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Psychological Disorders
CHAPTER 16
I. General Information
 A. Definitions
 a. Atypical: not typical
 b. Disturbing: troubles others emotionally
or mentally
 c. Maladaptive: harmful to one’s ability to
function
 d. Unjustifiable: no good reason for
behavior or thought
B. DSM-IV
Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual
 Axis I: Is a Clinical Syndrome present?
 Axis II: Is a Personality Disorder or Mental Retardation
present?
 Axis III: Is a General Medical Condition, such as
diabetes, hypertension, or arthritis, also present?
 Axis IV: Are Psychosocial or Environmental Problems,
such as school or housing issues, also present?
 Axis V: What is the Global Assessment of this person’s
functioning?
II. Anxiety Disorders
 A. Panic Disorders
 1. Characteristics: person experiences
sudden episodes (usually lasting a few
minutes) of intense dread/fear
 2. Non-specific: No particular trigger
B. Phobia Disorders
 1. Phobia: irrational fear that disrupts
behavior.
 2. Specific: only the phobia triggers
response
C. Generalized Anxiety
 1. Generalized Anxiety disorder: person
is continually tense, apprehensive, and in
a state of autonomic nervous system
arousal
 2. Very few people seek treatment
because they think it is just a part of their
personality
D. Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder
 1. Obsession: repetitive thoughts
 2. Compulsions: repetitive behaviors
 3. OCD: anxiety disorder characterized
by unwanted repetitive thoughts &/or
actions
 4. Causes: anxiety, stress, genetic
factors
 (autism? Link in strep throat?)
E. Stress Disorders
 1. PTSD: characterized by haunting
memories, nightmares, social withdrawal,
jumpy anxiety, &/or insomnia that lingers
for four weeks or more after a traumatic
experience
 2. Acute Stress Disorder: development of
severe anxiety, dissociative, and other
symptoms that occurs within one month
after exposure to an extreme traumatic
stressor
III. Somatoform Disorders
 A. Conversion Disorders
 1. Definition: physical symptoms that
resemble those of a neurological disorder
develop. The symptoms are triggered by
mental factors such as conflicts or other
stresses.
 2. US Naval Academy: entered with 20/20
vision, many leave with blurred vision.
B. Hypochondria
 1. Definition: preoccupying fear of having
a serious illness
 2. Causes: no known causes , but…
could be a form of OCD.
 3. Faking it??? True hypochondriacs are
not faking it.
Dissociative Disorders
 A. Dissociative Amnesia (psychogenic)
 Definition: person blocks out certain
information, usually associated with a
stressful or traumatic event, leaving him or
her unable to remember important personal
information.
B. Fugue
 1. Definition: People with dissociative
fugue temporarily lose their sense of
personal identity and impulsively wander
or travel away from their homes or places
of work.
 2. Cause: linked to severe stress, which
might be the result of traumatic events—
such as war, abuse, accidents, disasters
or extreme violence—that the person has
experienced or witnessed.
 example
C. Dissociative Identity
 1. Definition: two or more distinct identities that
alternately control the person’s behavior, with memory
impairment across the different personality states.
 2. Roles: Each personality has its own voice and
mannerisms, and the original one typically denies any
awareness of the other(s)
 3. Causes:
 an innate ability to dissociate easily
 repeated episodes of severe physical or sexual
abuse in childhood
 example
V. Mood Disorders
 A. Major Depression
 1. Definition: two or more weeks of
significantly depressed moods, feelings
of worthlessness, and diminished interest
or pleasure in most activities.
B. Mania
 1. Definition: mood disorder marked by a
hyperactive , wildly optimistic state.
C. Bipolar Disorder (manic
depression)
 1. Definition: person alternates between
the hopelessness of depression and the
overexcited state of mania.
 2. Causes: possibly genetics or stress
VI. Schizophrenia
**Disorganized thoughts**
 A. Types
 1. Paranoid: delusions or hallucinations often
of persecution or grandiosity
 2. Catatonic: Immobility, extreme negativism,
&/or parrotlike repeating of another’s speech or
movements
 3. Disorganized: disorganized speech or
behavior, flat or inappropriate emotion
 4. Undifferentiated or Residual: withdrawal
after delusions or hallucinations disappear
B. Perspectives on
Schizophrenia
 1. Psychological: stress induced,
possible bad family circumstances.
 2. Biological: Ventricles are larger (more
fluid, less brain tissue)
 3. Multifactorial: Biological predisposition
and stressful situation triggers it.
 MRI scans of 28-year-old male identical
twins showing the enlarged brain ventricles
in the twin with schizophrenia (right)
compared to his well brother (left).
VII. Personality Disorders
 A. Antisocial: exhibits a lack of
conscience from wrongdoing, even
toward friends & family. (usually a man)
 B. Borderline: switch moods
quickly/abruptly.
 C. Dependent: Require others approval
for everything. Afraid of abandonment.
VIII.
 Diathesis: Stress Model: explains all
disorders as the cause being a mixture of
biological predisposition and stress
induced.