Sigmund Freud, as the founder of modern psychodynamic therapy, denotes that the key assumptions include psychic determinism and unconscious motivation. He posits, “The mind is organized on the basis of conflicts between Id, the unconscious wishes; Ego, coping and defense mechanisms, and the Superego, the conscience." Instinctual drives, for example sexual urges and aggression are the two main instinctual drives, and defense mechanisms based on desires regarded as unacceptable and arouse anxiety.
Psychosexual Stages
Freud described four psychosexual stages of development: oral, anal, phallic and genital. Excessive gratification or deprecation at any given stage can result in a fixation, a stagnation at that stage and/or regression, a return to aspects of a given stage at times of stress. Although everyone is not motivated by the same motivational needs, and at various stages, will be motivated by alternative needs, there are several theories, directly or indirectly related to work motivation. For example, the expectancy theory is a motivation directly related to how much effort one spends to equal how much is expected in return.
The goal theory, involving stress and conflict in relation to individual motivations is another example. Hundreds of studies have been conducted about the relationship between goal setting and work performance. In general, goals are referred to as what a person is trying to accomplish. One reason why goals contribute to motivation is that they are not motivational by themselves; the discrepancy between what individuals have and what they aspire to achieve can create dissatisfaction.
Misconceptions and Focus
When the behavioral focus is on observable behavior, rather than on one's inner mental life, abnormal behavior is based on learning and environmental experiences. Classical conditioning, the pairing of contiguous events makes organisms learn associations between things, creating involuntary responses to stimuli andoperant conditioning, the shaping of behaviors via reinforcers.
One’s misconceptions of the world and misinterpretations of experience, leads to beliefs and thoughts that cause negative feelings and behaviors, making one more vulnerable to cognitive behavior abnormalities. Humansitic or existential views focus on man’s mortality, responsibility for decision-making, and his search for meaning in life.
Proponents believe that disorders arise when people feel compelled to confirm to parental or societal demands instead of acting with authenticity in the pursuit of their on true values and goals. Authenticity is more apt to promote self-actualization--the fulfillment of one’s potential. The biggest challenge we face today is the understanding of socio-cultural differences.
This diversity, without resorting to stereotypes, is likely to be the key to eliminating disparities with the understanding that in its purest form, there is no such thing as stereotypes; no one person is exactly like another person, and no individual is a carbon copy of another member of a group.
Modification Theories
When socio-cultural perspectives do not focus on the impact of social forces, family and cultural influences, and failures of society on individual mental health or failure of support systems: family friends, community in times of stress, for example poverty, gender, or racial discrimination or lack of opportunity abnormal behavior can occur.
Behavior Modification is a widely-used technique of motivation, changing behavior by rewarding the right responses and/or punishing or ignoring the wrong responses. The Hawthorne Effect, designed by Mendham in 2005, is essentially part of this observer effect. As such, it is reminiscent of certain principles of quantum mechanics. In resolve, the very act of observing a system will in itself affect that system and validity of tests into efficiency modifications can be skewed.
A behavior may be judged abnormal if it is statistically unusual in a particular population. Violation of socially-accepted standards An abnormal behavior might be defined as one that goes against common or majority or presumed standards of behavior. For example, one might be judged abnormal in one's failure to behave as recommended by one's family, church, employer, community, culture, or subculture.
Theories approach abnormality by starting with a theory of personality development. If normal development can be defined, then abnormality is defined by the failure to develop in this way. For example, if adults normally arrive at a moral stage that prohibits killing other people, and someone does not arrive at this stage, that person might be called abnormal.
Behavior Considered Abnormal
Abnormal behavior can be defined by a person's feeling of abnormality, including feelings of anxiety, strangeness, depression, losing touch with reality, or any other sensation recognized and labeled by an individual as out of the ordinary. Abnormal behavior can also be defined or equated with abnormal biological processes such as disease or injury. Examples of such abnormalities are brain tumors, strokes, heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, and genetic disorders.
Further clarification used for the purpose of providing clear descriptions of diagnostic categories in order to enable clinicians and investigators to diagnose, communicate about, study, and treat people with various mental disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) is used. The Axes of DSM-IV-TR supplies information about the biological, psychological, and social aspects of a person’s condition.
Diagnostics and Statistics
Diagnosis then is made by standardized usage of the “five axis system” diagnosis. The five axes are: Axis I--Clinical Disorders--include disorders usually diagnosed in infancy, childhood or adolescence (autism and ADHD); schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, substance-related disorders (alcohol, drugs); mood disorders (depression, bipolar), anxiety disorders; eating, sleeping, sexual and gender identity disorders, among others.
Axis II--Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation--are categorized as disorders of paranoid personality, borderline personality, antisocial personality, dependent personality, and mental retardation.
Axis III--General Medical Condition--are characterized by physical concerns that may have a significant bearing on understanding the mental disorder, or in the management of the client’s mental disorder.
Axis IV--Psychosocial and Environmental Problems--are problems dealing with one’s primary support group (divorce, death, births); problems related to social environment (retirement, living alone, friendships, etc.); Educational and occupational; housing and economic, access to healthcare, interaction with legal system, crime, and other psychosocial and environmental problems.
Axis V--A global assessment of functioning--usually a number from 1-100 that reflects the caregivers judgment of the overt level of functioning. For example, 100 is no symptoms and 10 is persistent danger of severely hurting oneself and/or others with clear expectation of death.
Mood Disorders
The DSM-IV-TR, for example divides mood disorders into three general types. The two main types of mood disorder are depressive disorders and bipolar disorders. Each of these types reflects a disturbance in mood or emotional reaction that is not due to any other physical or mental disorder. Depressive disorders are categorized by Dysthymic Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder. Bipolar Disorders are summarized as Bipolar I, Bipolar II and Cyclothymic Disorder. Other Mood disorders include disorders due to general medical condition and substance-induced mood disorder.
Deviating from the norm, maladaptive behaviors refer to types of behaviors that inhibit a person’s ability to adjust to particular situations--maladaptive to one’s self and to society. This type of behavior often exhibits the inability to reach goals, to adapt to the demands of life and interferes and disrupts social group functioning. This is used to reduce one’s anxiety, but the result is dysfunctional and non-productive. For example, avoiding situations because you have unrealistic fears may initially reduce your anxiety, but it is non-productive in alleviating the actual problem in the long term.
Depression and Depressive Disorder
Feeling depressed is not the same thing as having a depressive disorder, according to many psychology clinicians. Some of the most influential psychological theories of depression are derived from the cognitive perspective. According to this view, people who are depressed consistently perceive causes of events in a way that is unfavorable to themselves. A person who is depressed misinterprets facts in a negative way, focuses on the negative aspects of any situation, and also has pessimistic and hopeless expectations about the future. Also, people who are depressed seem to feel helpless to control their environment. They think that, no matter what they do, they will be unable to affect the way things turn out.
Various kinds of life experiences can lead to a temporary depressed mood and bring on sadness. For example, people use the term depression to describe the sadness that comes from a death in the family, the breakup of a dating relationship, or divorce or separation, bring about feelings of sadness. The only difference, perhaps, lies in the way these experiences are revealed and the outcomes exposed. Beyond this, however, there is another component. There is also a transitional stage to abnormal behavior worth investigating, that which lies beyond this theory of shifting and self-renewal, growth and self-discovery.
The Will to Meaning
Experientially, to experience a transformational stage, a total conversion, a synergy-gathering of all of life’s chapters rather than transition, transforms from the inside out! Self-efficacy is not restricted to the present. It includes past and future selves or possible selves, which represent an individuals’ ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they may be afraid of becoming. They correspond to hopes, fears, standards, goals, and threats.
Individual differences in vulnerability (diathesis), due to biological and psychological factors, interact with stressors in the environment. Proponents believe that particular combinations of diathesis and stress cause abnormal behavior. High stress and low diathesis or low stress and high diathesis both can lead to psychological disturbance. Societies obligation to maladaptive behavior in the population can be reduced. This is the focus of prevention.
Focus on Mental or Physical Prevention
Prevention of mental or physical disorder can take place on three levels. These three types of prevention span the entire range of mental health interventions, from the universality of primary prevention, to the selective interventions of secondary prevention, and to tertiary prevention, which essentially amounts to treatment. How maladaptive behavior is understood and dealt with clinically depends on existing theories about its causes and treatment.
Some theories are more pertinent to an understanding of the causes of stress, while others to the ways in which we cope, and still others to the nature of human vulnerabilities. When significant deficits or defects in the function of biological, psychological or social interaction, and/or structural or functional integrity requires attention, the most useful tool is building self-confidence and dealing with stressors. When one knows his or her self-worth it is invaluable.
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Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
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