I was one of the first 1,000 people to attend live sport in the UK since Covid-19. Here's what it's like

• Professional sport has returned after a long hiatus around the world because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• For the most part, sports are still being played in empty stadiums, with fans absent to help slow the spread of the virus.
• In the UK, however, the government is trialing small scale crowds at a limited number of professional events in the next few weeks.
• Insider was able to attend the first such event, a two-day friendly cricket match in London, last weekend.
• We found clearly signposted instructions, hand sanitiser aplenty, and a generally safe, comfortable environment. It all felt very encouraging for when sport does eventually return with crowds.
• Read on to find out more about what it was like.
• For more articles, go to www.BusinessInsider.co.za.

In just months, the idea of watching our favourite teams while packed into a stadium with tens of thousands of other fans has gone from a normal, fun thing to do, to something completely alien, and frankly, a somewhat terrifying idea.

After a substantial hiatus, sports in most European and North American countries have now restarted. The English Premier League season has concluded behind closed doors, and the NBA tournament in Florida is about to kick off,and in Abu Dhabi, the UFC has just concluded a three-week extravaganza of fighting.

What is still missing from all these sports, however, is fans.

While leagues like the Premier League and the NBA are being carried out in so-called "bubbles" - where no one involved is allowed in or out of a designated area - crowds will eventually return to sport at some point, and in some places that point could be sooner rather than later.

In the UK, as part of the government's plan to get life back to something like normal, several sports are carrying out experiments with reintroducing crowds, bringing back small numbers of fans in a controlled, and hopefully safe, environment.

Events with pilot schemes for the reintroduction of crowds in the UK include horse racing, snooker, and a professional cricket game.

As a die-hard fan and long-time member of the mighty Surrey County Cricket Club (C'MON THE REY!) I had the opportunity last week to take part in a crowd pilot that was being carried out during a specially arranged friendly game of cricket between Surrey and their rivals Middlesex.

The game saw 1,000 fans attend professional sport in the UK for the first time since March. Here's what it was like.

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The venue for the first professional sporting event with a crowd in the UK since March was The Kia Oval, a cricket stadium in the south London district of Kennington.

For the uninitiated, both teams are part of the UK's county cricket system - the highest level of domestic cricket.

Both teams play in London, with Surrey based at The Oval, and Middlesex based at Lord's - colloquially known as the Home of Cricket - in a north London area called St. John's Wood.

Part of the reason the fixture was chosen was the short distance between the two teams' bases. Driving from Lord's to The Oval takes, on a good day, just over 30 minutes.

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Rather than just reintroducing fans on a normal scale, the government in the UK is allowing only small crowds to attend pilot

At the Oval, only 1,000 fans - 900 from Surrey, and 100 from Middlesex - were allowed into the ground on each day of the match.

If you're unfamiliar with cricket, it is often a multi-day affair, with the longest format of the game lasting five consecutive days. This game was to take place over the course of two days, a Sunday and a Monday and was almost guaranteed to end in a tie.

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To secure a ticket, members had to take the very old-fashioned step of calling Surrey's ticket office. No online tickets were available. Getting through was a nightmare. I called 14 times before getting an answer.

In a BBC radio interview on Sunday, Surrey's chief executive Richard Gould said the club received 10,000 calls in the first hour of ticket lines being open. No wonder it took a while to get through.

Once my call was answered, I secured my ticket in seconds, free of charge.

Luckily for me, I live close to the Oval and was able to cycle to the ground in under 10 minutes, leaving my bike chained up outside.

If I had got public transport, I'd have been required to wear a mask at all times, as mandated by the UK government.

Another difference to the pre-virus era was that only one gate was available. The Oval has two main entrances - one on either side of the ground - but for the pilot match, just the Alec Stewart Gate, named for a club legend, was open.

The Oval actually had a head-start on this. The ground has been completely cashless since last summer, so it didn't even need to make any changes to be coronavirus-era appropriate when it comes to payments.

One small difference I noticed with regards to food and drink was that the ground was using compostable single-use plastic cups. Prior to the pandemic, the Oval provided reusable cups that cost fans a £1 (R21) deposit to try and reduce plastic waste. Obviously these cups are not exactly appropriate right now, so it seemed a sensible move.

I was actually a little taken aback by how friendly everyone in the stadium was.

In my experience, the staff at the Oval have the tendency to be a bit rude - probably because they're normally dealing with about 20 times as many fans - but at this game, it was all smiles and friendly chit-chat.

Everyone had their own allocated seat, which was unusual for this kind of match.

Domestic red ball cricket - which usually takes place over four days - isn't exactly the most popular spectator sport, and normally you can just show up and sit literally anywhere you'd like in the stadium. It's not unusual for crowds to be in low hundreds.

One concern many have expressed about returning to stadiums with smaller crowds than usual is that the atmosphere might be lacking. This didn't seem to be a problem at the Surrey v Middlesex game, largely because there were probably more fans in the ground than there normally would be for such a match!

Groups of up to six were allowed to sit together, so long as they booked seats together in advance of the game. There were plenty of groups and couples around me, though I attended the game on my own.

I passed the afternoon drifting in and out of watching the game itself, sometimes checking the scores in the Premier League football going on, and other times reading my book, with half an eye on the cricket.

Honestly, the game wasn't that important to me, it just felt extremely good to be back at a place where I spend, on average, about three weeks every summer.

There was a maximum of two people in each toilet block at a time, and a separate exit and entry point.

I didn't actually visit during the day, so I can't say what things were like inside.

Many of the toilet blocks were closed to fans, presumably to limit the amount of cleaning required.

Leaving was actually the first time on the day I felt even vaguely unsafe.

Fueled by pints of discounted beer and delicious carb-heavy treats, a few of the fans in the ground were less than perfect about following social distancing guidelines and the one-way system.

All in all, however, the experience of watching live professional sport once again was a good one. Everything was well laid-out, clearly signposted, and the safety and comfort of fans was clearly the number one priority of event organisers.

Ultimately, the cricket itself wasn't really that important. What was more important was working out whether or not spectators can be safely brought back to sporting events in some way in the near future.

I'm not a scientist, so I can't comment on the epidemiological safety of Sunday's game, but on the evidence I saw, I'd be happy to return.

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Face ID may be coming to Apple's laptops and desktops

• Apple may be preparing to bring Face ID to the Mac, according to 9to5Mac.
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• The blog spotted references to Apple's TrueDepth camera in the code for macOS Big Sur, the company's next big software update for Mac computers.
• The discovery comes as Apple is preparing to make its own chips for future Mac computers, a move that will make it easier for the company to bring custom features like Face ID to its laptops and desktops.

• You can already unlock your iPhone and iPad just by looking at them, and it seems like that feature will soon be coming to the Mac as well.

  The beta version of Apple's macOS Big Sur software update launching for Mac computers later this year reportedly includes references to the company's TrueDepth camera, according to 9to5Mac. The blog found codes titled "FaceDetect" and "BioCapture" within a new extension found in the software.

• Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment regarding the code and whether it plans to bring Face ID to the Mac.

  The Mac is one of Apple's only major products that does not support facial recognition, likely because it lacks the neural engine found in Apple's custom chips. The neural engine in Apple's processors turns the infrared image and depth data captured by the iPhone or iPad's camera into a mathematical representation that the device then compares against the face data you've enrolled, as Apple explains on its website. The company introduced Face ID to the iPhone with the iPhone X in 2017 and brought it to the iPad Pro in 2018.

• 

• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

• Now that Apple will be designing its own processors for the Mac rather than relying on Intel's chips, a move it announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference, there's more opportunity for the company to bring custom features like Face ID to its laptops and desktops.

  Apple has also filed a patent application detailing a system for bringing Face ID to the Mac. That document also included drawings of laptops and monitors that include the same "notch" cutout above the screen for Face ID as the iPhone.

  The company said that its first computer to launch with Apple's own chips will arrive by the end of 2020, but it did not share any additional details.

  "When we look ahead, we envision some amazing new products," Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the announcement. "And transitioning to our own custom silicon is what will enable us to bring them to life."

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Nigeria Female doctor found the cure for COVID-19

Nigeria Female doctor found the cure for COVID-19 

Nigeria female doctor who is based in usa narrated recently that covid-19 has a cure through her research, and also she had cured many patients who were infected by the so called virus and they are all recovered perfect as stated on her video below in her video and she urges people not to panic over the deadly virus but everyone should as well stay safe and eat healthy to avoid been infected of any kind of virus similar 

watch video below:

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The untold truth about money

It’s an equation that is hardly taught in schools if at all, and is often overlooked by those who are trying to get rich, or achieve their dreams of “financial freedom”.

THE MYTHS ABOUT MONEY
Everyone wants to know how to be rich, but when it comes to wealthy people the media and Hollywood have a habit of depicting them as cruel, evil, corrupt, or backstabbing individuals.
But the real question is whether you believe this stereotype.

Most of what you think about money has been influenced by your upbringing and surroundings. If you grew up poor, then you’re more inclined to believe that your financial future will remain under such circumstances. Or perhaps you decided to make it your goal to generate as much wealth as possible so you will never grow up in those conditions again – either way, it’s important to note that we may have false beliefs about money which will not serve you well if your goal is to become rich.

THE EQUATION TO WEALTH.
In a capitalist society, you are paid in proportion to the perceived value that you have.

This is very important to understand and can explain many reasons as for why people are paid differently. The cleaner is paid less than the accountant because the cleaner’s job is not difficult to learn, and they can easily be replaced. The accountant on the other hand has spent years studying numbers, and has saved their clients thousands on taxes. The market perceives the value of the accountant to be higher, and therefore the accountant makes substantially more money.

And yet the problem with a job is that your income is time-bound. It requires your time to generate wealth, and only at an old age can you truly reap the rewards of the wealth that you’ve built – if you’ve built any at all.

How then are there millionaires or billionaires at such young ages? What is it about people like Elon Musk, or Jeff Bezos that make their perceived value so high?

The next part of this equation is as follows: if you want money, you must solve problems.

All money runs from this basic premise. If it solves a problem (depending on what the problem is), money will be thrown at it.

If it’s a million-dollar problem, then the solution will make you millions.

If it’s a billion-dollar problem, then the solution will make you billions.

Truth is: if you’ve been chasing money, then you’ve been doing it all wrong. You need to chase problems, and more importantly, solutions to those problems.

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How to protect Your Accounts from Hackers

5 Ways to Protect Your Accounts from Hackers

Being online puts you and your data at risk, but there are ways you can minimize your risk and make a hacker’s job harder.

Whether it’s Imgur or Uber, new reports of data breaches and hacks seem to come out weekly. You may be tempted to go scorched-earth on your online presence, but deleting every account you have to prevent being hacked is impractical in today’s connected world. Yes, being online puts you and your data at risk, but there are ways you can minimize your risk and make a hacker’s job harder.

Here are four steps you can take to protect your accounts against hacks and data breaches.

• Keep tabs on what sites may be compromised: Anywhere you have an account could potentially be hacked, so it’s good to stay in the know as to what sites have had breaches or data leaks. You can always do a quick Google, and the site Vigilante.PW maintains a searchable directory of reported hacks and data breaches. If you find a site you use has been compromised, it’s a good idea to change your password for that account.
• Check whether your accounts have been compromised: The site Have I Been Pwned? is a free resource that allows you to see if an account of yours has been compromised (or “pwned,” an internet term meaning dominated or owned) in a data breach. HIBP collects data (email addresses and usernames, not passwords) from publicly leaked breaches and aggregates it to make it easy to search its database for your email or username. When you enter your email or username, it provides a list of breaches in which your account was found, listing the site, a short summary of the incident and the data that may have been compromised. If you find yourself “pwned,” you should change your passwords to not only the compromised account, but any account that shares that password and your email account as well.
• Create strong passwords: By now, we should all know that “password1” and “12345678” are two of the easiest passwords to guess and the first hackers will try. Every account you have should use a different password and they should all be as strong as possible. Research shows one good option is long passwords (at least 12 characters) with at least two or three different types of characters (lowercase, uppercase, digits and symbols) put in unpredictable places – no capital letters at the beginning and no digits or symbols lumped at the end. Another good method is to combine partial 2-4 unrelated words together and mix in other types of characters. Your online banking and email accounts should have particularly strong passwords, as they hold your most valuable information.
• Use a password manager: All of these random, secure passwords may be difficult to remember – it’s helpful to use a password manager like LastPass or Dashlane to keep track of them for you. Many password managers can even generate randomized strong passwords for you and run security audits to let you know when passwords are weak or used across multiple accounts.
• Enable two-factor authentication: Many sites now offer two-factor authentication as a security measure. You log in with your username and password and are then asked to enter a validation code, usually sent by text message to your phone. In theory, this makes it more difficult for hackers to get in – even if they have your password, they would need the texted code.

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Hushpuppi's lawyer says FBI 'kidnapped' Nigerian Instagrammer from Dubai

A Nigerian man accused of multimillion-dollar fraud and money laundering by the United States was kidnapped by the FBI from Dubai, his lawyer says.

Ramon Olorunwa Abbas - known to his 2.5 million Instagram followers as Ray Hushpuppi - and another cyber-heist suspect Olalekan Jacob Ponle (aka Mr Woodberry) were arrested in Dubai, where they lived, in June.

They then appeared in a Chicago court on 3 July.

The United Arab Emirates has no extradition treaty with the United States but Dubai police said they had been extradited to the US.

A spokesman for the US Department of Justice told the BBC that Hushpuppi was expelled from Dubai and was not extradited. He did not answer how he ended up in US custody.

What does Hushpuppi's lawyer say?

Mr Abbas' lawyer Gal Pissetzky told the BBC that his client, who posts on Instagram about his extravagant lifestyle, was not a criminal and had made his money legitimately.

"He is a social media influencer with millions of followers, with millions of people that respect and loved him, and he loved them, and that's what he did. In today's society, that's a business," he said.

Mr Pissetzky admits that he is not "100% familiar" with social media and his children consider him too old but he knows "that's how people make money today".

The Chicago defence lawyer's argument that Hushpuppi was paid by designer brands for promotion has set the stage for what promises to be a long trial in American courts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accuses Mr Abbas, 37, of conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from frauds known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and other scams.

Did the US act legally?

It is the latest high-profile fraud case involving a Nigerian national in the United States but his lawyer says the US had no authority to transport him from Dubai.

"In my opinion, the FBI and the government here acted illegally when they kidnapped him from Dubai without any legal process to do so," Mr Pissetzky told the BBC.

"There was no extradition, there were no legal steps taken, there were no court documents filed, it was simply a call to the FBI. He is not a citizen of the United States, the US had absolutely no authority to take him," his lawyer says.

But the Dubai police said in a Facebook post that the FBI director had thanked them for extraditing the two men.

"You'll have to ask them about why they called it an extradition," the US Department of Justice (DoJ) spokesman responded in an email.

In a statement about Mr Abbas' initial court appearance, the DoJ said "FBI special agents earlier this week obtained custody of Abbas and brought him to the United States" without giving any further details.

Mr Pissetzky is not convinced.

"If Dubai wanted to expel him, they should have expelled him back to Nigeria. I've never heard of anything like that. That is the real story here."

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Man saved by his death wish

IF MY WISH WILL BE GRANTED THEN I CAN DIE HAPPILY

A man name withheld was sentenced to death by shooting over the crime he committed 

on the day he was to be shot dead by the firing squad, he was paraded and tied to a stake 

but before the cops were ordered to shot he was ask to make his last wish and they promise 

grant him whatever he wanted, the look around knowing whatever he says still doesn't change

the fact that he is still going to die, then standing beside the commander is very pretty sexy,

he said to the commander you promise to grant my wish? he said yes ask anything, the prisoner 

then request to be given an hour sex with the sexy female cop, which she obliged, then after that

he can die happily, after that the commander asked firing squad to stand down. and prison was 

taken back jail. thank you for time update coming up next week  

 

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What DAVIDO did will shock you

Davido is indeed a good man I love his songs so much but i was so surprised when i can across this..

 

Davido is that one friend that everyone needs in their life 👌
When Sauce kid got out of jail, Davido was there for him
When Cynthia Morgan had no one to turn to, Davido reached out to her
When May D thought all hope was lost, Davido welcomed him to DMW

The number of cars, or houses or landed property you posses doesn't make your rich in some aspect. a true rich man is the man that reaches out his helping hand to people who need support, changing their lives in one way the other. don't forsake people because they had issues because one day something might still happen to you will need someone also.

Davido signing May D is a really good gesture, he is so generous and love helping others no matter how small, is not easy to put smile on a man's face is like a life changing moment. some people may not like Davido or his music but his generosity cannot be trashed, kindness is like oil when it touches one part it spreads to other parts. he doesn't brag about his deeds but his kindness speaks for him. 

God I love this man, may your days be long Mr. David Adeleke (DAVIDO)

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Hushpuppi Denied Bail by US Court

Suspected Nigerian fraudster Ramon Abbas a.k.a Hushpuppi has failed to win bail in the US after his lawyer, Gal Pissetzky, claimed his job as an lnstagram celebrity paid for the $10,000 monthly rent on his luxury Dubai flat.

According to reports Tuesday, Pissetzky had applied for Hushpuppi to leave jail with an electronic tag and live with the uncle of a woman with whom he has a child with (name undisclosed), but US prosecutors opposed the bail application.

The prosecutors said he could commit crimes with just a smartphone and an internet connection, and that he posed too much of a flight risk.

Reacting to prosecutors’ argument, Pissetzky stated that his client had too much to lose if he flees from the United States.

Speaking to Judge Jeffrey Gilbert in Chicago via a videolink, Pissetzky said, “He is loved and respected. He is a celebrity. I don’t see the reason why he would want to ruin his credibility in the world and his status rather than stay here and face this allegation.

“Anywhere he goes, people will know. Having grown up very poor in Nigeria, Mr Abbas is now paid to pose with high-priced items such as Louis Vuitton bags that people would buy after seeing his posts on lnstagram.

“He is an influencer. That’s a job today, as much as it is hard to imagine. That’s a full-time job.”

Judge Gilbert who watched the proceedings from a prison video link, denied Hushpuppi bail on grounds of him being a flight risk.

Gilbert ordered that the suspected fraudster be remanded in custody until he is taken to a court in California.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY (SIMPLE PSYCHOLOGY)

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Home › Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal Psychology

byBy Saul McLeod published 2008, updated 2014

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Abnormal psychology is a division of psychology that studies people who are "abnormal" or "atypical" compared to the members of a given society.

There is evidence that some psychological disorders are more common than was previously thought.

Depending on how data are gathered and how diagnoses are made, as many as 27% of some population groups may be suffering from depression at any one time (NIMH, 2001; data for older adults).

The definition of the word abnormal is simple enough but applying this to psychology poses a complex problem: what is normal? Whose norm? For what age? For what culture?

The concept of abnormality is imprecise and difficult to define. Examples of abnormality can take many different forms and involve different features, so that, what at first sight seem quite reasonable definitions, turns out to be quite problematical.

There are several different ways in which it is possible to define ‘abnormal’ as opposed to our ideas of what is ‘normal’.

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Statistical Infrequency

Under this definition of abnormality, a person's trait, thinking or behavior is classified as abnormal if it is rare or statistically unusual.  With this definition it is necessary to be clear about how rare a trait or behavior needs to be before we class it as abnormal

For instance one may say that an individual who has an IQ below or above the average level of IQ in society is abnormal. 

However this definition obviously has limitations, it fails to recognize the desirability of the particular behavior. 

Going back to the example, someone who has an IQ level above the normal average wouldn't necessarily be seen as abnormal, rather on the contrary they would be highly regarded for their intelligence.

This definition also implies that the presence of abnormal behavior in people should be rare or statistically unusual, which is not the case.  Instead, any specific abnormal behavior may be unusual, but it is not unusual for people to exhibit some form of prolonged abnormal behavior at some point in their lives.

Strength: The statistical approach helps to address what is meant by normal in a statistical context. It helps us make cut – off points in terms of diagnosis.

Limitations: However, this definition fails to distinguish between desirable and undesirable behavior. For example, obesity is a statistically normal but not associated with healthy or desirable. Conversely high IQ is statistically abnormal, but may well be regarded as highly desirable.

Many rare behaviors or characteristics (e.g. left handedness) have no bearing on normality or abnormality.  Some characteristics are regarded as abnormal even though they are quite frequent.  Depression may affect 27% of elderly people (NIMH, 2001).  This would make it common but that does not mean it isn’t a problem

The decision of where to start the "abnormal" classification is arbitrary. Who decides what is statistically rare and how do they decide? For example, if an IQ of 70 is the cut-off point, how can we justify saying someone with 69 is abnormal, and someone with 70 normal ?

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Violation of Social Norms

Every culture has certain standards for acceptable behaviour, or socially acceptable norms. Norms are expected ways of behaving in a society according to the majority and those members of a society who do not think and behave like everyone else break these norms so are often defined as abnormal.

Under this definition, a person's thinking or behavior is classified as abnormal if it violates the (unwritten) rules about what is expected or acceptable behavior in a particular social group. Their behavior may be incomprehensible to others or make others feel threatened or uncomfortable.

Social behavior varies markedly when different cultures are compared. For example, it is common in Southern Europe to stand much closer to strangers than in the UK.  Voice pitch and volume, touching, direction of gaze and acceptable subjects for discussion have all been found to vary between cultures.

With this definition, it is necessary to consider: (i) The degree to which a norm is violated, the importance of that norm and the value attached by the social group to different sorts of violation. (ii) E.g. is the violation rude, eccentric, abnormal or criminal?

Limitations: The most obvious problem with defining abnormality using social norms is that there is no universal agreement over social norms. Social norms are culturally specific - they can differ significantly from one generation to the next and between different ethnic, regional and socio-economic groups. In some societies, such as the Zulu for example, hallucinations and screaming in the street are regarded as normal behavior.

Social norms also exist within a time frame, and therefore change over time.  Behavior that was once seen as abnormal may, given time, become acceptable and vice versa.  For example drink driving was once considered acceptable but is now seen as socially unacceptable whereas homosexuality has gone the other way.  Until 1980 homosexuality was considered a psychological disorder by the World Health Organization (WHO) but today is considered acceptable.

Social norms can also depend on the situation or context we find ourselves in. Is it normal to eat parts of a dead body? In 1972 a rugby team who survived a plane crash in the snow-capped Andes of South America found themselves without food and in sub-freezing temperatures for 72 days. In order to survive they ate the bodies of those who had died in the crash.

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Failure to Function Adequately

Under this definition, a person is considered abnormal if they are unable to cope with the demands of everyday life.  They may be unable to perform the behaviors necessary for day-to-day living e.g. self-care, hold down a job, interact meaningfully with others, make themselves understood etc.

Rosenhan& Seligman (1989) suggest the following characteristics that define failure to function adequately:

o Suffering

oMaladaptiveness (danger to self)

o Vividness & unconventionality (stands out)

o Unpredictably & loss of control

o Irrationality/incomprehensibility

o Causes observer discomfort

o Violates moral/social standards

One limitation of this definition is that apparently abnormal behavior may actually be helpful, function and adaptive for the individual.  For example, a person who has the obsessive-compulsive disorder of hand-washing may find that the behavior makes him cheerful, happy and better able to cope with his day.

Many people engage in behavior that is maladaptive/harmful or threatening to self, but we don’t class them as abnormal

Ø Adrenaline sports

Ø Smoking, drinking alcohol

Ø Skipping classes

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Deviation from Ideal Mental Health

Under this definition, rather than defining what is abnormal, we define what is normal/ideal and anything that deviates from this is regarded as abnormal.  This requires us to decide on the characteristics we consider necessary to mental health.

Jahoda (1958) defined six criteria by which mental health could be measured:

o Positive view of the self

o Capability for growth and development

o Autonomy and independence

o Accurate perception of reality

o Positive friendships and relationships

o Environmental mastery – able to meet the varying demands of day-to-day situations

According to this approach, the more of these criteria are satisfied, the healthier the individual is.

Limitation: It is practically impossible for any individual to achieve all of the ideal characteristics all of the time.  For example, a person might not be the ‘master of his environment’ but be happy with his situation.  The absence of this criterion of ideal mental health hardly indicates he is suffering from a mental disorder.

Ethnocentric: Most definitions of psychological abnormality are devised by white, middle class men. It has been suggested that this may lead to disproportionate numbers of people from certain groups being diagnosed as "abnormal." 

For example, in the UK, depression is more commonly identified in women, and black people are more likely than their white counterparts to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. Similarly, working class people are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness than those from non manual backgrounds.

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Perspectives in Abnormal Psychology

Behavioral

Behaviorists believe that our actions are determined largely by the experiences we have in life, rather than by underlying pathology of unconscious forces. Abnormality is therefore seen as the development of behavior patterns that are considered maladaptive (i.e. harmful) for the individual.

Behaviorism states that all behavior (including abnormal) is learned from the environment (nurture), and that all behavior that has been learnt can also be ‘unlearnt’ (which is how abnormal behavior is treated).

The emphasis of the behavioral approach is on the environment and how abnormal behavior is acquired, through classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning.

Classical conditioning has been said to account for the development of phobias. The feared object (e.g. spider or rat) is associated with a fear or anxiety sometime in the past. The conditioned stimulus subsequently evokes a powerful fear response characterized by avoidance of the feared object and the emotion of fear whenever the object is encountered.

Learning environments can reinforce (re: operant conditioning) problematic behaviors. E.g. an individual may be rewarded for being having panic attacks by receiving attention from family and friends – this would lead to the behavior being reinforced and increasing in later life.

Our society can also provide deviant maladaptive models that children identify with and imitate (re: social learning theory).

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Cognitive

The cognitive approach assumes that a person’s thoughts are responsible for their behaviour. The model deals with how information is processed in the brain and the impact of this on behaviour.

The basic assumptions are:

• Maladaptive behaviour is caused by faulty and irrational cognitions.
• It is the way you think about a problem, rather than the problem itself that causes mental disorders.
• Individuals can overcome mental disorders by learning to use more appropriate cognitions.

The individual is an active processor of information. How a person, perceives, anticipates and evaluates events rather than the events themselves, which will have an impact on behavior. This is generally believed to be an automatic process, in other words we do not really think about it.

In people with psychological problems these thought processes tend to be negative and the cognitions (i.e. attributions, cognitive errors) made will be inaccurate:

These cognitions cause distortions in the way we see things; Ellis suggested it is through irrational thinking, while Beck proposed the cognitive triad.

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Medical / Biological

The medical model of psychopathology believes that disorders have an organic or physical cause. The focus of this approach is on genetics, neurotransmitters, neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, biochemistry etc.

For example, in terms of biochemistry – the dopamine hypothesis argues that elevated levels of dopamine are related to symptoms of schizophrenia.

The approach argues that mental disorders are related to the physical structure and functioning of the brain.

For example, differences in brain structure (abnormalities in the frontal and pre-frontal cortex, enlarged ventricles) have been identified in people with schizophrenia.

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Psychodynamic

The main assumptions include Freud’s belief that abnormality came from the psychological causes rather than the physical causes, that unresolved conflicts between the id, ego and superego can all contribute to abnormality, for example:

• Weak ego: Well- adjusted people have a strong ego that is able to cope with the demands of both the id and the superego by allowing each to express itself at appropriate times. If, however, the ego is weakened, then either the id or the superego, whichever is stronger, may dominate the personality.
• Unchecked id impulses: If id impulses are unchecked they may be expressed in self-destructive and immoral behaviour. This may lead to disorders such as conduct disorders in childhood and psychopathic [dangerously abnormal] behaviour in adulthood.
• Too powerful superego: A superego that is too powerful, and therefore too harsh and inflexible in its moral values, will restrict the id to such an extent that the person will be deprived of even socially acceptable pleasures. According to Freud this would create neurosis, which could be expressed in the symptoms of anxiety disorders, such as phobias and obsessions.

 

Freud also believed that early childhood experiences and unconscious motivation were responsible for disorders.

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An Alternative View: Mental illness is a Social Construction

Since the 1960’s it has been argued by anti-psychiatrists that the entire notion of abnormality or mental disorder is merely a social construction used by society. Notable anti-psychiatrists were Michel Foucault, R.D. Laing, Thomas Szasz and Franco Basaglia. Some observations made are;

• Mental illness is a social construct created by doctors. An illness must be an objectively demonstrable biological pathology, but psychiatric disorders are not.
• The criteria for mental illness is vague, subjective and open to misinterpretation criteria.
• The medical profession uses various labels eg. depressed, schizophrenic to exclude those whose behaviour fails to conform to society’s norms.
• Labels and consequently treatment can be used as a form of social control and represent an abuse of power.
• Diagnosis raises issues of medical and ethical integrity because of financial and professional links with pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies.

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