{"id":1228,"date":"2023-03-31T17:37:53","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T17:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/chapter\/perspectives-on-psychological-disorders\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:56:10","slug":"perspectives-on-psychological-disorders","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontopsychology\/chapter\/perspectives-on-psychological-disorders\/","title":{"raw":"Defining Psychological Disorders: Learn It 3\u2014Perspectives on Psychological Disorders","rendered":"Defining Psychological Disorders: Learn It 3\u2014Perspectives on Psychological Disorders"},"content":{"raw":"
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Supernatural Perspectives of Psychological Disorders<\/h2>\r\n

For much of human history, psychological disorders were explained through supernatural causes<\/b><\/span>\u2014forces beyond scientific understanding. People who showed unusual thoughts, emotions, or behaviors were sometimes believed to be cursed, possessed by spirits, or practicing black magic (Maher & Maher, 1985).<\/p>\r\n

For example, historical records from Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries describe convent episodes in which groups of nuns entered intense states of frenzy\u2014screaming, convulsing, reporting visions, and making shocking confessions. Today, some of these behaviors might be interpreted through the lens of mental illness or mass psychological phenomena, but at the time they were commonly explained as demonic possession<\/b><\/span> (Waller, 2009a). Similar interpretations appeared during the witch panic in late 17th-century New England, where unusual \u201cfits\u201d in young girls were widely viewed through a supernatural framework (Demos, 1983).<\/p>\r\n

Beliefs in supernatural causes of mental illness have not disappeared entirely. In some societies today, spiritual or supernatural explanations for mental illness remain common and influence how people seek help (Aghukwa, 2012).<\/p>\r\n

\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4477\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"183\"]\"Bosch<\/a> Figure 1<\/strong>. In The Extraction of the Stone of Madness, a 15th century painting by Hieronymus Bosch, a practitioner is using a tool to extract an object (the supposed \u201cstone of madness\u201d) from the head of an afflicted person.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n

Dancing Mania<\/h3>\r\n
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Between the 11th and 17th centuries, Western Europe experienced a strange phenomenon sometimes called dancing mania<\/b><\/span>. Large groups of people would suddenly begin dancing uncontrollably\u2014sometimes for days or even weeks (Figure 2). Historical accounts describe dancers continuing until their feet were bruised and bleeding, while some screamed, begged for religious intervention, or reported frightening visions (Waller, 2009b).<\/p>\r\n

No single explanation has been proven, but several have been proposed over time, including physical causes such as poisoning (for example, ergot exposure) as well as psychological and social causes (\u201cDancing Mania,\u201d 2011).<\/p>\r\n

\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"401\"]\"A Figure 2<\/strong>. Although the cause of dancing mania, depicted in this painting, was unclear, the behavior was attributed to supernatural forces.[\/caption]\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

Historian John Waller (2009a, 2009b) offers a widely discussed explanation that connects psychological distress<\/b><\/span>, social contagion<\/b><\/span>, and cultural beliefs<\/b><\/span>. He argued that repeated disasters of the era\u2014famine, disease, floods, and instability\u2014created intense stress. In that context, people who already believed in spiritual curses or possession may have been more likely to enter trance-like states. Once a few individuals began \u201cdancing,\u201d others could follow, especially when the behavior matched the expectations and beliefs of the culture. In other words, the symptoms were shaped not only by distress, but also by the stories people had available to explain that distress.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

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Biological Perspectives of Psychological Disorders<\/h3>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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In contrast to supernatural explanations, the biological perspective<\/b><\/span> links psychological disorders to biological factors such as genetics, brain structure and function, and neurochemistry<\/b><\/span>. This approach has gained strong scientific support over time (Wyatt & Midkiff, 2006).<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

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Evidence from many sources suggests that many disorders have a genetic component<\/b><\/span>, though genes rarely tell the whole story. For example, schizophrenia shows heritability patterns such that risk increases when close relatives are affected (Figure 3).<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_6579\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"833\"]\"A<\/a> Figure 3<\/strong>. A person\u2019s risk of developing schizophrenia increases if a relative has schizophrenia. The closer the genetic relationship, the higher the risk.[\/caption]\r\n<\/section>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<\/section>\r\n
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Findings such as these have led many of today\u2019s researchers to search for specific genes and genetic mutations that contribute to mental disorders. Also, sophisticated neural imaging technology in recent decades has revealed how abnormalities in brain structure and function might be directly involved in many disorders, and advances in our understanding of neurotransmitters and hormones have yielded insights into their possible connections. The biological perspective is currently thriving in the study of psychological disorders.<\/p>\r\n

The Diathesis-Stress Model of Disorders<\/h3>\r\n
Despite advances in understanding the biological basis of psychological disorders, the psychosocial perspective is still very important. This perspective emphasizes the importance of learning, stress, faulty and self-defeating thinking patterns, and environmental factors. Perhaps the best way to think about psychological disorders, then, is to view them as originating from a combination of biological and psychological processes. Many develop not from a single cause, but from a delicate fusion between partly biological and partly psychosocial factors.<\/span><\/div>\r\n

Even with advances in biology, psychological and environmental factors remain essential for understanding mental disorders. The psychosocial perspective<\/b><\/span> emphasizes learning, stress, maladaptive thinking patterns, and social and environmental conditions.<\/p>\r\n

A widely used way to integrate these viewpoints is the diathesis-stress model<\/b><\/span> (Zuckerman, 1999).<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

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the diathesis-stress model<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2779\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"Water Figure 4<\/strong>. A metaphor to understand the diathesis-stress model is that of a bucket. Buckets may be of varying sizes and come with different amounts of material already inside, and stressors that cause the water to overflow may trigger a mental disorder in someone who is vulnerable.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n

The diathesis-stress model<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

proposes that many disorders develop through an interaction between:<\/p>\r\n