Abnormal Psychology

Understanding Psychological Disorders: The Neuropsychosocial Approach 55

Mental health professionals need to keep in mind, however, cultural factors

that may contribute to what appear to be maladaptive cognitive distortions, but

in fact refl ect appropriate social behavior in a patient’s culture. For instance,

some cultures, such as that of Japan, have a social norm of responding to a

compliment with a self-deprecating statement. It is only through careful evalua-

tion that a clinician can discern whether such self-deprecating behavior refl ects

a patient’s attempt to show good manners or his or her core maladaptive

dysfunctional beliefs about self.

Biases in mental processes and distortions in mental contents affect each

other (see Figure 2.8), and their interactions can make people more vulnerable

to psychopathology. Unfortunately, once someone has a psychological disorder,

these biases and distortions can become self-perpetuating: People see what they

believe they will see. Someone who feels unlovable, for instance, becomes alert

for—and will remember—any hint of rejection, which then confi rms the belief of

being unlovable.

Emotion

Part of being human is to know the ups and downs of emotions—such as joy, ela-

tion, happiness, love, pride, sadness, fear, anger, guilt, relief. When our emotions

are negative—that is, when they make us feel uncomfortable—we often try to make

ourselves feel better. When we are afraid, we try to avoid what’s making us afraid

or calm ourselves down; when we feel guilty, we seek to relieve the guilt. Yet not ev-

eryone experiences the normal range of emotions or is equally effective in regulating

emotions. Many psychological disorders include problems that involve emotions:

not feeling or expressing enough emotions (such as showing no response to a situa-

tion where others would be joyous or sad), having emotions that are inappropriate

or inappropriately excessive for the situation (such as feeling sad to the point of cry-

ing for no apparent reason), or having emotions that are diffi cult to regulate (such

as not being able to overcome a fear of fl ying, even though you know that such fear

is irrational) (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).

But what, specifi cally, are emotions? To psychologists, an emotion is a short-

lived experience evoked by a stimulus that produces a mental response, a typical

behavior, and a positive or negative subjective feeling. The stimulus that initiates

an emotion could be physical: It can be a kiss, the letter F on an essay you get back

from a professor, or the sounds of a tune you listen to on your computer. Alterna-

tively, the stimulus can occur only in the mind, such as remembering a sad occasion

or tune or imagining your perfect mate.

Mental health clinicians and researchers sometimes use the word affect to

refer to an emotion that is associated with a particular idea or behavior, simi-

lar to an attitude.Affect is also used to describe how emotion is expressed, as

when noting that a patient has inappropriate affect—the patient’s expression of

emotion is not appropriate to what he or she is saying or not appropriate to the

situation. An example is a person laughing at a funeral or talking about some-

thing very sad or traumatic while smiling, or, conversely, talking about a happy

event while looking sad or angry. Flat affect is a lack of, or considerably dimin-

ished, emotional expression, such as occurs when someone speaks robotically and

shows little facial expression. People with some psychological disorders, such as

schizophrenia, frequently display inappropriate or fl at affect. Affect that changes

very rapidly—too rapidly—is said to be labile, and it may indicate a psychological

disorder; for instance, some people with depression may quickly shift emotions

from sad to angry or irritable.

In the fi lm Grey Gardens, Little Edie and her mother often displayed inappropri-

ate affect, and Little Edie’s emotions were sometimes labile, rapidly changing from

anger to happy excitement to relative calm. For instance, at one point, Big Edie re-

counts that when Little Edie had moved to New York City, Big Edie wanted Mr. Beale

to return to Grey Gardens. Little Edie immediately started yelling, “You’re making

Emotion

A short-lived experience evoked by a

stimulus that produces a mental response, a

typical behavior, and a positive or negative

subjective feeling.

Affect

An emotion that is associated with a particular

idea or behavior, similar to an attitude.

Inappropriate affect

An expression of emotion that is not

appropriate to what a person is saying

or not appropriate to the situation.

Flat affect

A lack of, or considerably diminished,

emotional expression, such as occurs when

someone speaks robotically and shows little

facial expression.

Some disorders are characterized by inappro-

priate affect—expressions of emotion that are

inappropriate to the situation. This young man

appears to have inappropriate affect.

Girl Ray/Getty Images

2.8 • Biased Mental Processes and

Distorted Mental Contents Biases in

mental processes can infl uence the contents

of people’s thoughts by making certain stimuli

more prominent and easier to call to mind,

which can lead to cognitive distortions. The

reverse is also true: Cognitive distortions can

create a bias in what people pay attention to,

perceive, and remember.

Figure 2.8

28 Bi d M t l P d

g

Biased

Mental Processes

Attention

Perception

Memory

Distorted

Mental Contents

Cognitive

distortions