Humans have been documenting abnormal behavior for thousands of years. The Egyptians recorded treatments and diseases of humans back in the sixteenth century. The Egyptians were the first to connect the brain with mental functions. The Egyptians also relied on magic to treat these unfamiliar conditions. The Chinese, Egyptians, Hebrews, and Greeks blamed abnormal behavior on demonic possession and the wrath of God. One extreme treatment used in the beginning was drilling holes in the afflicted person's head to
release evil spirits from their head. China was one of the earliest civilizations to relate mental disorders and medicine. The Chinese introduced the concept of the yin and yang, which was about the balance of positive and negative forces in the human body. Balancing these forces in the human body led to physical and mental health.
During the Middle Ages, the scientific approach of the Greeks carried over into the Islamic countries, and the first mental hospital was set up in Baghdad in A.D 792 (Hooley et al., 2019). In these hospitals, patients suffering from mental illness received more humane and ethical treatment. Avicenna from Persia wrote The Canon of Medicine, which referred to the following conditions: hysteria, epilepsy, manic reactions, and melancholia.
Finally, around 400 B.C.E., the Greeks realized that abnormal behavior was pathological and not the result of supernatural forces. Hippocrates emphasized” the importance of heredity and predisposition and pointed out that injuries to the head could cause sensory and motor disorders” (Hooley et al., 2019). Hippocrates “was a harbinger of a basic concept of modern psychodynamic psychotherapy” (Hooley et al., 2019). Plato, Aristotle, and Galen’s teachings looked at these abnormal behaviors with a scientific approach. Plato even suggested that people suffering from mental health disorders were not accountable for their actions like ordinary people. Aristotle and Galen also first started investigating depression in the Greek and Roman era. In the Middle Ages, religious persecution hindered the scientific approach to studying mental disorders; however, Hildegard, a nun who was noted as the first female of medicine to publish studies, still believed in the pre-modern view of depression. Philippe Pinel was a French physician who believed in the more humane treatment of mental health patients during the humanitarian reform. William Tuke, an English Quaker, introduced theories of treatment that involved treating mental illness patients with kindness and acceptance. During the humanitarian reform because of Pine and Tuke, asylums ended inhumane practices such as chaining mental health patients and therapies such as near drowning mental illness patients.” The success of Pinel’s and Tuke’s humanitarian experiments revolutionized the treatment of patients with mental illness throughout the Western world” (Hooley et al., 2019).
Back in America, Benjamin Rush, the founder of American Psychiatry, carried on the humanitarian reform. He also wrote the” first systematic treatise on psychiatry in America, Medical Inquiries, and Observations upon Diseases of the Mind in 1812 (Hooley et al., 2019). Rush was also the first to introduce a course in psychology. Dorothea Dix encouraged legislatures and people to raise standards in mental hospitals in the U.S. between 1841 and 1881. The humanitarian movement continued to positively influence the treatment of people with mental illness into the 1800s and 1900s. Psychiatrists and physicians started running mental health facilities and raising the standards of caring for mentally ill patients, as well as incorporating a more scientific approach. During this time and into the twentieth- century, the stigma of mental illness changed for the better. Clifford Beers published A Mind That Found Itself in 1908 and led a campaign that shifted peoples’ views away from inhumane therapies used to treat mental illness. Mental facilities grew for the first part of the twentieth century, and so did the length of their hospitalization. In 1946, Mary Jane Ward’s The Snake Pit inspired increased humane treatments for mental health patients. That same year, the National Institutes of Mental Health was born, which eventually affected research and training in mental health. The Hill-Burton Act and the Community Mental Health Act of 1963 helped develop outpatient treatment centers. Finally, during the later part of the twentieth century, most of these mental institutions closed, and most of these patients returned to society because of better therapies and outpatient centers.
While there is no universal indicator for diagnosing abnormal behavior, three main areas can indicate an abnormality. The first area is subjective distress, such as anxiety and depression, or some people may describe psychological pain. Another area is maladaptiveness, which is behavior that inhibits our well-being and relationships. Another area is called” Statistical deviancy “(Hooley et al., 2019). In other words, the behavior is rare and not seen in everyday situations. And while these indicators provide the first piece of the puzzle, contributing factors to abnormal behavior give another piece.
Biological, psychological, social, and cultural perspectives contribute to abnormal behavior.” In examining biologically based vulnerabilities, we must consider genetic abnormalities, brain dysfunction and neural plasticity, neurotransmitter and hormonal abnormalities in the brain or other parts of the central nervous system, and temperament” (Hooley et al., 2019). A vulnerability in someone’s genetics can affect the development of mental illness as well as the outcome of their exposure to external stimuli. Psychodynamic, behavioral, and cognitive-behavioral factors contribute to abnormal behavior. Early life trauma, parenting problems, divorce, unemployment, discrimination, and dysfunctional relationships are contributing social factors that also contribute to abnormal behavior. The norms of a culture can also define abnormal behavior. Cultural perspectives can also contribute to abnormal behavior. Typical behavior in one culture may be offensive or not accepted in another culture.
Social factors contributing to abnormal behavior are also related to the programmatic theme of social justice. People of low socio-economic classes have often experienced issues such as unemployment and discrimination. These events can lead to abnormal behavior. But is this abnormal behavior or an adaptive behavior necessary for their survival? So, diagnosing abnormal behavior and providing treatment is a puzzle. One cannot draw conclusions or diagnose one puzzle piece because all the puzzle pieces not only form the complete picture but also give each other contextual meaning.
References
Hooley, J. M., Nock, M. K., & Butcher, J. N. (2019). Abnormal Psychology (18th ed.). Pearson Education (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780135191033
