Explore the history of psychiatry, tracing its roots from ancient practices of trepanation to the moral treatment era in asylums, the rise of Freudian psychoanalysis, and the advent of psychopharmacology in the 20th century. Examine the shifting perspectives on mental health care and ongoing debates about the role of psychiatry in society.

Learn about the deviation from social norms definition of abnormality. This perspective explores how behaviours considered abnormal deviate from society’s unwritten rules and expectations, with a focus on cultural and historical influences on what is deemed acceptable or unacceptable.

Explore the definition of abnormality: failure to function adequately, which assesses how individuals may struggle with daily demands, causing distress to themselves or others. This approach often considers practical disruptions to everyday life and includes tools like the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) to measure the impact on psychological, social, and occupational functioning.

Unpack statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality. This approach identifies behaviours that are statistically rare or unusual compared to the general population. Explore its use in diagnosing conditions like intellectual disability while considering its limitations, such as cultural and contextual relevance

Discover Jahoda's definition of abnormality through ideal mental health, which outlines criteria for optimal psychological well-being. These include self-actualisation, resistance to stress, autonomy, accurate perception of reality, and positive interpersonal relationships. This approach emphasises what constitutes mental health rather than illness, providing a unique perspective on abnormality.

Explore phobias' behavioural, emotional, and cognitive characteristics, including avoidance behaviours, irrational fears, and distorted thought patterns. Learn about the behavioural approach to explaining phobias through the two-process model, highlighting the roles of classical conditioning (how phobias are acquired) and operant conditioning (how they are maintained). Discover treatments such as systematic desensitisation, using relaxation techniques and gradual exposure through a hierarchy, and flooding, involving immediate and intense exposure to the phobic stimulus to extinguish fear responses.

Understand the behavioural, emotional, and cognitive characteristics of depression, which include reduced activity levels, disrupted sleep and eating patterns, persistent sadness, and negative thought patterns. Learn about the cognitive approach to explaining depression through Beck’s negative triad, which highlights negative views of the self, world, and future, and Ellis’s ABC model, which explores how irrational beliefs lead to emotional and behavioural consequences. Explore cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) as a treatment, focusing on techniques such as identifying and challenging irrational thoughts to promote healthier thinking and improve emotional well-being.

Explore the behavioural, emotional, and cognitive characteristics of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), including repetitive compulsions, obsessive thoughts, heightened anxiety, and an awareness of irrational behaviour. Understand the biological approach to explaining OCD, focusing on genetic explanations, such as family and twin studies, and neural explanations, including the role of serotonin and abnormal brain functioning. Learn about drug therapy, including the use of SSRIs, to manage symptoms by targeting biological causes of OCD.

Discover the challenges associated with mental illness diagnoses, including difficulties in achieving consistent and accurate diagnoses. Explore issues such as symptom overlap between disorders, comorbidity (when multiple conditions coexist), and

Learn about the diagnostic systems used in psychology, including the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Explore how these systems are used to classify and diagnose mental health conditions, their differences in structure and focus, and their role in ensuring consistency and accuracy in psychological assessments and treatments globally. Discover the evolution and revisions of these systems to reflect advancements in mental health research.