Irza Fidah's Key Ideas from Gale Researcher Guide for: Clinical and Abnormal Psychology
by Jane Alexandra Kessler

The main concern of abnormal psychology is the way in which abnormality is defined and categorized. Illuminating the cause (etiology) of various disorders is another major goal, as is the prediction of when disordered states might arise.

The field of clinical psychology applies the knowledge gained through the study of abnormal psychology to the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders.

Sigmund Freud pioneered the idea in 1955 that the symptoms of mental distress arise as a result of traumatic experience. From this discovery came the concept of talking cure (otherwise known as psychotherapy) in which the therapist, through a special form of conversation, assists patients to address, and hopefully resolve, the psychological causes underlying their mental distress.

There is no single means of defining what constitutes abnormality. The following five criteria are often used by professionals and many laypeople: distress, disorder, dysfunction, deviance, and danger. It is important to note that there can be, and often is, disagreement in the field as to whether a condition constitutes a disorder.

There are many theories as to what causes mental illness. Although most of these theories have support in the research literature, no single their can explain all disorders. Psychological disorders can be explained on many different levels and have many different causes, and for any particular individual with a disorder, it is likely that there are multiple factors operating simultaneously to produce their condition.