Barlow, David H., Vincent Mark. Durand, and Sherry H. Stewart. Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2012. 140-45. Print.
Barlow, D., Durand, V., & Stewart, S. (2009). Abnormal psychology an integrative apporach. (2nd ed.). United States of America: Wadsworth