Abnormal Psychology

Approaches to Psychological Disorders

1. A mental disorder is a mental or behavioral pattern that causes either suffering or a poor ability to function in ordinary life.
2. Psychopathology is the scientific study of mental disorders, including efforts to understand their genetic, biological, psychological, and social causes; effective classification schemes; course across all stages of development; manifestations; and treatment.
3. Biopsychiatry is an approach to psychiatry that aims to understand mental disorder in terms of the biological function of the nervous system.
4. The biopsychosocial approach is a general model or approach to mental illness stating that biological, psychological, and social factors all play a significant role in mental illness.