Psychological Disorders Chapter 14 Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 What Is Abnormal? Defining Mental Disorders 4 Criteria for defining abnormal behavior: Is the behavior considered strange or rare within the person’s own culture? Does the behavior cause personal distress? Is the behavior maladaptive? Is the person a danger to self of others? Is the person legally responsible for his or her acts? Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 A 5th criterion: Is applied to behavior that may violate criminal laws. Insanity is a legal, not psychological, term. Means person is not legally responsible for their actions due to a psychological illness. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 What Is Abnormal? Prevalence of Psychological Disorders What percentage of people will develop a mental disorder in their life time? 50%. In any given year, what percentage of people have a mental disorder? 26% Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Americans use 95% of all the psych. Meds in the world We make up only 5% of the worlds population Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 What Is Abnormal? Explaining Psychological Disorders Biological perspective?: abnormal behavior is from a physical cause. (i.e. genetic, biochemical imbalances, structural problems in the brain, etc. Treatment = drug therapy. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

What causes Abnormal behavior? Biopsychosocial Perspective: physical causes are central, but recognizes the influence of biological, psychological, and social factors in disorders and their treatment. Psychodynamic perspective: disorders stem from early childhood experiences and unresolved, unconscious conflicts. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

What causes Abnormal behavior? Learning perspective: learned and sustained in the same way as any behavior, i.e. rewards, punishment, & modeling. Cognitive perspective: faulty thinking or distorted perceptions result in most disorders. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Humanistic Perspective: the result of blocking a person’s drive to achieve self-actualization. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 What Is Abnormal? Explaining Psychological Disorders (continued) All psychologists use the same criteria to dx. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Anxiety Disorders Anxiety disorder: vague, fearful thoughts about what might happen in the future (a state of mind called anxiety) become so frequent, they interfere with a person’s social and occupational functioning. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Anxiety Disorders Generalized anxiety disorder: excessive worry for 6 months or more. Causes them to feel tense, tired, and irritable, and to have difficulty concentrating and sleeping. affects twice as many women as men. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Anxiety Disorders Panic disorder: an anxiety disorder in which a person experiences panic attacks. Panic attacks: an attack of overwhelming anxiety, fear, or terror. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Anxiety Disorders Phobias Phobia: a persistent, irrational fear of some specific object, situation, or activity that poses no real danger. Phobics realize their fears are irrational, but feel compelled to avoid the feared situations or objects. Agoraphobia: intense fear of being in a situation where escape is not possible or help would not come. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Anxiety Disorders Phobias (continued) Social phobia: irrational fear and avoidance of social situations in which one might embarrass or humiliate oneself. performance anxiety is a type of this Can limit performance at work, advancing in their careers, pursuing education, social lives etc. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Anxiety Disorders Specific phobias: In order of frequency (1) situational phobias, (2) fear of the natural environment, (3) animal phobias, and (4) blood – injection – injury phobias. Classical conditioning usually used. Teaches patients to associate pleasant emotions with feared objects or situations. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Anxiety Disorders Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Obsession: a persistent, involuntary thought, that causes great distress. i.e. worry about contamination or whether they performed a certain act, such as turning off the stove or locking the door. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Anxiety Disorders Compulsion: a persistent, irrational urge to perform an act or ritual repeatedly. The person knows acts are irrational , but cannot resist doing them without experiencing a buildup of anxiety that can be relieved only by yielding to the compulsion. i.e. cleaning and washing behaviors, counting, checking, touching objects, hoarding, and excessive organizing. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Mood Disorders (Ch 14 cont.) Major depressive disorder: great sadness, despair, guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness and a loss of ability to experience pleasure. psychomotor disturbances. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Mood Disorders Bipolar Disorder - manic episodes alternate with periods of depression, usually with relatively normal periods in between. Manic episode: the high, inflated self-esteem, wild optimism, and hyperactivity. Can lose touch with reality and have delusions of grandeur. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Mood Disorders Causes of Mood Disorders Biological factors play a major role in bipolar and major depressive disorder. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Mood Disorders Causes of Mood Disorders (continued) view themselves, world, and the future in negative ways. believe they are unworthy, inadequate, & attribute their perceived failures to their own physical, mental, or moral inadequacies. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Mood Disorders The vast majority of first episodes of depression strike after major life stress. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a loss of contact with reality (called psychosis), hallucinations, delusions, disturbance in thinking, and/or other bizarre behavior. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Schizophrenia Positive Symptoms: Hearing voices is the most common type of hallucination. Most often, voices accuse or curse the patients or continually comment on their behavior. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Schizophrenia Positive Symptoms (continued) Delusions: a false belief, not shared by others. Delusions of grandeur: a false belief that one is a famous person or has some great knowledge, ability, or authority. Delusions of persecution: a false belief that some person or agency is trying to harass, spy on, cheat, kill or harm them etc. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Schizophrenia Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia (continued) Derailment: does not follow one line of thought to completion. Shifts from one subject to another in conversation or writing. Grossly disorganized behavior: such as childlike silliness, inappropriate sexual behavior, disheveled appearance, and peculiar dress. Inappropriate affect: facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures may not reflect the emotion that would be expected under the circumstances. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 Schizophrenia Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia Social withdrawal, apathy, loss of motivation, lack of goal-directed activity, very limited speech, slowed movements, poor hygiene and grooming, etc. Flat affect: showing practically no emotional response at all, even though they often report feeling the emotion. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006 2 2