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From Normality to Pathology: In Defense of Continuity

Petrolini, Valentina, M.A.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7666-2391
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1512039329916506

Abstract Details

2017, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Philosophy.
In this project I elaborate and defend a dimensional model of the relationship between mental normality and pathology, which I dub Continuity Thesis (CT). Throughout the dissertation I set out to accomplish two goals. First, I make space for a dimensional approach in philosophy of psychiatry by presenting a model that is compelling and worth taking seriously as a viable alternative to the more popular categorical counterpart. Second, I flesh out a more precise and non-arbitrary notion of what it means to be vulnerable to a mental disorder. This allows me to counter categorical approaches by showing that the cut-off point between normality and pathology is extremely hard to pin down. The project is divided into three large sections. In the first section (“Background”), I lay the groundwork for a dimensional model of mental disorders. I start by exploring an important historical precedent of CT, namely the psychodynamic account developed by Freud. In the second section (“Strong Continuity”), I start building my dimensional model by proposing to see mental disorders as disruptions of four dimensions of functioning (i.e. salience, confidence, familiarity, and agency). Each of these dimensions represents a different way in which the relationship between individual and environment may be modulated. Mental disorders are thus seen as disruptions of these self-world relations, or as ways in which one’s experience of the world can be altered. In the third section (“Meaningful Difference”), I turn more explicitly to the notion of vulnerability and I focus on intermediate cases to uncover their crucial role in the transition from normality to pathology. I discuss a number of case studies where people are imbalanced on one of the dimensions but still fail to qualify as disordered, and I explain what distinguishes them from their pathological counterpart. By introducing the notions of risk and protective factors I also outline a model of how the transition between vulnerable states and full-blown pathology may occur.
Heidi Maibom, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Johannes Brandl, AoS (Committee Member)
Peter Langland-Hassan, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Thomas Polger, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
229 p.
Philosophy
psychiatry; mental disorders; schizophrenia; depression; dimensional; categorical

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Petrolini, M.A., V. (2017). From Normality to Pathology: In Defense of Continuity [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1512039329916506

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Petrolini, M.A., Valentina. From Normality to Pathology: In Defense of Continuity. 2017. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1512039329916506.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Petrolini, M.A., Valentina. "From Normality to Pathology: In Defense of Continuity." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1512039329916506

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1512039329916506
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© 2017, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License From Normality to Pathology: In Defense of Continuity by Valentina Petrolini M.A. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.