Ronald J. Comer – Abnormal Psychology (8th edition)

Автор: Ronald J. Comer
Название книги: Abnormal Psychology (8th edition)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Психология
Страницы: 789
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

The eighth edition of the bestselling Abnormal Psychology engages students with its integrated coverage of theory, diagnosis, and treatment; its inclusive wide-ranging cross-cultural perspective, and its focus on the real-life impact of mental illness. Containing the latest research, Abnormal Psychology returns in a timely new edition.

I have been writing my textbooks, Abnormal Psychology and Fundamentals of Abnormal
Psychology, for three decades—approximately half of my life. The current version,
Abnormal Psychology, Eighth Edition, represents the fourteenth edition of one or the
other of the textbooks. I feel deeply appreciative and privileged to have had the
opportunity to help educate more than a half-million readers over the years.
This textbook journey truly has been a labor of love, but I also must admit that each
edition has required enormous effort, ridiculous pressure, and too many sleepless nights to
count. I mention these labors not only because I am a world-class whiner but also to help
emphasize that I have approached each edition as a totally new undertaking rather than
as a cut-and-paste update of past editions. My goal each time has been that the new edition
is a fresh, comprehensive, and exciting presentation of the current state of this everchanging
field and that it includes state-of-the-art pedagogical techniques and insights.
This “new book” approach to each edition is, I believe, the key reason for the continuing
success of the textbooks, and the current edition has been written in this same tradition.
In fact, the current edition includes even more changes than in any of the textbook’s
previous editions, for several reasons: (1) The field of abnormal psychology has had a
dramatic growth spurt over the past several years; (2) the field of education has produced
many new pedagogical tools; (3) the world of publishing has developed new, striking
ways of presenting material; and (4) the world at large has changed dramatically, featuring
a monumental rise in technology’s impact on our lives, growing influence by the media,
near unthinkable economic and political events, and a changing world order. Changes of
this kind certainly should find their way into a book about the current state of human
functioning, and I have worked hard to include them here in a stimulating way.
That said, I believe I have produced a new edition of Abnormal Psychology that will
once again excite readers, open the field of abnormal psychology to them, and speak
to them and their times. Throughout the book I have again sought to convey my passion
for the field, and I have built on the generous feedback of my colleagues in this
enterprise—the students and professors who have used this textbook over the years. At
the risk of sounding ridiculously grandiose, let me describe what I believe to be special
about this edition.
New and Expanded Features
In line with the enormous changes that have occurred over the past several years in the
fields of abnormal psychology, education, and publishing and in the world, I have
brought the following new features and changes to the current edition.
•NEW• dsm-5: a field in transition With the upcoming (2013) publication of
DSM-5, abnormal psychology is clearly a field in transition. To help students appreciate
its current status and new directions, I offer a significant new section—“Call for
Change: DSM-5”—in Chapter 4 (pages 103–104) and in each of the disorders chapters
throughout the textbook. This recurrent feature discusses in depth what changes lie
ahead for the disorders described in the chapter at hand. “Call for Change: DSM-5”
sections discuss, for example, the proposed addition of new categories such as mixed
anxiety/depression (pages 148, 252), non-suicidal self injury (page 289), and binge-eating
disorder (pages 321, 343). Similarly, the sections examine the proposed elimination of
DSM-IV-TR categories such as Asperger’s disorder (pages 556–557) and hypochondriasis
(page 217) and the proposed alteration of clinical terms that have become demeaning
and stigmatizing in some circles, such as mental retardation (page 556) and dementia (page
584). The “Call for Change: DSM-5” sections also clarify proposed shifts in diagnostic
thinking, such as the listing of gambling disorder as an addictive disorder (pages 382–383),
much like a drug addiction, and the use of a more dimensional approach to diagnose
and describe certain personality disorders (pages 512–513). At the same time, I explain
why DSM-5 is making such key changes. Of course, because clinicians are currently
still using DSM-IV-TR to diagnose disorders, each chapter also continues to
include references to DSM-IV-TR’s categories and criteria.
•NEW• the impact of technology The breathtaking rate of technological change
that characterizes today’s world has had significant effects—both positive and negative—
on the mental health field, and it will undoubtedly affect the field even more
in coming years. In this edition I cover this impact extensively, including numerous
discussions in the book’s narrative, boxes, photographs, and figures. The book examines,
for example, how the Internet, texting, and social networks have become convenient
tools for those who wish to bully others or pursue pedophilic desires (pages 519, 413);
how social networking sites may provide a new source for social anxiety (page 614);
and how today’s technology has helped create new psychological disorders such as
Internet addiction (page 614). It also looks at troubling and dangerous new trends such
as the posting of self-cutting videos on the Internet (page 492), live Web suicides (page
311), and pro-anorexia and pro-suicide Web sites (page 108). And it brings to life for
the reader the growth of cybertherapy in its ever-expanding forms—from long-distance
therapy using Skype to therapy enhanced by video game avatars and other virtual reality
experiences to Internet-based support groups (pages 69, 614–615).
•NEW• ADDITIONAL SECTIONS Over the past several years, a number of topics in
abnormal psychology have received special and intense attention. In this edition, I have
provided new in-depth sections on such topics. For example, social anxiety disorder has
clearly left the realm of phobias and is now viewed as a separate anxiety disorder, with
unique explanations and treatments. Thus Abnormal Psychology, Eighth Edition, presents
this disorder and its explanations and treatments in its own section (pages 132–135).
Similarly, new in-depth sections are devoted to childhood bipolar disorder (pages 252–253),
dialectical behavior therapy (pages 493–496), and dimensional views of personality disorders
(pages 510–514), among other topics.
•NEW• additional “cutting-edge” Boxes In this edition, I have grouped the various
boxes into two categories to better orient the reader. PsychWatch boxes examine text
topics in more depth, emphasize the effect of culture on mental disorders and treatment,
and explore examples of abnormal psychology in movies, the news, and the real world.
MediaSpeak boxes offer provocative pieces by news, magazine, and Web writers on current
issues and trends in abnormal psychology. In addition to updating the PsychWatch
and MediaSpeak boxes that have been retained from the previous edition, I have added
many new ones, including:
• MediaSpeak: A Rorschach Cheat Sheet on Wikipedia? (Chapter 4)
• MediaSpeak: The Poverty Clinic (Chapter 6)
• MediaSpeak: A Life, Interrupted (Chapter 7)
• MediaSpeak: Live Web Suicides: A Growing Phenomenon (Chapter 10)
• MediaSpeak: A Mother’s Loss, a Daughter’s Story (Chapter 11)
• MediaSpeak: The Sugar Plum Fairy (Chapter 11)
• MediaSpeak: Sober High Schools (Chapter 12)
• MediaSpeak: A Different Kind of Judgment (Chapter 13)
• MediaSpeak: “Alternative” Mental Health Care (Chapter 15)
• MediaSpeak: Videos of Self-Injury Find an Audience (Chapter 16)
• MediaSpeak: The Patient as Therapist (Chapter 16
MediaSpeak: Targeted for Bullying (Chapter 17)
• MediaSpeak: Focusing on Emotions (Chapter 18)
•NEW• Highlighted critical thinking The eighth edition of Abnormal Psychology
has been redesigned strikingly to give it an open, clean, and modern look—one that
helps readers better learn, enjoy, and think about the topics under discussion. In a new
feature of this design, “critical thought questions” pop up within the text narrative,
asking students to pause at precisely the right moment and think critically about the
material they have just read. At the same time, the design retains a fun and thoughtprovoking
feature from past editions that has been very popular among students and
professors—reader-friendly elements called “Between the Lines,” consisting of textrelevant
tidbits, surprising facts, current events, historical notes, interesting trends, enjoyable
lists, and stimulating quotes.
•NEW• thorough update In this edition I present recent theories, research, and
events, including more than 2,000 new references from the years 2009–2012, as well as
hundreds of new photos, tables, and figures.
•EXPANDED COVERAGE• Key Disorders and Topics In line with the field’s (and college
students’) increased interest in certain psychological problems and treatments, I have
added or expanded the coverage of topics such as torture, terrorism, and psychopathology
(pages 160–162); club drugs such as Ecstasy (page 365), crystal meth (page 362), and salvia
(page 364); college-age depression (page 260) and binge drinking (page 352); postpartum
depression (page 229) and postpartum psychosis (page 436); cybertherapy and virtual
reality treatments (page 69); the pill versus Viagra (page 404); race and eating disorders
(page 332); fashion, media, and eating disorders (pages 330–331); medical use of marijuana
(pages 368–369); fatal drug use among celebrities (pages 369–372); transgender identity
(pages 415–416, 419–420); self-cutting (page 260); antidepressant drugs and suicide risk
(page 304); race and suicide (page 305); music and suicide (pages 294); live Web suicides
(page 311); dark sites on the Internet (page 108); gay bullying (page 529); jailing people
with mental disorders (pages 468–471); Facebook and mental health (pages 31, 612– 615);
direct-to-consumer advertising (page 277); serial murderers (page 608); and more.
•EXPANDED COVERAGE• Prevention and Mental Health Promotion In accord with
the clinical field’s growing emphasis on prevention, positive psychology, and psychological
wellness, I have increased significantly the textbook’s attention to these important
approaches (for example, pages 17–19, 75–76, 171, 583–584, 585).
•EXPANDED COVERAGE• multicultural issues Over the past 25 years, clinical theorists
and researchers increasingly have become interested in ethnic, racial, gender, and other
cultural factors, and my previous editions of Abnormal Psychology certainly have included
these important factors. In the twenty-first century, however, the study of such factors
has, appropriately, been elevated to a broad perspective—the multicultural perspective, a
theoretical and treatment approach to abnormal behavior that is, or should be, considered
across all forms of psychopathology and treatment. Consistent with this clinical
movement, the current edition includes broad multicultural perspective sections within
each chapter of the textbook (for example, pages 76–77, 305, 332–335), numerous
boxes emphasizing multicultural issues (pages 101,176–177, 199, 272), and numerous
photographs, art, and case presentations that reflect our multicultural society. A quick
look through the pages of this textbook will reveal that it truly reflects the diversity of
our society and of the field of abnormal psychology.
•EX PANDED COVER AGE • “New-Wave” Cognitiv e and Cognitiv e-Behavi oral
Theories and Treatments The traditional focus and treatment approaches of cognitive
and cognitive-behavioral clinicians have been joined in recent years by “new-wave”
cognitive and cognitive-behavioral theories and therapies that help clients “accept” and
objectify those maladaptive thoughts and perspectives that are resistant to change. The
current edition of Abnormal Psychology has expanded its coverage of these “new-wave”
theories and therapies, including mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy (ACT), presenting their propositions, techniques, and research in
chapters throughout the text (for example, pages 64, 120–122, 461–462).
•EXPANDED COVERAGE• neuroscience The twenty-first century has witnessed the
continued growth and impact of remarkable brain-imaging techniques, genetic mapping
strategies, and other neuroscience approaches, all of which are expanding our
understanding of the brain. Correspondingly, the new edition of Abnormal Psychology
has expanded its coverage of how biochemical factors, brain structure, brain function,
and genetic factors contribute to abnormal behavior (for example, pages 49–53, 136–
138, 230–234, 300–301). It also offers more revealing descriptions of the neuroimaging
techniques themselves and their role in the study of abnormal psychology (for example,
pages 94–95, 146–148, 232–233), using a stimulating array of brain scan photos (for
example, pages 374, 438) and enlightening anatomical art (pages 124, 138, 233, 374).