What is the abnormal psychologist doing?
abnormal psychological studies extreme or unusual human behavior to explain its causes and find ways to change behavior. Scientists in abnormal psychology or psychopathology, as is also known, often study irregularities of behavior on statistical and qualitative basis. Abnormal psychologists describe mental abnormalities and categorize a wide range of disorders. The causes of abnormal behavior can be explained on the basis of cognitive, behavioral or medical theories. The theory of abnormal psychology is used by doctors to treat patients.
abnormal psychologist often begins to define what is considered unhealthy behavior based on statistical analysis. It could use the bell curve to explore the different levels of deviation from what is considered normal. The bell curve is a statistical model that illustrates data distribution and can be used to study the extent of behavior in the population.
The assessment of abnormal behavior is not only carried out on an astatist basis. The idea of thatWhat is normal behavior should be perceived in the context of culture, gender, age and other demographic factors. The impact of behavior is an important aspect of deciding whether it is normal or unusual. For example, behavior that causes harm to others or the patient would certainly consider abnormal psychologist irregular. Other harmful behavior would include those that prevent the patient from everyday.
mental disorders defined and studied by an abnormal psychologist are categorized. One category, anxiety disorders, includes diseases such as panic disorder and post -traumatic stress syndrome. Alzheimer's disease and amnesia fall into the category of cognitive disorders. Disorder of attention hyperactivity (ADHD) and autism are considered to be developmental disorders.
The main theories used by an abnormal psychologist who describes psychopathology includes cognitive, behavioral and medical.Cognitive theories focus on unhealthy thought patterns and perception of the world and how they contribute to mental illnesses. Behavior theories look at ways to discourage disturbing behavior and replace them with more positive. Chemical imbalance, genetic influence and other biological conditions are part of medical theories of abnormal psychology.
Psychologists who treat patients in clinical environment, such as private practices, mental health and hospital facilities, rely on abnormal psychology theories to understand and describe patient disorders. The American Psychiatric Association publishes the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders , which provides information used by clinical psychologists. Among other things, the manual contains statistical information on gender distribution and effective treatment of abnormal behavior.