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Abnormal
Psychology
Defining Abnormal Behavior

What is abnormal behavior?
– statistical infrequency
 e.g. mental retardation
– personal distress
 e. g. depression
– violation of social norms
 e.g., alcoholism

Abnormal behavior is behavior that
causes:
– significant impairment in social or occupational
functioning
– Significant distress in self or others
Causes of Abnormal
Behavior

Biological factors
– e.g., neurotransmitters

Psychological factors
– e.g. traumatic stressors

Sociocultural factors
– e.g. “downward” social drift

An interactive approach:
Biopsychosocial
Classifying Abnormal
Behavior
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV)
 Multiaxial system

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I: Primary classification
II: Personality disorders
III: General medical conditions
IV: Psychosocial stressors
V: Current level of functioning
Categories of Mental
Disorders

Anxiety disorders
– Psychological disorders that include the
following main features:
 Excessive fear (out of proportion to the
feared stimulus)
 Phsical symptoms (e.g. racing heart,
sweatiness)
 Apprehensive expectations and thoughts
Anxiety Disorders

Generalized anxiety disorder
– Consists of persistent anxiety for at
least a month
– Individual is unable to specify the
reasons for the anxiety

Panic disorder
– Panic attacks coupled with at least one
month of worry about having another
panic attack
Anxiety Disorders

Agoraphobia
– Individuals often lead very restricted
lives- not leaving the house at all.
– characterized by an intense fear of:
 Having a panic attack and being humiliated
or unable to find help
Anxiety Disorders

Phobic disorder
– Individual has irrational,
overwhelming, persistent fear
of a particular object or
situation

Social phobia
– Intense fear of being
humiliated or embarrassed in
social situations
Anxiety Disorders

Obsessive-compulsive disorder
– Individual has recurrent unwanted
thoughts that will not go away
(obsession) and/or urges to perform
repetitive, ritualistic behaviors
(compulsion)
 Common themes are contamination or
doubting
Anxiety Disorders

Post-traumatic stress disorder
– Develops through exposure to an
extremely traumatic event
– Anxiety symptoms may immediately
follow the trauma or be delayed for
many years
Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative disorders
– Involve a sudden loss of memory or
change in identity

Dissociative amnesia
– Memory loss caused by extensive
psychological stress
Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative fugue
– Individual not only develops amnesia, but also
unexpectedly travels away from home and
assumes a new identity

Dissociative identity disorder
– Formerly called multiple personality disorder
– Individuals have two or more distinct
personalities or selves
Mood Disorders

Major depressive disorder
– Individual experiences depressed
characteristics for at least two weeks
– Symptoms are:
 Cognitive
 Emotional
 somatic

Dysthymic disorder
– More chronic than major depressive disorders
and has fewer symptoms.
Mood Disorders

Bipolar disorder
– A mood disorder characterized by
extreme mood swings that include one
or more episodes of mania
 Euphoria
 Excitability and hyperactivity
– Person may experience depression and
mania
Causes of Mood Disorders

Biological causes
– Heredity and brain processes

Psychological causes
– Learned helplessness
 occurs when individuals are exposed to
aversive stimulation, such as prolonged
stress or pain, over which they have no
control
Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia
– A severe psychological disorder
characterized by:
 Disturbances in affect
– e.g. flat or inappropriate
 Disturbances in speech and behavior
– e.g. formal thought disorder
 Distortions in cognition
– e.g., delusions and hallucinations
Types of Schizophrenia

Disorganized schizophrenia
– Individual has delusions and
hallucinations that have little or no
recognizable meaning

Catatonic schizophrenia
– Most prominent characteristic is
disturbances in motor behavior
 e.g. catatonic rigidity
Types of Schizophrenia

Paranoid schizophrenia
– Characterized by delusions of reference,
grandeur, and persecution

Undifferentiated schizophrenia
– Characterized by disorganized behavior,
hallucinations, delusions, and
incoherence
Causes of Schizophrenia

Biological factors
– Heredity and neurobiological factors
 The dopamine hypothesis

Psychosocial factors
– Diathesis-stress view
 A combination of biogenetic disposition and
stress causes schizophrenia
Personality Disorders

Personality disorders
– Chronic, maladaptive cognitivebehavioral patterns that are thoroughly
integrated into the individual’s
personality
Odd/Eccentric Cluster
Paranoid
 Schizoid
 Schizotypal

Dramatic/Emotionally
Problematic Cluster
Histrionic
 Narcissistic
 Antisocial
 Borderline

Chronic Fearfulness/Avoidant
Cluster
Avoidant
 Dependent
 Obsessive-compulsive
 Passive-aggressive
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