PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

CLASSIFYING PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS THE Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM____) Describes each disorder Provides criteria for diagnosis 5 dimensions called an axis

AXIS DESCRIBED: AXIS 1: Descriptive criteria of 16 mental disorders. AXIS II: personality disorders and mental retardation AXIS III: physical conditions/disorders AXIS IV: types and levels of stress AXIS V: rates levels of functioning

Purpose of DSM____ Helps to identify appropriate treatment Consistently groups patients so that research can be done. Establishes payment criteria for 3rd party payers.

General Classifications ANXIETY DISORDERS MOOD DISORDERS SOMATOFORM SCHIZOPHRENIA DISSOCIATIVE PERSONALITY

Anxiety disorders Phobia Generalized anxiety disorder Panic disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Causes~ Biological factors Oversensitive brain stem function Abnormal levels certain neuro-transmitters Psychological factors Exaggeration of true danger Under-estimation of coping skills

SOMATOFORM DISORDERS PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS WITH NO APPARENT PHYSICAL CAUSE CONVERSION DISORDERS: FUNCTIONAL IMPAIRMENT SUCH AS PARALYSIS, BLINDNESS HYPOCHONDRIASIS-SPECIFIC ILLNESS SOMATIZATION-OVERALL ILLNESS PAIN DISORDER

Dissociative Disorders RARE Sudden and usually temporary disruptions in a person’s memory, consciousness, or identity.

DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER “Multiple personality” Separation between one’s memories and other aspects of identity can be so dramatic that a person experiencing it may believe that they have more than one personality Three Faces of Eve, Sybil, Fight Club

CAUSES: PSYCHODYNAMIC: Massive repression of unwanted impulses or memories cause one to create a “new person”. SOCIAL-COGNITIVE: Behavior can be situational so that others may view us as a “different person” if extreme enough.

Research on DID suggests: People who display DID want to forget or avoid some events. (I.e., severe abuse in childhood) Memory loss is a genuine phenomena and can become Extreme. Memory loss and other Forms of dissociation Are genuine phenomena Most people with DID are skilled at self-hypnosis and can induce a trance-like state. People suffering DID escape the trauma of abuse temporarily by creating new personalities to deal with the stress.

DISSOCIATIVE AMNESIA: (Psychogenic) Disorder characterized by sudden loss of memory. Psychodynamic theorists believe that psychogenic amnesia is an act of self-preservation, an alternative to suicide. Normal autobiographical memory processing is blocked by imbalance or altered release of stress hormones

….Continued Betrayal trauma theory suggests that psychogenic amnesia is an adaptive response to childhood abuse. Stress may directly affect the medial temporal/diencephalic system, inhibiting the retrieval of autobiographical memories and producing a loss of personal identity.

Dissociative Fugue…. Sudden loss of personal memory and the adoption of a new identity in a new locale Cases of dissociative fugue are more common in wartime or in communities disrupted by a natural disaster.

MOOD DISORDERS: Psychological disorders characterized by a primary disturbance in affect or mood that colors the individual’s entire emotional state

Major depressive Disorder (Unipolar) Common types: Major depressive Disorder (Unipolar) Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depressive)

DEPRESSION~ “I have studiously tried to avoid ever using the word madness to describe my condition. Now and again, the word slips out, but I hate it. Madness is too glamorous a term to convey what happens to most people who are losing their minds. That word is too exciting, too literary, too interesting in its connotations, to convey the boredom, the slowness, the dreariness, the dampness of depression.” -Elizabeth Wurtzel, from Prozac Nation

Schizophrenia~ Is actually a psychosis, a type of mental illness in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. At times, people with psychotic disorders lose touch with reality. The world may seem like a maze of confusing thoughts, images, and sounds. The behavior of people with schizophrenia may be very strange and even shocking. A sudden change in personality and behavior, which occurs when people lose touch with reality, is called a psychotic episode.

SCHIZOPHRENIA Disorganized Paranoid Undifferentiated Catatonic (simple)

Disorganized Schizophrenia Incoherent speech Inappropriate mood Hallucinations Delusional thought patterns

Paranoid schizophrenia People with this type are preoccupied with false beliefs (delusions) about being persecuted or being punished by someone. Their thinking, speech and emotions, however, remain fairly normal.

Undifferentiated (Simple) Disturbances of thought or behavior that don’t fit into any of the other categories. Person may exhibit dysfunction in one area but be perfectly normal in every other aspect of their lives.

Catatonic Schizophrenia The most notable symptoms of this type are physical. People with catatonic schizophrenia are generally immobile and unresponsive to the world around them.. Occasionally, these people may have peculiar movements like facial grimacing or strange postures. Or, they might mimic a word or phrase just spoken by another person. People with catatonic schizophrenia are at increased risk of malnutrition, exhaustion, or self-inflicted injury.

CAUSES: Genetics (heredity) Brain chemistry Brain abnormality  Environmental factors