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PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
Unit 4
WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISORDERS?
Section I
WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS?

A man living in the Ozark Mountains
has a vision in which God speaks to
him. He begins preaching to his
relatives and neighbors, and soon he
has the whole town in a state of
religious fervor. People say he has a
“calling.” His reputation as a prophet
and healer spreads, and in time he is
drawing large audiences everywhere
he goes. However, when he ventures
into St. Louis and attempts to hold a
prayer meeting, blocking traffic on a
main street at rush hour, he is
arrested. He tells the policemen
about his conversations with God,
and they hurry him off to the nearest
mental hospital.
DEFINING & IDENTIFYING
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

What is normal? (Who
defines that?)

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Does different mean
mental illness?
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Poll Question
Certainly a teenager who
uses drugs to “fit in” with
his friends has problems,
right?
How then do we define
abnormality?
DEVIATION FROM NORMALITY

One approach is to say
whatever most people do is
normal

Abnormality then becomes
deviation from the average or
from the majority

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It’s normal to shower every day,
express grief at the
death of a loved one, and wear
warm clothes when
going outside in the cold
It then would be abnormal to take
10 showers per day, laugh at the
death of a loved one, and wear
your bathing suit in the snow
Cultural context of behavior
must be considered
ADJUSTMENT

Normal people are able to get along in the world
Physically
 Emotionally
 Socially

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Abnormal people then are those who fail to
adjust
PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH

“Mental illness or “mental health” imply that
psychological disturbance or abnormality is like a
physical sickness – such as the flu or tuberculosis


Idea is that there is some “ideal” way for people to
function psychologically
Self-Actualization (Maslow & Jung)
These people are at least striving toward ideal
functioning
 Full acceptance and expression of one’s own
individuality and humanness

How can you tell if a person is actualizing
themselves?
 Abnormal people are mentally ill

PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH
Since definitions of abnormality are somewhat
arbitrary, some theorists have concluded that
labeling a person as mentally ill simply because
his or her behavior is odd is a mistake as well as
cruel and irresponsible.
 What areas does someone have to adjust to be
considered normal?

Physical
 Emotional
 Social
 All of the above

PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH

Thomas Szasz: Mentally ill are not ill at all

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Szasz says that psychiatrists label patients as
sick and sent them off to hospitals with societies
norms remaining unchallenged

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They have “problems living”
Argues that patients are the ones that lose by being
labeled abnormal and deprived of responsibility for
their behavior and dignity as human beings
Szasz is in the minority
Just because it is difficult to define abnormal
doesn’t mean it does not exist – what it means is
that we have to be careful when judging a person
as mentally ill because a person might behave in
a way we might not understand
PROBLEM OF CLASSIFICATION

People assume that abnormal behavior can be
described much like any physical illness


This is difficult
In 1952 the American Psychiatric Association
agreed upon a system for classifying abnormal
symptoms, which it published in the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or
DSM.
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DSM (1952)
DSM II (1968)
DSM III (1987)
DSM IV (1994)
DSM V (2013)
PROBLEM OF CLASSIFICATION

New ways of categorizing mental illness:
Essential Features: characteristics that define the
disorder
 Associated Features: additional features that are
usually present
 Differential Diagnosis: how to distinguish this
disorder from other disorders which it might be
confused
 Diagnostic Criteria: a list of symptoms taken from
the list of essential and associated features, that
must be present for the patient to be given a
particular diagnostic label

PROBLEM OF CLASSIFICATION

5 major dimensions, or axes, describe a persons
mental functioning:
• Axis I—used to classify current symptoms into
explicitly defined categories.
•
•
•
•
Axis II—used to describe developmental
disorders and long-standing personality
disorders or maladaptive traits.
Axis III—used to describe physical disorders or
general medical conditions that are potentially
relevant to understanding or caring for the person.
Axis IV—used to measure the current stress
level at which the person is functioning.
Axis V—used to describe the highest level of
adaptive functioning present within the past
year.
ADAPTIVE FUNCTIONING

Three major areas of adaptive functioning:
– Social relations
–
Occupational functioning
–
Use of leisure time