Psychological Disorders: An Introduction

Warm up Before we begin Abnormal Psych, what do you hope to learn in this unit? Have you had any experience dealing with psychological disorders – people connected to you or any past reading on this topic?

Defining Disorder

Psychological Disorder Behavior patterns or mental processes which cause serious personal suffering or interfere with a person’s ability to cope with everyday life.

It Takes 4 Things for a Behavior to be Considered a Disorder: Typicality Mal-adaptivity Emotional Discomfort Socially Unacceptable Behavior

Typicality Is the behavior typical of most people?

Maladaptive Impairs the person’s ability to function in everyday life. An exaggeration of normal, acceptable behaviors Destructive to oneself or others

Emotional Discomfort A behavior which is troublesome to the person themselves or those around them.

Socially Unacceptable Behavior A behavior so different from other people’s behavior that it violates a norm Norms vary from culture to culture

Understanding Disorders

Early Views of Mental Illness In ancient times, mental illness was usually explained through a supernatural model; the person was possessed. During the Middle Ages treatment methods were inhumane and cruel

Conditions for Psychologically Disabled European Trephines “released evil spirits.” Ancient Greek Trephines

Conditions for Psychologically Disabled

Medieval Solutions…

The Medical Model Diseases have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases, cured. Disorders are diagnosed based on symptoms and treated or cured through therapy. Disorders are similar to a physical illness.

Bio-Psycho-Social Model Believe mental illnesses combine biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors to produce psychological disorders

Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective

Classifying Disorders

Diagnosis Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)—describes symptoms and diagnostic guidelines for psychological disorders Made by the APA. Provides common language to label mental disorders Has guidelines to diagnose mental disorders

DSM-IV-TR Divides mental disorders into 17 major categories Includes symptoms but not causes of each disease Lists and describes 250 specific psychological disorders

Labeling Stigmas Studies show a clear bias against people diagnosed with mental disorders. Rosenhan Study – “normal” people pretended to hear voices and checked into a mental hospital then acted normal. Their normal actions were taken to be abnormal once they were labeled schizophrenic.

Prevalence Roughly 50% of adults experienced symptoms at least once in their lives 80% who experienced symptoms in the last year did NOT seek treatment Many would benefit from treatment don’t seek it. Most people just deal with it. Women have higher prevalence of depression and anxiety Men have higher prevalence of substance abuse and antisocial personality disorder

Gender Differences for Disorders

Prevalence of Mental Disorders Worldwide

Are People with a Mental Illness as Violent as the Media Portrays Them? People with mental disorders are often depicted on TV as helpless victims or evil villains who are unpredictable, dangerous, and violent. Studies show that former mental patients did not have a higher rate of violence than “normal” people. People with severe mental disorders who experience bizarre delusional ideas and hallucinated voices do have a slightly higher level of violent and illegal behavior than do “normal” people.

Mental Illnesses

With a partner… Choose one of the disorders. Create a 2 minute newscast where one person interviews another person that has one of the disorders. Your dialogue should be “two minutes in length”; hand it in once you’re done with your presentation. Have fun!