PSYO 1012 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Thomas Szasz, Trepanning, Reinforcement
5 Feb 2020
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Document Summary
A theoretical model that proposes that it is useful to think of abnormal behaviour as a disease. Mental illness is best diagnosed and treated as medical illness. Trephination was used for treatment of mental illness in the past (drilling holes into the skull) > negative reinforcement. Refers to the apparent causation and developmental history of an illness. By looking how a disease progresses, then it is possible to nd out the cause and possibly a treatment. Forecast of probable course of an illness. It produces labels which leads to stigma and can interfere with treatment-seeking. Does not consider moral/social norms (thomas szasz); challenges that there is no such thing as mental illness. People are often said to have a disorder because their behaviour deviates form what their society considers acceptable. What constitutes normality varies somewhat from one culture to another, but all cultures have such norms. When people violate these standards, they may be labelled mentally ill.
