PSYC 1F90 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Light Therapy, Dysthymia, Cyclothymia

• School: Brock University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1F90
• Professor: John Mitterer

Document Summary

Psychopathology: the scientific study of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders; also, abnormal or maladaptive behavior. This term also refers to mental disorders themselves. Psychopathology is characterized by subjective discomfort (private feelings of pain, unhappiness or emotional distress) A lack of discomfort can also reveal a problem. Statistical abnormality: abnormality defined on the basis of an extreme score on some dimension, such as iq or anxiety (most result in a normal bell shaped curve) Statistical abnormality reveals nothing about the meaning of deviations from the norm, and statistical boundary lines tend to be somewhat arbitrary. Social nonconformity: failure to conform to societal norms or the usual minimum standards for social conduct. Before any behavior can be defined as abnormal, the situational context (social situation, behavioral setting, or general circumstances) in which it occurs must be noted. Cultural relativity (the idea that judgments are made relative to the values of one"s culture) can affect the diagnosis of psychological disorders.