Download Personality Disorders

Psychological
Disorders
What are Psychological
Disorders?
Anxiety Disorders
Dissociative and
Somatoform Disorders
Mood Disorders
Schizophrenia
Personality Disorders
What are Psychological
Disorders?
What Are Psychological Disorders?
• Behaviors or mental processes that
are connected with various kinds of
distress or impaired functioning.
However they are not expectable
responses to specific events.
What Are Psychological Disorders?
• Psychological Disorders range from relatively
mild disorders (such as adjustment disorders)
to more severe and chronic disorders, such
as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
• Adjustment disorder: A maladaptive reaction
to one or more identified stressors that occurs
shortly following exposure to the stressor(s)
and causes signs of distress beyond that
which would be normally expected or
impaired functioning.
Criteria for Determining Abnormal
Behavior
• 1. Unusualness
• 2. Faulty perception or interpretation of reality
• 3. Significant personal distress
• 4. Self-defeating behavior
• 5. Dangerousness
• 6. Social unacceptability in a given culture
Classifying Psychological Disorders
• Psychological disorders are
classified via the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual 4th Edition –Text
Revision (DSM-IV-TR).
• The DSM-IV-TR uses a multiaxial
system of assessment. It provides
information about a person’s overall
functioning (not just a diagnosis).
Prevalence of Psychological
Disorders
.
Anxiety Disorders
PHOBIAS
• Specific Phobia: an excessive, irrational fear of a
specific object or situation, such as snakes or
heights. Examples include claustrophobia (fear of
tight or enclosed spaces) and acrophobia (fear of
heights).
• Social Phobia: Also called Social Anxiety Disorder, a
social phobia is a persistent fear of social interactions
in which one might be scrutinized or judged
negatively by others.
• Agoraphobia: Fear of open or crowded places.
Panic Disorder
• Panic Disorder: The recurrent experiencing of attacks of
extreme anxiety in the absence of external stimuli that usually
elicit anxiety.
• These attacks seem to come “out of the blue” but may become
associated with certain cues over time.
• Panic disorders are characterized by strong physical symptoms
such as shortness of breath, heavy sweating, tremors, and
pounding of the heart.
• Investigators estimate that 1% to 4% of the U.S. adult population
is affected by panic disorder at some point in their lives.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A psychological disorder
involving persistent feelings of worry accompanied by states of
bodily tension and heightened arousal.
• The central feature of generalized anxiety disorder is a general
state of anxiety that becomes expressed in the form of
persistent worrying.
• The anxiety is not focused on a specific object, situation or
activity.
• Symptoms may include motor tension, autonomic overarousal,
feelings of dread and foreboding and excessive worrying and
vigilance.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A disorder
characterized by the presence of obsessions,
compulsions or both.
• OBSESSION: A recurring thought or image that
seems beyond one’s ability to control.
• COMPULSION: An apparently irresistible urge to
repeat an act or engage in ritualistic behavior such as
hand washing.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
and Acute Stress Disorder
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A prolonged
maladaptive reaction to a traumatic event that is
characterized by intense fear, avoidance of stimuli
associated with the event, and re-living of the event.
• Exposure to trauma in the form of physical attacks,
combat, medical emergencies, accidents, terrorist attacks
or witnessing a death can lead to PTSD.
• PTSD may not begin for many months or years after the
trauma, but it may last for years or even decades
afterward.
• Acute Stress Disorder: Characterized by feelings of
intense anxiety and feelings of helplessness during the
first month following exposure to a traumatic event.
Women and PTSD
Notice the difference between noncriminal and criminal trauma…
Causal Factors in Anxiety Disorders.
• Psychological Views: Learning theorists would point out that
some phobias may be learned on the basis of classical
conditioning and by observational learning. Psychodynamic
theorists believe that phobias symbolize unconscious conflicts
originating in childhood. Cognitive theorists suggest that anxiety
is maintained by exaggerating the consequences of threatening
events.
• Biological Views: There is much evidence to support the role
that biological factors play in anxiety disorders. For example,
Genetic factors may account for faulty regulation of levels of
serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain, leading to unusually
high levels of anxiety in response to particular threats.
• Ultimately though, while genetics may cause a tendency
towards certain disorders, whether the person actually develops
the disorder depends on many other factors (such as a warm
and loving family, level of stressful events, coping ability, etc.).
Dissociative and
Somatoform Disorders
Dissociative and Somatoform
• Dissociative Disorders: A class of
psychological disorders involving
changes in consciousness or selfidentity.
• Somatoform Disorders: A class of
psychological disorders in which people
have physical complaints that cannot be
explained medically or attribute their
physical problems to grave causes
despite assurances to the contrary.
Dissociative Disorders
• Dissociative Amnesia: A dissociative disorder
marked by loss of personal memories or self-identity;
skills and general knowledge are usually retained.
The loss of memory is not due to an organic problem
(such as a blow to the head). Examples include a
soldier who, following a stressful combat experience,
cannot remember what happened for several hours.
• Dissociative Fugue: Dissociative disorder in which
one experiences amnesia, then flees to a new
location. The new personality is often more outgoing
than the “real” identity. Following recovery, the
events are not recalled.
Dissociative Disorders
• Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Disorder in
which a person appears to have two or more distinct
identities which may alternate in controlling them.
Some psychologists feel that people with DID have
constructed these alternate personalities as roles
they play to act out confusing emotions.
• Depersonalization Disorder: A dissociative disorder in
which one experiences persistent or recurrent
feelings that one is not real or is detached from one’s
own experiences or body.
Causal Factors in Dissociative
Disorders
• There is much debate as to whether dissociative disorders even
exist. Some feel that people who have been diagnosed with
dissociative disorders are simply faking their symptoms.
• The great majority of people who have been diagnosed with
dissociative disorders have suffered terrible sexual or physical
abuse in childhood, usually before the age of 5.
• Psychodynamic theorists believe the dissociative disorders are
a result of massive repression while learning theorists believe
that people with dissociative disorders have learned to redirect
their thinking away from troubling memories in order to avoid
feelings of shame, anxiety and guilt.
Somatoform Disorders
• Conversion Disorder: A disorder in which
anxiety or unconscious conflicts are
“converted” into physical symptoms that often
have the effect of helping the person cope
with anxiety or conflict.
• Hypochondriasis: A disorder characterized by
the persistent belief that one has a serious
medical disorder despite lack of medical
finding.
Causal Factors in Somatoform
Disorders
• Psychodynamic theory: Hysterical symptoms
symbolize underlying psychological conflict.
• Learning theory: Conversion symptoms represent
learned responses that are reinforced by avoidance
of painful or anxiety-evoking situations.
• Cognitive factors: Evidence is emerging that points to
cognitive factors such as distorted thinking patterns.
Mood Disorders
Mood Disorders
• Major Depression: A mood disorder in which the
person may have a dampened mood, changes in
appetite and sleep patterns, and lack of interest or
pleasure. In extreme cases, people suffering from
major depression may experience psychotic
behaviors.
• Psychotic: Relating to a break with reality, as
manifested by delusional thinking or hallucinations.
Mood Disorders
• Women are two times more
likely to be diagnosed with
depression than men.
• Women have greater stress
than men (multiple demands
of childbearing, childrearing
and financial support of the
family).
• Hormonal differences can
also contribute to the
differences between men
and women.
Mood Disorders
• Bipolar Disorder: A mood disorder in which mood alternates
between two extreme poles (elation or manic and depression).
• In the manic phase, the person may show excessive excitement
or silliness, engage in risky behaviors, experience a flight of
ideas and speak very rapidly.
• In the depression phase, people have a downcast mood, often
sleep more than usual, and feel lethargic.
• In order to avoid the depressive phase, some people suffer from
bipolar disorder may attempt suicide when the mood shifts from
elation towards depression.
Causal Factors in Mood Disorders
• Psychological Factors: From the psychodynamic
perspective, depression is anger turned inward.
Learning theorists suggest that depressed people lack
sufficient reinforcement in their lives to maintain their
mood and behavior. Finally, cognitive theorists believe
that the ways we interpret life events leads to emotional
disorders such as depression.
• Biological Factors: Evidence suggests an important role
for genetic factors in major depression and bipolar
disorder. Research has identified irregularities in the
use of serotonin in the brain (Prozac works to increase
the level of serotonin in the brain).
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia: A severe and persistent psychological disorder
characterized by a break with reality, disturbances in thinking,
and a disturbed behavior and emotional responses.
• About 2.5 million Americans are diagnosed with schizophrenia,
with about 1 in 3 requiring hospitalization.
• People with schizophrenia have problems with memory,
attention and communication. Their thinking becomes
unraveled and their speech jumbled.
• Many people with schizophrenia have delusions. Others may
enter a stuporous state or become wildly agitated.
Schizophrenia
• Paranoid Schizophrenia: A type of schizophrenia characterized
primarily by delusions—commonly of persecution—and by vivid
hallucinations.
• Disorganized Schizophrenia: A type of schizophrenia
characterized by incoherent speech, disorganized or
fragmentary delusions, and vivid hallucinations.
• Catatonic Schizophrenia: A type of schizophrenia characterized
by striking impairment of motor activity. These individuals may
show waxy flexibility and/or mutism.
Causal Factors in Schizophrenia
• Genetic Factors: Heredity plays a key role in
schizophrenia. The more closely related two people are
by blood, the more likely they are to share the disorder.
• Other Biological Factors: Complications during
childbirth, being born during the winter (predictive of
viral infection) and poor maternal nutrition are also
linked to schizophrenia.
• Dopamine Theory: According to the dopamine theory,
people with schizophrenia overutilize the
neurotransmitter dopamine.
The Diathesis-Stress Model of
Schizophrenia
Personality Disorders
Personality Disorders
• Personality Disorders: Enduring patterns of
maladaptive behaviors that are sources of distress to
the individual or others.
• Personality disorders cause difficulties in social,
personal or occupational functioning.
• The DSM-IV-TR lists 10 specific types of personality
disorders that are organized in three clusters: Odd or
eccentric behavior, Behavior that is overly dramatic,
emotional or erratic and behavior that is anxious or
fearful.
CLUSTER A
Personality Disorders
• Paranoid personality disorder: A personality disorder
characterized by persistent suspiciousness, but not
involving the disorganization of paranoid schizophrenia.
• Schizoid personality disorder: A personality disorder
characterized by social detachment or isolation.
• Schizotypal personality disorder: A personality disorder
characterized by oddities of thought and behavior, but
not involving bizarre behaviors associated with
schizophrenia.
CLUSTER B
Personality Disorders (cont.)
•
Borderline Personality Disorder: A personality disorder
characterized by failure to develop a stable self-image, by a pattern of
tumultuous moods and stormy relationships with others, and by
difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors.
•
Histrionic Personality Disorder: A personality disorder characterized
by overly dramatic and emotional behavior; by excessive needs to bet
he center of attention; and by constant demands for reassurance,
praise, and approval.
•
Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A personality disorder
characterized by an inflated or grandiose self-image and extreme
needs for admiration.
•
Antisocial Personality Disorder: A personality disorder characterized
by a pattern of antisocial and irresponsible behavior, a flagrant
disregard for the interests and feelings of others, and lack of remorse
for wrongdoing.
CLUSTER C
Personality Disorders
• Avoidant personality disorder: A personality disorder in
which the person is generally unwilling to enter
relationships without assurance of acceptance because of
extreme fears of rejection and criticism.
• Dependent personality disorder: A personality disorder
characterized by excessive dependence on others and
difficulties making independent decisions.
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: A personality
disorder described by excessive needs for attention to
detail and demands for orderliness, as well as
perfectionism and highly rigid ways of relating to others.
Causal Factors in Personality
Disorders
• Most of the theoretical explanations come from the
psychodynamic model. Traditional Freudian theory focuses
upon faulty resolution of the Oedipal complex.
• Learning theorists suggest the childhood experiences can
contribute to maladaptive ways of relating to others in
adulthood.
• Cognitive theorists find that antisocial adolescents interpret
social information in ways the bolster their misdeeds.
• Genetic factors are implicated in some personality disorders
such as schizoid personality disorder.
Preventing Suicide
Preventing Suicide
• Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death in the United
States.
• Most suicides are linked to mood disorders,
especially depression and bipolar disorder. Other
factors include feelings of hopelessness, serious
medical illness and schizophrenia.
• High risk groups include teenagers and young adults,
college students, women, European Americans
(versus African Americans), Native-American
teenagers and older people who are separated or
divorced.
Tips if a person refuses to seek help:
• Keep the person talking.
• Be a good listener.
• Suggest that something other than suicide might
solve the problem, even if it is not evident at the time.
• Emphasize as concretely as possible how the
person’s suicide would be devastating to you and to
other people who care.
• Ask how the person intends to commit suicide.
• Do not tell people threatening suicide that they’re
acting stupid or crazy.
• Suggest that the person go with you to obtain
professional help now.
To the Instructor:
• The preceding slides are intended to provide
you a base upon which to build your
presentation for Chapter 8 of Nevid’s
Psychology and the Challenges of Life.
• For further student and instructor resources
including images from the textbook, quizzes,
flashcard activities and e-Grade plus, please
visit our website: www.wiley.com/college/nevid
Copyright
Copyright 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York,
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