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Chapter 12:
Defining
Psychological Disorders
Amber Gilewski
Tompkins Cortland Community College
Abnormal Behavior
 The medical model
 What is abnormal behavior?
 Deviant
 Maladaptive
-Dysfunctional
-Causing personal distress
 A continuum of normal/abnormal
 Legal definition
 Violation of cultural standards
Psychodiagnosis:
The Classification of Disorders
 American Psychiatric Association
 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders – 5th ed. (DSM - 5)
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Potential problems with DSM
Dangers of overdiagnosis
Comorbidity
Power of diagnostic labels
Mental illness vs. normal problems
Illusion of objectivity
Beliefs change over time
Anxiety Disorders
 Generalized anxiety disorder
 “free-floating anxiety”
 Phobic disorder
 Specific focus of fear
 Panic disorder and agoraphobia: recurrent anxiety
attacks; may develop fear of going out
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 Obsessive compulsive disorder
 Obsessions- recurrent, unwanted thoughts
 Compulsions- actions to calm thoughts
 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: re-experiencing
past trauma in nightmares, flashbacks, etc.
Etiology of Anxiety Disorders
 Biological factors
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 Genetic predisposition, anxiety sensitivity
 GABA circuits in the brain
Conditioning and learning
 Acquired through classical conditioning or
observational learning
 Maintained through operant conditioning
Cognitive factors
 Judgments of perceived threat
Personality
 Neuroticism
Stress—a precipitator
Mood Disorders
 Major depressive disorder: extreme sadness, loss
of interest, lower self-esteem, somatic concerns, etc.
 Dysthymic disorder: milder, chronic form of
depression
 Bipolar disorder: one or more manic episodes with
periods of depression
 Cyclothymic disorder: milder, chronic form of
bipolar
 Etiology
 Genetic vulnerability
 Neurochemical factors
 Cognitive factors
 Interpersonal roots
 Precipitating stress
Schizophrenia
 General symptoms
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Delusions and irrational thought
Deterioration of adaptive behavior
Hallucinations
Disturbed emotions
Positive vs. negative & cognitive symptoms
 Prognostic factors: more favorable if onset is
sudden and later, good functioning prior to illness,
negative symptoms are low, good social supports
Etiology of Schizophrenia
 Genetic vulnerability
 Neurochemical factors
 Structural abnormalities of the brain
 The neurodevelopmental hypothesis
 Expressed emotion
 Precipitating stress
Personality Disorders
 Anxious-fearful/inhibited cluster
 Avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive
 Odd-eccentric cluster
 Schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid
 Dramatic-impulsive/erratic cluster
 Histrionic, narcissistic, borderline, antisocial
 Etiology
 Genetic/biological predispositions, inadequate
socialization in dysfunctional families, sociocultural
(fragmented society)
Table 14.2 Personality Disorders