Download Chapter 1 - Human Resourcefulness Consulting

Chapter 12 Overview





Defining psychological disorders
Anxiety disorders
Mood disorders
Schizophrenia
Other psychological disorders
Defining Psychological
Disorders

Mental processes and/or behavior
patterns that cause emotional distress
and/or substantial impairment in
functioning
What criteria can be used to
determine whether behavior is
abnormal?

Behavior may be considered abnormal if
– It is considered strange within a person’s own
culture
– It causes personal distress
– It is maladaptive
– It is a danger to the self or others
– A person is not legally responsible for his or her
acts
How do clinicians use the DSM-IVTR?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)

provides a system for diagnosing and
classifying psychological disorders
It describes about 300 specific disorders and
organizes them into categories
How prevalent are psychological
disorders?
Lifetime prevalence of
psychological disorders
What are the theoretical approaches
that attempt to explain the causes of
psychological disorders?

Biological perspective
– Abnormal behavior arises from a physical cause
– Biological treatments, such as drug therapy, are favored

Biopsychosocial perspective
– Psychological disorders result from a combination of
biological, psychological, and social causes
– Treatments that include drugs and psychotherapy are
employed

Psychodynamic perspective
– Psychological disorders stem from childhood experiences
and unresolved, unconscious conflicts
– Treatment involves psychoanalysis
What are the theoretical approaches
that attempt to explain the causes of
psychological disorders?

Learning perspective
– Abnormal thoughts and behaviors are learned and
sustained like any other behaviors
– Treatment uses classical and operant conditioning and
modeling to extinguish maladaptive behavior and increase
adaptive behavior

Cognitive perspective
– Faulty thinking and distorted perceptions can cause
psychological disorders
– Treatment tries to change faulty, irrational, and/or
negative thinking
Schizophrenia

A severe psychological disorder
characterized by loss of contact with
reality, hallucinations, delusions,
inappropriate or flat affect, some
disturbance in thinking, social
withdrawal, and/or other bizarre
behavior
What are the positive and negative
symptoms of schizophrenia?

Positive symptoms are abnormal
behaviors that are present in people with
schizophrenia
– Hallucinations
– Delusions
– Delusion of grandeur
– Delusions of persecution
– Disorganized behavior
– Inappropriate affect
What are the positive and negative
symptoms of schizophrenia?

A Negative symptom is a loss or
deficiency in thought or behavior that is
characteristic of normal functioning
–
–
–
–
–
–
Social withdrawal
Apathy
Loss of motivation
Flat affect
Limited speech and slow movements
Poor hygiene and grooming
What are the four types of
schizophrenia?

Paranoid schizophrenia
– Characterized by delusions of grandeur and
delusions of persecution

Disorganized schizophrenia
– Characterized by extreme social withdrawal,
hallucinations, delusions, and bizarre behavior

Catatonic schizophrenia
– Characterized by complete stillness or great
excitement and agitation

Undifferentiated schizophrenia
– Term used when schizophrenic symptoms are
present, but do not conform to the criteria of
any one type
What factors increase the risk of
developing schizophrenia?


There is probably no single cause of
schizophrenia
Instead, several factors interact to produce
schizophrenia, including:
– Constitutional vulnerability
– Stress
– Neuromaturational processes
Anxiety Disorders


Psychological disorders characterized
by frequent fearful thoughts about
what might happen in the future
The most common category of
psychological disorders
– Accounting for more than 4 million visits
to doctor’s offices in the US each year
What are the characteristics of
panic attacks and agoraphobia?

Panic attack
– An episode of overwhelming anxiety, fear, or
terror
– The brains of panic-attack sufferers respond to
normal changes in the body as if they were life
threatening

Agoraphobia
– Intense fear of being in a situation from which
escape is not possible if one experiences
overwhelming anxiety or a panic attack
– Often begins with repeated panic attacks
– People with agoraphobia sometimes plan their
entire lives around avoiding feared situations
How do the symptoms of four
common anxiety disorders differ?

Generalized anxiety disorder
– Disorder involving chronic, excessive worry for
six months or more

Panic disorder
– Disorder in which a person experiences
recurring, unpredictable episodes of
overwhelming anxiety, fear, or terror
How do the symptoms of four
common anxiety disorders differ?

A phobia is a persistent, irrational fear of some
object, situation, or activity that poses little or no
real danger
– Social phobia

Fear and avoidance of any social or performance situation in
which one might embarrass or humiliate oneself in front of
others
– Specific phobia is a fear of a specific object or situation,
a general label for any phobia other than agoraphobia or
social phobia

Categories of specific phobias
–
–
–
–
Situational phobias
Fear of the natural environment
Animal phobias
Blood, injection, injury phobias
What thought and behavior
patterns are associated with
obsessive-compulsive disorder?


Disorder in which a person suffers from
recurrent obsessions and/or compulsions
Obsession
– A persistent, involuntary thought, image, or
impulse that causes great distress

Compulsion
– A persistent, irresistible, and irrational urge to
perform an act or ritual repeatedly
– Compulsions often involve cleaning and washing,
counting, checking, touching objects, hoarding,
or excessive organizing
Mood Disorders

Disorders characterized by extreme
and unwarranted disturbances in
emotion or mood
What are the symptoms of major
depressive disorder?

A mood disorder marked by feelings of
great sadness, despair, and hopelessness as
well as loss of the ability to feel pleasure
– Symptoms also include changes in appetite,
weight, and sleep patterns, and difficulty
thinking or concentrating
What are the extremes of mood
suffered by those with bipolar
disorder?

A mood disorder in which manic episodes
alternate with periods of depression, usually
with relatively normal periods in between
– Manic episodes are periods of excessive
euphoria, inflated self-esteem, wild optimism,
and hyperactivity, often accompanied by
delusions of grandeur and by hostility if activity
is blocked
What are some risk factors for
mood disorders?



A small area in the prefrontal cortex, that
plays a role in controlling emotions, is
smaller than normal in people with major
depression
Abnormal levels of serotonin are strongly
linked to depression
People suffering from mood disorders have
abnormal production, transport, and
reuptake patterns for dopamine, GABA, and
norepinephrine
What are some risk factors for
mood disorders?

Heredity plays a role in mood disorders
– Twin studies indicate a genetic bases for bipolar
disorder and major depression

Life stresses are also associated with
depression
– The majority of first episodes of depression
strike after major life stress
What are some risk factors for
mood disorders?


Prevalence of
depression varies
greatly across
cultures
Prevalence rates also
differ between men
and women
– In most countries,
rate of depression in
females is about
twice that for males
Lifetime Risk for developing
depression in 10 countries
What are some of the risk factors
for suicide?




Depression, schizophrenia, substance
abuse, and a family history of suicide
Risk of suicide also increases when people
are exposed to major life stressors
Older white males commit suicide more
often than members of other race or age
groups
Women are more likely to attempt suicide,
but men are more likely to succeed
Differences in suicide rates
according to race, gender, and age
Other Psychological
Disorders




Somatoform disorders
Dissociative disorders
Sexual disorders
Personality disorders
What are two somatoform
disorders, and what symptoms do
they share?


Disorders in which physical symptoms are
present that are due to psychological causes
rather than any known medical condition
Hypochondriasis
– Characterized by excessive concern about one’s
health and fear that normal physical symptoms
are signs of serious disease

Conversion disorder
– Disorder in which one suffers a loss of sensory
or motor functioning which has no physical
cause
How do the various dissociative
disorders affect behavior?


Disorders in which consciousness becomes
dissociated from a person’s identity and/or
his or her memories
Dissociative amnesia
– A complete or partial loss of the ability to recall
personal information and/or past experiences

Dissociative fugue
– Complete loss of memory of one’s entire identity
and traveling away from home

Often involves assuming a new identity
How do the various dissociative
disorders affect behavior?

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a
disorder in which two or more distinct
personalities occur in the same person
– A host personality
– Alter personalities

DID, like other dissociative disorders,
seems to be a response to unbearable
stress
– Among DID patients, at least 95% have history
of severe physical and/or sexual abuse
What are the main characteristics
of the various sexual disorders?

Sexual disorders are disorders with a
sexual basis that are destructive, guilt- or
anxiety-producing, compulsive, or a cause
of discomfort or harm to one or both parties
involved

Sexual dysfunctions
– Persistent and distressing problems involving
sexual desire, sexual arousal, or the pleasure
associated with sex or orgasm
What are the main characteristics
of the various sexual disorders?

Paraphilias
– Recurrent sexual urges, fantasies, or behavior
involving nonhuman objects, children, other
nonconsenting persons, or the suffering or
humiliation of the person or his or her partner

Gender identity disorder
– A problem accepting one’s identity as male or
female
What behaviors are associated with
personality disorders in Clusters A,
B and C?


A personality disorder is a long-standing,
inflexible, maladaptive pattern of behavior and
relating to others, which usually begins in early
childhood or adolescence
The DSM-IV-TR groups personality disorders into
clusters
– Cluster A

Characterized by odd behavior, such as extreme
suspiciousness
– Cluster B

Characterized by erratic, overly dramatic behavior
– Cluster C

Characterized by intense feelings of anxiety