Lecture 18: What Happens When Things Go Wrong: Mental Illness, Part I

Study guide

What this lecture covers

This lecture opens the course's unit on psychopathology, the study of mental illness. It sits after the social psychology unit and begins a two-part treatment of clinical psychology, continued in the next lecture. No transcript or chapter breakdown is available for this video, so this summary is based on its title and position in the course only.

Based on the course sequence, this lecture likely introduces the basic questions clinical psychology asks: what counts as a mental illness, how it is diagnosed, and how it differs from ordinary variation in mood, thought, or behavior. It would set up the more detailed coverage of specific disorders that follows in Part II.

Key ideas

Psychopathology: the branch of psychology concerned with the definition, causes, and treatment of mental illness.
Course sequence: this is the first of two lectures on mental illness, continued in "What Happens When Things Go Wrong: Mental Illness, Part II."
No further detail available: without a transcript, description, or chapter list for this video, the specific content covered cannot be summarized further here.

Before you watch

Review the preceding lecture on stereotypes and social judgment, since clinical diagnosis raises related questions about how people are categorized and labeled.
Keep in mind that Part II of this topic follows immediately after this lecture in the course.

Vocabulary

psychopathology (noun): The scientific study of mental illness, its causes, and treatment.
Psychopathology looks at how thoughts and behavior can become disordered.
clinical psychology (noun): The branch of psychology that diagnoses and treats mental illness.
Clinical psychology asks what counts as a disorder.
diagnosis (noun): The identification of what illness or disorder a person has.
A correct diagnosis guides which treatment is chosen.
disorder (noun): A pattern of thoughts, feelings, or behavior that disrupts normal functioning.
Not every unusual behavior counts as a disorder.
impairment (noun): A reduction in the ability to function normally.
Mental illness typically causes lasting impairment in daily life.
deviation (noun): A difference from what is considered typical or normal.
Not every deviation from average behavior is a sign of illness.
criterion (noun): A standard used to judge or decide something.
Psychologists need a clear criterion to separate illness from normal variation.
classification (noun): The act of sorting things into categories or groups.
Mental disorders are organized through a system of classification.
symptom (noun): A sign or feature that suggests the presence of a disorder.
Each disorder has its own typical set of symptoms.
treatment (noun): An action taken to help cure or manage an illness.
Effective treatment can reduce the impact of a mental disorder.
stigma (noun): A feeling of shame or disgrace attached to something, such as mental illness.
Stigma can prevent people from seeking help for a mental illness.
prevalence (noun): How common a condition is within a population.
Researchers study the prevalence of anxiety disorders across countries.
onset (noun): The beginning or start of a condition.
The onset of a disorder can happen suddenly or gradually.
chronic (adjective): Lasting for a long time or recurring often.
Some mental illnesses become chronic without treatment.
recovery (noun): The process of getting better from an illness.
Full recovery is possible for many mental disorders.
abnormal (adjective): Different from what is usual or expected, often in a harmful way.
Defining what counts as abnormal behavior is surprisingly hard.
functioning (noun): The ability to carry out normal daily activities.
Mental illness is defined partly by its effect on functioning.
coping (noun): The ways a person deals with stress or difficulty.
Learning better coping skills can help manage a disorder.
spectrum (noun): A range of related conditions or behaviors, from mild to severe.
Some disorders are described as existing on a spectrum.
societal norm (noun): A behavior or belief widely accepted as normal within a society.
What counts as illness has sometimes shifted with changing societal norms.

← Lecture 17: A Person in the World of People: Self and Other, Part II · Lecture 19: What Happens When Things Go Wrong: Mental Illness, Part II →