Download AbnormalPsych - WordPress.com

Abnormal Psychology
Medical Studentitis:
• A form of “hypochondriasis” can occur when
•
•
•
•
learning about abnormal psychology.
You may find that some of the symptoms we
discuss in this chapter sound like something you
have experienced.
This is normal; happens with medical students,
too!
Note, though, that all psychological disorders
involve exaggerations of normal tendencies.
If you can answer, “no” to the question, “Is this out
of the norm for me?”, then you probably do not
have a disorder! 
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
What is Psychological
Disorder?
 Psychopathology –
Any pattern of emotions, behaviors, or thoughts
inappropriate to the situation and leading to
personal distress or the inability to achieve
important goals
Synonymous terms include:

Mental illness
 Mental disorder
 Psychological disorder

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Classifications
 DSM 5

Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental
Disorders; the most widely
accepted classification
system in the United
States – recently revised
 Anxiety Disorders
 OCD
 PTSD
 Mood Disorders
 Schizophrenia
 Dissociative Disorders
 Personality Disorders
 Somatoform Disorders
 Developmental Disorders
Anxiety Disorder
 Generalized Anxiety
Disorder

Unexplainably and
continually tense and
uneasy
 Panic Disorder

Experience sudden
episodes of intense dread
 Phobias


Intense and irrational fear
of specific object or
situation
Agoraphobia – fear of
public places/open spaces
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
 OCD
 Condition characterized
by patterns of persistent,
unwanted thoughts and
behaviors
 New category in DSM 5
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
 PTSD
 Lingering nightmares,
memories or other
symptoms for weeks
after a serious
uncontrollable event
 New category in DSM 5
Mood Disorders
 Major Depressive
Disorder


Form of depression that
does not alternate with
mania
Seasonal Affective
Disorder (SAD)

Believed to be caused by
deprivation of sunlight
 Bipolar Disorder


Mental abnormality
involving swings of mood
from mania to depression
Mania – exaggerated
highs
Schizophrenia
 Disorder involving
distortions in thoughts,
perceptions, and/or
emotions
 Usually strikes in late
teens
Major Types of Schizophrenia
Disorganized
Catatonic
Paranoid
Undifferentiated
Positive
Negative
Major Types of Schizophrenia
Disorganized
Catatonic
Paranoid
Undifferentiated
 Features incoherent
speech, hallucinations,
delusions, and bizarre
behavior
 Word salad
 This morning when I was at Hillside
[Hospital], I was making a movie. I
was surrounded by movie stars …
I’m Marry Poppins. Is this room
painted blue to get me upset? My
grandmother died four weeks after
my eighteenth birthday.”
Major Types of Schizophrenia
Disorganized
Catatonic
Paranoid
Undifferentiated
 Motionless for long
periods of time or appear
to be melting wax statue
 video
Major Types of Schizophrenia
Disorganized
Catatonic
Paranoid
Undifferentiated
 Prominent feature:
combination of delusions
and hallucinations
 video
Major Types of Schizophrenia
Disorganized
Catatonic
Paranoid
Undifferentiated
 Persons displaying a
combination of symptoms
that do not clearly fit in one
of the other categories
Major Types of Schizophrenia
Positive
Schizophrenia
Negative
Schizophrenia
 Any form in which the
person displays active
symptoms
(e.g. delusions,
hallucinations)
Major Types of Schizophrenia
Positive
Symptoms
Negative
Symptoms
 Any form distinguished by
deficits, such as withdrawal
and poverty of thought
processes
 video