Download Psychological Disorders

Psychological
Disorders
Defining Psychological
Disorders

An ongoing pattern of thoughts, feelings,
and actions that is deviant, distressful, and
dysfunctional (Comer, 2004).

p. 314 of text
Prevalence of Disorders

Prevalence
 Frequency

of a disorder over a given time
American Psychiatric Association study
 20,000
participants
15% of population experiencing a significant
mental disorder
 6% experiencing a substance abuse disorder


Rates vary somewhat in different countries
Historical Views of Disorders

Stone age
 Supernatural

forces/Trephining
The Ancient World
 Natural
Causes
 Imbalance of body humors

Middle Ages and Renaissance
 Religion/Supernatural
 Lunatic/asylums
forces
Historical Views (con’t)

1800s
 Separate

mentally ill from prisoners
Early/Mid 20th century
 Overcrowding
in mental hospitals
 Harsh treatment

Late 20th century
 deinstitutionalization
Contemporary Models
Biopsychosocial Approach
biology and our social and cultural
surroundings influence the development of
disorders
Classifying Abnormal Behavior

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)
 Classifies
psychological disorders into
categories
Detailed behaviors that make up the disorders
 Allows for consistent diagnoses

 Has
little/no information about causes or
treatment
Anxiety Disorders

Source of fear is either unknown, or is
inappropriate given the circumstances.
Anxiety Disorders

Generalized anxiety disorder
 Prolonged
vague but intense fears, not
attached to any particular object or
circumstance
Anxiety Disorders – Panic Attacks

A sudden, unpredictable, and
overwhelming experience of intense fear
or terror without any reasonable cause

Biological and psychological factors
Anxiety Disorders - Phobias

Specific
 Intense,
paralyzing fear of some object or
thing

Social
 Excessive,
inappropriate fears connected with
social situations or performances in front of
other people
Anxiety Disorders - Phobias

Agoraphobia
 Involves
multiple, intense fear of crowds,
public places, and other situations that require
separation from a source of security
Acrophobia: Fear of Heights
 Gephyrophobia: Fear of Bridges
 Aerophobia: Fear of Flying
 Herpetophobia: Fear of Reptiles

Mikrophobia: Fear of Germs
 Ailurophobia: Fear of Cats
 Murophobia: Fear of Mice
 Ophidiophobia: Fear of Snakes
 Brontophobia: Fear of Thunder
 Cynophobia: Fear of Dogs
 Trichophobia: Fear of Hair
 Dementophobia: Fear of Insanity
 Xenophobia: Fear of Strangers

Anxiety Disorders

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
 Anxiety
disorder characterized by unwanted
repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or
actions (compulsions)
Anxiety Disorders

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
a
disorder in which people persistently
reexperience the traumatic event in their
thoughts or dreams, persistently avoid stimuli
linked with the trauma, and persistently
experience symptoms of increased arousal
Causes of Anxiety Disorders
No single cause
 Genetic factors
 Neurochemical
 Overactive autonomic system?
 Behavioral approach
 Cognitive approach

Three Factors in Dissociation

Depersonalization
 “Had
the experience of feeling that my body did not
belong to me”

Self-absorption
 “Find
that I sometimes sit staring off in space, thinking
of nothing, and am not aware of the passage of time”

Amnesia
 “Found
evidence that I had done things that I did not
remember doing”
Behavioral Associations
Spent an hour at a time daydreaming
 Stayed away from a social event in order
to finish some work
 Had a nightmare
 Ate until I felt sick
 Drove faster than normal because I was
angry

Borrowed money
 Received public assistance (such as food
stamps or welfare)
 Borrowed something and lost it, broke it,
or never returned it
 Stayed up all night
 Did something I thought I would never do
 Smashed a vase or other object in anger
or frustration.

Dissociative Disorders

The separation, or dissociation, of
conscious awareness from previous
thoughts or memories
 Dissociative
amnesia
 Dissociative fugue
 Depersonalization disorder
 Dissociative identity disorder
Mood Disorders

Major Depressive Disorder
 Experience
profound unhappiness, most of
the time
 Loss of interest
 Loss of energy
 Loss of appetite, sleep disturbances,
difficulties in thinking, feelings of
worthlessness, excessive guilt
Mood Disorders

Bipolar Disorder
 Depression
 Mania
 Euphoric
states
Extreme physical activity
Excessive talkativeness
Distractedness
Sometimes grandiosity
Causes of Depression

Biological factors
 Norepinephrine
and serotonin lower in
depression, higher in mania

Psychological factors
 Cognitive
distortions
 Learned helplessness
Causes of Depression

Biological factors
 Norepinephrine
and serotonin lower in
depression, higher in mania

Psychological factors
 Cognitive
distortions
 Learned helplessness

Social factors
Postpartum Depression
20-30% new mothers
 Why?

Psychosomatic and
Somatoform Disorders

Psychosomatic disorders
 Real
physical illness, largely caused by
psychological factors (such as stress and
anxiety)

Somatoform disorders
 An
apparent physical illness, but for which
there is no organic basis.
Somatoform Disorders

Hypochondriasis

Conversion disorder
Schizophrenia

Disturbances in
 Thought

delusions
 Perceptions
 Affect
 Motor
behavior
 Social functioning
Schizophrenia

Positive symptoms
 Hallucinations,

delusions
Negative symptoms
 Withdrawal,
apathy, absence of emotions
Causes of Schizohprenia
Biological factors
 Family factors
 Cognitive factors
 Biochemical factors
 Brain structure

Childhood Disorders

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD)

Autistic disorder

Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)
Personality Disorders (Axis II)

Inflexible and maladaptive ways of thinking
and behaving
 Distress

Schizoid, paranoid personality disorders


Odd or eccentric behavior
Narcissistic, borderline, antisocial


to person and/or with others
Dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior
Dependent, avoidant

Anxious or fearful