Schultz starts students on Abnormal course
Instructor offering new class this winter about psychologcal disorders

By Ryan Blocker · The Mainstream
Published October 26, 2010

A diagnosis is often the first step in treatment of mental illness, but for many Americans any accurate information about mental disorders is hard to come by.

Failure to get that information can be deadly. Fifteen percent of people, for example, who suffer from depression will commit suicide, according to the 2003 National Healthcare Quality Report.

Psychology instructor Suzanne Schultz plans to offer students a chance to further their knowledge about abnormal behaviors with an Abnormal Psychology class to be offered winter term only.

Although the class won’t qualify students to diagnose psychological disorders(like depression), it will help them to identify them.

That help is really important because, according to the Archives of General Psychiatry, an estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.

According to Australian government statistics, everyone will at some time in their life be affected by one of the most common disorders -- depression(either their own or someone else’s).

Depression is just one of many psychological disorders that the course will identify.

“The first third of the class will just be learning to define abnormal behaviors,” said Schultz. Part of the difficulty is ambiguity regarding the term “abnormal”; apparently what some cultures consider “ab”normal others consider normal.

Genetics, physiology, personal history, family dynamics, social conditions and culture all contribute to how a psychological disorder is viewed by a society, Schultz explained.

“There is a lot of room for confusion, and this class is meant to clear some of that up,” Schultz added.

Students will learn the difference between real abnormal behaviors and Hollywood versions which are usually grossly mistaken or exaggerated.

The course will examine case studies such as the tragic Virginia Tech shooting. Another case study will be the story of Andrea Yates, the Texan woman who suffered from severe depression and psychotic episodes and drowned her five children.

The class will also teach students appreciation for a variety of healers, even medicine men.

According to Schultz, some of the techniques that orthodox psychiatrists and counselors use now came from traditional methods used in cultures considered more primitive. Modern psychology has evolved over centuries with influences from a lot of cultures, Schultz added.

Once abnormal behaviors are defined, the students will take a look into the Diagnostic Statistical Manual. The DSM lists different abnormal behaviors and symptoms and helps classify these behaviors. The DSM changes every few years because the information about abnormal behaviors changes.

This class will help any student going into a field of work where they will interact with others, Schultz claims. She states that the course may also help parents understand why their children act the way they do and help parents learn how to raise their children appropriately.

Although students will not be able to diagnose people afflicted with abnormal psychopathologies simply by taking the course, they should develop enough background knowledge to direct others to the help they need.

Completion of the general psych sequence (PSY 201, 202, 203) is a prerequisite, but students who missed the pre-requisite can take the class if they have permission from Schultz. The text for this course is Understanding Abnormal Behavior, a special 2010 reprint from Cengage Learning. The reprint is just the first three chapters reprinted into a paperback.

The class was offered last year with some success and Schultz hopes to have more students this winter.