of Behavior and Experience, Psychophysiological Methods (with Robert Stern & Karen Quigley), and Evolutionary Psychology: Neuroscience Perspectives Concerning Human Behavior and Experience.
1 An Overview of Psychopathology and Changing Conceptualizations of Mental Illness
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Chapter Outline
Understanding Psychopathology: Definitions and Key Considerations
Defining Psychopathology and Understanding Its Components
Stigma and Mental Disorders
The Three Major Themes of This Book
Levels of Analysis
LENS: American Attitudes Toward Mental Illness
Biopsychosocial Approach
The Relation of Evolution and Culture to Psychopathology
CULTURAL LENS: Global Mental Health: Available Treatment
Is Psychopathology Universal?
Historical Considerations in Understanding Psychopathology
Ancient Greek and Roman Influences—Mental Illness Involves the Brain
Psychopathology in the Middle Ages
From the Renaissance to the 1700s—The Beginning of Modern Science
Discovering the Function of the Brain in Behavior and Psychopathology
The 1700s to the 1900s
A Growing Understanding of the Role of Evolution
A Search for Organization
Care for Those With Mental Disorders
LENS: Closing Mental Hospitals in America
From the Past to the Present
Biological Approaches to Treating Mental Illness
Psychological Treatment Perspectives in the Twentieth Century
Psychodynamic Perspectives on Treatment
Existential-Humanistic Perspectives
Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral Perspectives
Summary
Study Resources
Review Questions
For Further Reading
Key Terms and Concepts
SAGE edge
Learning Objectives
1.1 Describe the components of and key considerations of psychopathology.
1.2 Discuss the major themes of this book.
1.3 Explain how evolution and culture are relevant to psychopathology.
1.4 Summarize the historical influences on modern conceptions of mental disorders.
1.5 Explain how discoveries about the brain contributed to an understanding of psychopathology.
1.6 Discuss past and present methods of care for those with mental disorders.
1.7 Describe the major present-day empirical treatment perspectives.
John Nash
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The biography A Beautiful Mind describes the fascinating life and experiences of mathematician John Nash (Nasar, 1998). The powerful story was made into a major Hollywood film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2001. John Nash was, indeed, a remarkable figure, who received a PhD in mathematics from Princeton University and taught at both MIT and Princeton. In 1994, Nash won the Nobel Prize in economics for his work on game theory. From what I just told you, you probably assume that John Nash had a very productive career, and in many ways he did.
However, there was another aspect to John Nash’s life that caused considerable distress to himself and puzzlement for others. One day at work, when he was 30 years old, he walked into a room full of others in his department, held up a copy of the New York Times, and said to no one in particular that the story in the upper-left corner contained an encrypted message. Not only was it a message in code, he claimed, but it had been put there by inhabitants of another galaxy and he knew how to decode it (Nasar, 1998, p. 16).
Terri Cheney
© Suzanne Allison
From that day on, there were times Nash was productive, but there were also times when he had disordered thoughts, mumbled to himself without thought of those around him, and experienced delusions of situations that did not exist. He felt there were individuals around him who put him in danger. He even wrote letters to officials in the U.S. government to suggest that these individuals were setting up alternative governments. John Nash suffered from schizophrenia.
In Terri Cheney’s memoir, Manic (2008), the author, who rose to success as an entertainment attorney in Beverly Hills, told of her experience of exceptional energy. She described one time she was in Santa Fe, New Mexico:
The mania came in four-day spurts. Four days of not eating, not sleeping, barely sitting in one place for more than a few minutes at a time. Four days of constant shopping—and Canyon Road is all about commerce, however artsy its façade.
She further described her experiences:
Mostly, however, I talked to men. Canyon Road has a number of extremely lively, extremely friendly bars and clubs, all of which were in walking distance of my hacienda. It wasn’t hard for a redhead with a ready smile and a feverish glow in her eyes to strike up a conversation and then continue that conversation well into the early-morning hours, his place or mine.
