Biological and Psychological Approaches to Psychopathology

OVERVIEW OF THE FOUR MODELS OF ABNORMALITY

• The Biological Approach
• A biological psychologist explains abnormal behaviour in terms of abnormal biology... mental disorder is a conclusion of biological systems malfunctioning.
• Treatment should repair faulty systems using somatic therapies; drugs, ECT and psychosurgery.
  
• Also called the medical model, treats abnormality as a physical condition. Widely accepted! They are to be treated much like physical illnesses.
• The Psychodynamic Approach
• Explain behaviour in terms of its dynamics; Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality is the best known example. 
• Freud was the first to challenge the medical model, claiming mental disorders were…