Download Chapter12 - J. Randall Price, Ph.D.

Core Concept 12-1
• Psychological disorders are seen as
diseases by the medical model, while
psychology prefers an interaction of
nature and nurture.
Psychopathology
• Pattern of emotions, behaviors, or thoughts
inappropriate to the situation and leading to
either personal distress or inability to
function effectively
• Also called:
– mental illness
– mental disorder
– psychological disorder
Normal v. Abnormal
Telling the difference not easy.
• Abnormality is relative and varies
with both historical time and
culture.
• Severe psychological disorders
easier to identify.
•
Hallucinations
• False sensory
experiences
• Example: hearing the
voice of God giving
commands to behave
in bizarre fashion
Delusions
• Disordered thinking
involving persistent
false beliefs
• Examples: persecution
or grandiosity
Severe Emotions
• Depression
• Mania
• Lack of all emotions
Continuum of Psychopathology
|_____________________________|
None Mild Moderate Severe
Neurosis v. Psychosis
• Outdated but useful concepts
• Neurosis--unhappy and ineffective but not
out of touch with reality or dangerously ill.
• Psychosis--profound disturbance in
perception, rational thinking, and emotions.
History of Mental Illness
• Ancient World--mind possessed by demons and
spirits.
• Hippocrates (400 B.C.)
– abnormal behavior due to physical causes
– began the medical model of mental illness
– Imbalance of four body humors
• Middle Ages--devil and witchcraft again
• Medical model returns in 18th century
Ancient World
• Explanation of
psychopathologymind possessed by
demons and spirits
Hippocrates
• Psychopathology due
to physical causes
• Began the medical
model of mental
illness
• Imbalance of body
“humors”
Body Humor Theory
Middle Ages
• Devil and witchcraft
again used to explain
mental illness
• “Cure” was torture-drive out the devil.
Ergot
• A fungus that infects
rye grass
• Contains lysergic acid
(like LSD)
• Hallucinogenic
• Salem witches likely
affected by ergot
Medical Model
• Returns in 18th
Century
• Diseases of mind have
medical causes
• Led to sweeping
reforms in treatment
of mental illness
Insane Asylums
• Humane treatment
based on rest,
contemplation, and
simple work.
• Became overcrowded
warehouses
Problems with Medical Model
• “doctor-knows-all” leads to passive patients
• over reliance on drug therapy
• no increase in coping skills
Psychological Models
• Behavioral-abnormal behaviors learned
• Cognitive-abnormal behaviors influenced
by how people think of themselves and
others
• Social-abnormal behavior occurs in a social
contex
• Biological-genetic factors and brain
dysfunction contribute
Indicators of Abnormality
•
•
•
•
•
distress
maladaptiveness
irrationality
unpredictable behavior
unconventional behavior
Core Concept 12-2
• The DSM-IV, the most widely used
system, classifies disorders by their
mental and behavioral symptoms.
Classification of Disorders
• Diagnostic and
Statistical ManualFourth Edition (DSM-IV)
• Classifies disorders by
mental and behavioral
symptoms
• Widely accepted
• More than 300
disorders
Classes of Disorders
•
•
•
•
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Mood Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Schizophrenic Disorders
Personality Disorders
Many others
Mood Disorders
• Abnormal disturbances in emotion or mood,
also called affective disorders.
• Major Depression
• Bipolar Disorder
Depression
• Lifetime risk of 5.2% of having a
depressive episode.
• Major Depression--extreme sadness, loss of
enjoyment, sleep and appetite problems,
loss of energy, difficulty concentrating,
thoughts of death.
• Dysthymia--mild depression
Bipolar Disorder
• Alternating periods of mania and
depression.
• Manic Phase--euphoric, energetic,
hyperactive, talkative, and excited.
• Usually responds well to medication.
Schizophrenia
• A psychotic disorder involving distortions
in thoughts, perceptions, and emotions.
• Incidence of 1% with first episode almost
always in late adolescence or early
adulthood.
• State psychiatric hospitals--40% of patients
have schizophrenia.
Disorganized Type
•
•
•
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Incoherent speech
Hallucinations
Delusions
Bizarre behavior.
Paranoid Type
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•
•
•
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Delusions of persecution or grandiosity
Hallucinations
No incoherence
Withdrawn
Flat affect
Personality Disorders
• Not a mental disorder
• A long-standing personality pattern
• Leads to maladpative behavior, disrupted
social relationships, poor impulse control.
• Very chronic, pervasive, inflexible.
Examples
• Narcissistic--feels entitled, needs constant
attention or admiration.
• Borderline--very unstable patterns.
• Antisocial--pattern of irresponsible behavior
and lack of conscience.
Core Concept 12-3
• Ideally, accurate diagnoses lead to proper
treatments, but diagnoses may also become
labels that depersonalize individuals and ignore
the social and cultural contexts in which their
problems arise.
Labeling People
• Ideally,diagnosis may become a label with
negative consequences--a stigma.
• Rosenhan Study of pseudopatients
Insanity Plea
• A legal not psychological concept--person
found not guilty by reason of insanity is not
held responsible for their criminal conduct.
• Myths about the insanity plea abound.
• In Texas, a severe mental disorder that
prevented the person from knowing right
from wrong.