Download Psychological Disorders

Psychological Disorders
An Introduction
Stolen from www.appsychology.com
What is a Psychological Disorder?
• A “harmful dysfunction” in which behavior is
judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive
and unjustifiable.
All this depends on:
•Culture
Is playing video games 5 hours per
day a disorder?
•Time Period
•Environmental Conditions
•Individual Person
Defining Psychological disorders
• A more simple definition:
– Patterns of feelings, thoughts, or behaviors that
are deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional
– Deviant and distressful behaviors can exist W/OUT
being classified as disordered behavior
– Disordered classification often relies on
dysfunction (they must become disabling)
Explaining Mental Disorders?
• Medical Perspective: psychological disorders
are sicknesses and can be diagnosed, treated
and cured.
Current Perspectives
• Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective: assumes
biological, psychological and sociocultural
factors combine to interact causing
psychological disorders.
Used to be called Diathesis-Stress Model:
diathesis meaning predisposition and stress
meaning environment.
Classifying Psychological Disorders
• What is the DSM-IV?
Diagnostic Statistical
Manual of Mental
Disorders: the book to
classify mental
disorders
• In 2012- updated
version = DSM V
Two Major Classifications:
Two Major Classifications in the
DSM
Neurotic Disorders
• Distressing but one can
still function in society
and act rationally.
Psychotic Disorders
• Person loses contact
with reality,
experiences distorted
perceptions.
The DSM
• 16 clinical syndromes
• Classification system describes disorders
symptoms and also predicts future behaviors, in
order to provide a better diagnosis and treatment
plan
• Categories and guidelines must be reliable- what
does that mean?
• Critics:
– Makes any behavior disordered behavior
– Too many disorders identified – 26% adults in the U.S.
will be diagnosed in 1 year, 46% over their lifetime