"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."
Study of abnormal behavior and mental disorders, including symptoms, causes, and treatments.
Introduction to Abnormal Psychology: An overview of what constitutes abnormal behavior, including different approaches to defining abnormality and understanding mental illness.
Historical perspectives on Abnormal Psychology: The evolution of the study of abnormal psychology over time, including key theories and milestones in the field.
Diagnosis and Classification: The different diagnostic systems used by clinical psychologists, including the DSM-5 and the ICD-11, and their limitations.
Assessment and Diagnosis Techniques: The different methods used to determine the nature and severity of psychological problems, including interviews, questionnaires, and psychological testing.
Biological Factors in Abnormal Psychology: The role of genetics, neurochemistry, and brain structure and function in the development and maintenance of mental illness.
Psychological Factors in Abnormal Psychology: The impact of psychological processes (such as learning, socialization, and habits) on mental health, and the role of cognitive processes in mental illness.
Environmental Factors in Abnormal Psychology: The impact of social, cultural and environmental factors (e.g. poverty, discrimination, and abuse) on mental health, including theories on how social inequality affects mental health outcomes.
Mood Disorders: A class of psychiatric disorders characterized by ongoing alteration in mood, particularly depression and bipolar disorder.
Anxiety Disorders: A class of psychiatric disorders characterized by excessive and uncontrolled fear, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorders and phobias.
Trauma and Stress-related Disorders: Disorders induced by exposure to traumatic events, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Acute Stress Disorder (ASD).
Personality Disorders: A class of psychiatric disorders characterized by maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition and emotion, which can impair one's ability to function in interpersonal relationships and community environments.
Substance-Related Disorders: The impact of substance abuse on mental health, along with different approaches to treating drug addiction.
Psychotic Disorders: A class of psychiatric disorders characterized by abnormal thinking, such as schizophrenia, delusional disorder, and brief psychotic disorder.
Eating Disorders: A class of psychiatric disorders characterized by persistent changes in eating behavior, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.
Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders: Disorders of sexual desire, dysfunction, and identity, including Gender Dysphoria, Paraphilias, Dyspareunia and Vaginismus.
Sleep Disorders: A class of psychiatric disorders characterized by abnormal patterns of sleep, including insomnia, sleep apnea, and REM behavior disorder.
Treatment and Management: Different approaches to treating mental illness, including psychotherapy, medication, electroconvulsive therapy and other therapies.
Recovery and Resilience: The challenges and processes associated with recovery from mental illness, including strategies to build resilience and psychological coping skills.
Ethics and Legal Issues: The ethical and legal issues associated with treating and caring for mentally ill individuals, including issues around confidentiality, informed consent and duty of care.
Research and Emerging Trends: The latest developments and future directions in abnormal psychology research, including neuroimaging and new treatment modalities.
Neuropsychology: The study of how brain structure and function influences perception, behavior, and cognitive processes.
Developmental Psychology: The study of how mental and emotional development is shaped and influenced across the lifespan.
Forensic Psychology: The study of how psychology relates to the legal system, including psychological assessments, expert witness testimony, and offender treatment.
Clinical Psychopharmacology: The study of how drugs can be used to treat mental disorders.
Personality Psychology: The study of personality development and how personality traits influence and cause mental disorders.
Cognitive Psychology: The study of mental processes like learning, memory, attention, and perception, and how they relate to mental disorders.
Social Psychology: The study of how social factors and environmental factors influence mental disorders.
Health Psychology: The study of how lifestyle, behavior, and mindset might affect a person's physical and mental health.
"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."
"There is often cultural variation in the approach taken."
"There has traditionally been a divide between psychological and biological explanations."
"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."
"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."
"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 has more of an implication of an underlying pathology (disease process)."
"Psychopathology is a term more commonly used in the medical specialty known as psychiatry."
"Abnormal psychology typically deals with behavior in a clinical context."
"The field of abnormal psychology identifies multiple causes for different conditions, employing diverse theories from the general field of psychology and elsewhere."
"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."
"Abnormal includes three different categories; they are subnormal, supernormal, and paranormal."
"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."