Abstract
‘Psychopathology’, literally defined, is the study of disease of the mind. Our society entrusts most of the care of individuals whose behaviour and experience are problematic or distressing to medical specialists (psychiatrists). Being medically trained, psychiatrists see their work as requiring diagnosis and treatment of ‘patients’. Psychologists, on the other hand, have sought alternative means of understanding abnormal behaviour, and the aim of this chapter is to outline the progress that has been made in this direction.
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References
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Annotated reading
Bannister, D. and Fransella, F. (1980) Inquiring Man (2nd edn). Harmondsworth: Penguin. A persuasive account of George Kelly’s personal construct approach to psychology and psychopathology, written by two of its leading exponents.
Davison, G.C. and Neale, J.M. (1977) Abnormal Psychology: An experimental clinical approach (2nd edn). New York: Wiley. The chapter can provide no more than an introduction to psychopathology. This is the best of the textbooks available: it is readable, comprehensive and, in general, accurate. It is useful in teaching, and has been drawn upon extensively for drafting the chapter. If you want to follow up any aspect of the chapter in more detail, look up the topic in the Index of this book.
Hilgard, E.R., Atkinson, R.L. and Atkinson, R.C. (1979) Introduction to Psychology (7th edn). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (chapters 14, 15 and 16). Intermediate in length between the present chapter and the Davison and Neale book, this group of chapters gives a good general account. Chapter 14 reviews conflict and stress in terms of both experimental and psychoanalytic work; chapter 15 gives a good outline of much of the ground covered in this chapter; and chapter 16 discusses methods of treatment.
Inechen, B. (1979) Mental Illness. London: Longman. This reviews the field from a sociological viewpoint, and covers a good deal of research on social factors in psychopathology.
Seligman, M.E.P. (1975) Helplessness: On depression, development and death. New York: Freeman. Seligman presents his theory of learnt helplessness in a very stimulating and engaging book. Although the theory was based on laboratory studies with animals, Seligman has injected a great deal of ‘human interest’ into this account. Students who are especially interested in the theory of depression should note, however, that Seligman’s ideas have moved on since the book was written to incorporate attributional concepts.
Spielberger, C. (1979) Understanding Stress and Anxiety. New York: Harper & Row. A very readable and well-illustrated introduction to experimental and clinical work on stress and anxiety, recommended for the student wishing to look further into these aspects.
Stafford-Clark, D. and Smith, A.C. (1979) Psychiatry for Students (5th edn). London: Allen & Unwin. The present chapter does not attempt to do full justice to psychiatry. This is the most readable of the general textbooks on psychiatry, written for students rather than practitioners. It is a good source for more details of psychiatric symptoms, disorders and treatments.
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© 1982 The British Psychological Society
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Shapiro, D.A. (1982). Psychopathology. In: Psychology and People: A Tutorial Text. Psychology for Professional Groups. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16909-2_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16909-2_21
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-33147-7
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