Download Perspectives ppt. - Ms. Engel @ South

Perspectives on Disorders
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Does Moondog have a
psychological disorder?
This is Moondog. As a blind poet and
musician, he stood on street corners
in Manhattan for over three decades,
dressed like this. He made enough
money to live on by selling copies of
his poems and homemade
instruments to passersby.
Although his behavior was unusual,
there was no evidence that it caused
himself harm or distress. In fact, he
used to say that the people who force
themselves to adapt to the
expectations of modern society are
the ones who are truly distressed.
Do you think that Moondog has a mental
illness? Why or why not?
Personality and Disorders
• Connections
– All of us are sad or depressed for short periods every once in a
while.
– All of us are anxious sometimes
– These are adaptive emotions, in that they motivate us to change
things or avoid danger
– Lots of variability in the normal range
– However, for several people, anxiety or depression in moderation
gives way to severe levels of these emotions, which can be
maladaptive
Criteria for mental disorders
Mental disorders are suggested when
associated behaviors…
– are inappropriate to current context
– are "extreme“ in prevalence or nature
– cause person distress
– are uncontrollable
– violate expectations of the observers or
society
How do psychologists define
mental disorder?
Diagnosis and categorization key
According to DSM-IV, a mental disorder is a set of actions,
thoughts, and feelings (symptoms) that:
1) poses Clinically Significant Detriment
- Detriment = distress, or impairment of functioning in daily life
- Clinically Significant = the detriment must be serious enough
to be treated
2) has an Internal Source
- The distress or impairment must be in a person’s biology,
mental structure, or habits.
- A mental disorder can not be an expected reaction to life’s
circumstances or environment.
3) shows Involuntary Manifestation
- The symptoms of a mental disorder must not be voluntary.
Why are mental disorders so
difficult to define?
• Many symptoms of mental illness are difficult to measure and
can be interpreted in many ways.
– It is difficult to create a classification system for mental
illness that is reliable and valid.
• Reliability -- the degree to which psychologists agree
that a disorder is present
• Validity -- the degree to which a person’s symptoms are
correctly classified
• The DSM-IV is the most accurate manual to date because it
uses observable characteristics and self-descriptions and does
not rely on data that could cause disagreement among
psychologists.
– Disorders can be influenced by cultural factors (anorexia).
Gender bias in diagnosis
•
•
Dependence on self-report
– Men usually report less anxiety.
– Acceptability of emotions
• There is a higher social acceptability of men developing dependencies that mask
problem, which might masks other mood disorders
Psychologist diagnosis and gender (Ford & Widiger, 1989)
– similar cases sent to psychologists
– IV: male or female, type of cause
– DV: diagnosis
– R: women labeled “histrionic personality” while men labeled “antisocial personality”
• Based on supposed frequencies with a population
Stigma of mentally ill label
•
Changes other’s behavior
– Harris et al. (1992) - grade school boys more rejecting of other boys
if told they had been diagnosed with ADHD
– Langer & Abelson (1974) - man discussing his personal problems –
subjects rated him more negatively if told he was a mental patient
•
Changes own behavior
– Farina, et al. (1971) – ex-mental patients acted more anxious when
believed that interviewer knew of their patient status
•
The importance of labeling has lead to debate about what language is
used to describe mental disorders, particularly when it comes to
describing a person’s agency or control of the disorder
– person suffering from schizophrenia” instead of “a schizophrenic”
• Stable (internal) or unstable (environmental)
Medical Student Disease
(AP Psychology Disease)
• Strong tendency to find in oneself or one’s
surroundings the symptoms or concepts
discussed in school at an absurd rate
• “I had walked into that reading-room a happy,
healthy man. I crawled out a decrepit wreck”
- Jerome K. Jerome
• The reason is everyone has one symptom or
another
– Notice DSM-IV states all need to be present for
valid diagnosis
Expectancy Effects with Mental Disorders
- Rosenhan (1973) sent 8 pseudo patients to a local
asylum. All reported one symptom, auditory
hallucination (I hear voices that say, “Empty,
hollow, thud.”). They were instructed to behave
normally after admission
- No staff member detected the pseudo patients but
other patients did
- Staff reinterpreted behavior to fit context and
diagnosis
- “intellectualization defense”
- “writing behavior”
- Discharge diagnosis: Schizophrenia in remission
What are some major categories
of disorders?
Category of Disorder
Anxiety disorders
Mood disorders
Somatoform disorders
Substance-related
disorders
Dissociative disorders
Psychotic disorders
Personality disorders
Example
Phobias
Depression
Conversion disorder
Alcohol dependence
Dissociative ID disorder
Schizophrenia
Anti-social personality
disorder
Disorders/Population
Perspectives
How do psychologists of different perspectives
DISAGREE about the nature of mental illness?
Biological
What is a
disorder?
What
causes a
disorder?
Psychodynamic
Cognitive
Behavioral
Sociocultural
How do psychologists of different perspectives
DISAGREE about the nature of mental illness?
Biological
What is a A physical
disorder? disease of
the brain
Genetics,
What
causes a viruses,
disorder? bacteria,
toxins, birth
difficulties
Psychodynamic
Cognitive
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Unconscious
conflicts over
aggressive
and sexual
impulses
Irrational or
maladaptive
thinking
about one’s
self, life
events and
the world
Reinforceme
nt of
inappropriate
behaviors
and extinction
of appropriate
ones
A reaction to
social and
cultural
expectations
Traumas in
childhood
Reinforced
patterns of
maladaptive
thought
Conditioning
influences in
a person’s
environment
Cultural
habits and
values, and
cultural
reactions to
mental
illness
Commonalities Between Perspectives on Disorders
Psychologists of all perspectives realize that
disorders have multiple causes.
- Predisposing Causes - influences that exist
before the disorder begins and makes
people vulnerable to the disorder.
-
Ex. genetics, socio-cultural values, patterns
of beliefs and habits.
– Diathesis/stress
• Individuals born with predispositions
(diatheses), but not always realized only when system stressed
-
Precipitating Causes - events that bring
about a disorder (stresses). Losses,
threats, or changes can bring about
disorders.
-
-
Ex. death of loved one, threats to health,
divorce, any large change in daily life. When
people have related predisposing causes,
disorders can result.
Maintaining Causes - consequences of a
disorder that make the disorder more likely
to continue.
-
Ex. increased attention, withdrawal/ rejection
of friends, strange sleep patterns