PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

'Psychopathology' is a term which refers to either the study of mental illness or mental distress, or the manifestation of behaviors and experiences which may be indicative of mental illness or psychological impairment.
It is also the name of an academic journal that specialises in the understanding and classification of mental illness in clinical psychiatry.

Contents

Psychopathology as the study of mental illness

Sexuality and its role in Psychopathology

Psychopathology as a descriptive term

The academic journal ''Psychopathology''

See also

Further reading

External links

Psychopathology as the study of mental illness

Many different professions may be involved in studying mental illness or distress. Most notably, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are particularly interested in this area and may either be involved in clinical treatment of mental illness, or research into the origin, development and manifestations of such states, or often, both. More widely, many different specialties may be involved in the study of psychopathology. For example, a neuroscientist may focus on brain changes related to mental illness. Therefore, someone who is referred to as a ''psychopathologist'', may be one of any number of professions who have specialized in studying this area.
Psychiatrists in particular are interested in ''descriptive psychopathology'', which has the aim of describing the symptoms and syndromes of mental illness. This is both for the diagnosis of individual patients (to see whether the patient's experience fits any pre-existing classification), or for the creation of diagnostic systems (such as the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'') which define exactly which signs and symptoms should make up a diagnosis, and how experiences and behaviours should be grouped in particular diagnoses (e.g. clinical depression, schizophrenia).
Psychopathology should not be confused with psychopathy, which is a type of personality disorder.

Sexuality and its role in Psychopathology

Freud and Lacan outline the role sexuality plays in psychopathology Sexuality its role in psychopathology according to Freud and Lacan; The relationship between normal and perverse sexuality according to Freud Freud’s account of pathology is based upon symptoms where as Lacan’s is based upon structure. There are two levels to Freud’s symptomology of psychopathology. The first level is at the physical aspect of the symptom. The second deals with the meaning of the symptom. For Lacan on the other had what matters in psychopathology is the structural role sexuality plays. For Lacan psychopathology, in the form of hysteria, is generated by the question “what is to be a women?” For Lacan the symptoms of psychopathology are distinguished from the structure of the patients psychopathology ; the sexual question “what is it to be a woman?”. Sexuality in Lacan’s structural model is manifested in hysterical identification; where by the patient takes over another’s desire by identifying with the other on condition that the patient is not the object of that desire. More specific the patents desire is to be that lack in the other that generates the others desire. This lack is centered around the phallus.

Psychopathology as a descriptive term

The term ''psychopathology'' may also be used to denote behaviours or experiences which are indicative of mental illness, even if they do not constitute a formal diagnosis. For example, the presence of an hallucination may be considered as a psychopathological sign, even if there are not enough symptoms present to fulfill the criteria for one of the disorders listed in the DSM.
In a more general sense, any behaviour or experience which causes impairment, distress or disability, particularly if it is thought to arise from a functional breakdown in either the cognitive and neurocognitive systems in the brain, may be classified as psychopathology.

The academic journal ''Psychopathology''

Originally founded in 1897 and named ''Psychiatria Clinica'', the journal changed its name to ''Psychopathology'' in 1984. It bills itself as the 'International journal of experimental psychopathology, phenomenology and psychiatric diagnosis' and aims to 'elucidate the complex interrelationships of biology, subjective experience, behavior and therapies'.

See also

★ Abnormal psychology

★ Anti-psychiatry

★ Biological psychiatry

★ Chemical imbalance theory

★ Child psychopathology

★ Glossary of Psychiatric Terms

★ International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology

★ Mental Health

★ Mental illness

★ Psychiatry

Further reading

★ Sims, A. (2002) ''Symptoms in the Mind: An Introduction to Descriptive Psychopathology (3rd ed).'' Elsevier. ISBN 0-7020-2627-1

External links

★ Psychopathology journal by Karger Publishers

★ Psychopathology Research Master at the University of Maastricht