Download Breakdown of Psychological Disorders

Breakdown of Psychological Disorders
(For those of you who were as confused as I was on the quiz)
A psychological disorder is defined as deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional behavior patterns.
 Anxiety Disorders-psychological disorders characterized by distressing persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors
that reduce anxiety.

Generalized anxiety disorder-a person is unexplainably and continually tense and uneasy.

Panic disorder-person experiences sudden episodes of intense dread.

Phobias-person feels irrationally and intensely afraid of a specific abject or situation.

OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)-a person is troubled by repetitive thoughts or actions.

Post-traumatic stress disorder-a person has lingering memories, nightmares, and other symptoms for
weeks after a severely threatening, uncontrollable event.
(Study chart 14.2)
 Study the learning perspective and the biological perspective
 Somatoform Disorders- psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without
apparent physical cause.

Conversion Disorder-a rare somatoform disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine
physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found.

Hypochondriasis-a somatoform disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as
symptoms of a disease.
 Dissociative Disorders-disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous
memories, thoughts, and feelings.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)-a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more
distinct and alternating personalities. (formerly known as multiple personality disorder)

Dissociative Fugue-patients temporarily lose their sense of memory and personal identity and impulsively
wander or travel away from their homes or places of work. Fugue comes from the Latin for wander.
(formerly known as psychogenic fugue)

Dissociative Amnesia- occurs when a person blocks out certain information, usually associated with a
stressful or traumatic event, leaving him or her unable to remember important personal information. With
this disorder, the degree of memory loss goes beyond normal forgetfulness and includes gaps in memory
for long periods of time or of memories involving the traumatic event. (formerly psychogenic amnesia)
 Mood Disorders-psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes.

Major Depressive Disorder- a mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or a
medical condition, two or more weeks of significantly depressed moods, feelings o f worthlessness, and
diminished interest or pleasure in most activities.

Mania-a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state.

Bipolar Disorder-a mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of
depression and the overexcited state of mania. (formerly called manic-depressive disorder)
 Personality Disorders-psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair
social functioning.

Antisocial personality disorder-a personality disorder in which the person (usually a male) exhibits a lack of
conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members.
 Schizophrenia- a group of psychotic disorders, characterized by a general loss of contact with reality
Five areas of major disturbance:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Perception (hallucinations – imaginary sensory perception)
Language (word salad, neologisms->a newly coined word or expression)
Thoughts (psychosis- loss of reality, delusions – extreme mistaken beliefs)
Emotion (exaggerated or flat affect/mood)
Behavior [unusual actions (e.g., catalepsy – assume immobile stance, waxy flexibility – maintain given postures)]
 Substance-related disorder -abuse of, or dependence on, a mood or behavior-altering drug)