Beware of “psychology student’s disease”

 Psychological disorder  Psychological disorder – a “harmful dysfunction” in which behaviors are judged maladaptive, unjustifiable, disturbing, and atypical.  4 attributes of a psych disorder:  M  Maladaptive  U  Unjustifiable  D  Disturbing  A  Atypical

 destructive to oneself or others  exaggeration of normal, acceptable behaviors

 does not have a rational basis  scenarios that meet this criteria:  woman with fear of snakes

 troublesome to other people  Mass-murderers  Aurora Co  Sandy Hook  Dahmer

 so different from other people’s behavior that it violates a norm (accepted behavior)  norms vary from culture to culture

 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition  published by the American Psychiatric Association  lists and describes all the currently accepted categories of mental disorders

 divides mental disorders into 17 major categories  includes the symptoms but not the causes of each disease  Neurosis – disorder that is distressing but allows one to think rationally and function socially  Psychosis – disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas an distorted perceptions

 Anxiety – vague feelings of apprehension and nervousness Specific Anxiety Disorders:  Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)– persistent, unexplained feelings of apprehension and tenseness (must experience at least 3 symptoms of anxiety – pg. 535)  Panic Disorder – sudden episodes of intense, unexplained panic  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – unwanted, repetitive thoughts and actions (obsessions – thoughts; compulsions – actions) – chart page 539

 Phobia – disruptive, irrational fears  Agoraphobia – fear of having a panic attack in the wrong place or fear of open spaces (usually stay home)  Social phobia – fear of being scrutinized by others, avoid speaking up, eating out, going to parties  Other phobias – triskaidekaphobia (number 13), uxoriphobia (one’s wife), Santa Clautrophobia (getting stuck in chimneys), panaphobia (everything), phobophobia (fear of fear), anthophobia (flowers), trichophobia (hair), numerophobia (numbers); page 537  Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – triggered by stress; reliving a severely upsetting event in unwanted recurring memories and dreams; symptoms include: haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, depression

 Behaviorism:  Conditioning - can learn to associate certain things w/ anxiety-causing events from past  Observational Learning – children can learn fears just from watching their parents  Reinforcement – people gain release from anxiety by avoiding the situation/thing (reinforces that behavior)

 Biological Factors:  Heredity – predispositions for disorders (identical twins raised in different families have similar phobias)  Brain Function – higher degree of activity in frontal lobes (planning, attention, processing emotion) of people w/ OCD; amygdala (emotions) different in people w/ phobias  Neurotransmitters – OCD linked to low serotonin levels (mood/arousal) Amygdala

 Major Depressive Disorder – experience at least 2 weeks of depressed moods (pg. 543) & diminished interest in activities for no apparent reason; lack of energy; sleep disturbances; possible suicide risk  Bipolar Disorder – alternate between major depression and mania (unrealistically optimistic, wildly hyper, agitated) Mark Twain Vincent van Gogh

 Social-Cognitive Factors:  Learned Helplessness – can produce depression (negative thoughts) & self-fulfilling prophesies  Attributions (Explanatory Style) – depressed people are more likely explain bad events as stable (lasting forever), global (affects everything), internal (my fault) – attributions lead to hopelessness & depression  Culture – depression less common in collectivist cultures – social supports available, feel less responsible for bad events

 Biological Factors:  Heredity – Major Depressive Disorder : identical twins - if one has, other has 50 % chance of developing it; only 20% for fraternal twins; Bipolar (identical twins: 70% chance)  Brain Function – Major Depressive Disorder: brain is less active during depression (esp. frontal lobes that are active for positive emotions) but more active in manic states  Neurotransmitters – Major Depressive Disorder connected w/ low levels of serotonin, dopamine, & norepinephrine

 dissociate – to separate or divide  Breakdown in a person’s normal conscious experience (loss of memory or identity)  Believed by some to be an attempt to escape from part of self that one fears (reduce anxiety)

 Dissociative amnesia – memory loss (including basic knowledge of self) as a reaction to specific, stressful events (basically amnesia with no physical cause)  Dissociative fugue – extended form of dissociative amnesia; loss of one’s identity is accompanied by travel to a new location  Dissociative identity disorder – person is said to exhibit two or more distinct and alternating personalities that take control at different times; usually suffered sever physical, psychological, or sexual abuse as a child; existence is controversial

 Evidence for: distinct brain states associated w/ different personalities, changes in eye-muscle balance, eye color, scars, handedness, and vision  Evidence against: virtually nonexistent outside North America

 After watching the documentary, what do you think about the dissociate disorders debate (especially surrounding DID) now?  Do you think it is a real disorder or are these people misdiagnosed and under the influence of a persuasive therapist?  Explain how you came to your conclusion.

 Not one disorder  “Schiz” – break from reality (psychosis)  Inappropriate behaviors & emotions  word salad – nonsense talks  Hallucinations (false perceptions) – most often auditory, can be visual or tactile  Delusions (false beliefs) of:  grandeur – you are more important than you really are  persecution – people are out to get you  sin or guilt – being responsible for some misfortune  influence – being controlled by outside forces “devil”

 Paranoid schizophrenia – delusions, particularly grandeur & persecution; auditory & other hallucinations often support the delusions  Catatonic schizophrenia – variations in voluntary movement; alternates between two phases: excitement and stupor (flat emotions, appear to be in a daze & waxy flexibility)  Disorganized schizophrenia – bizarre behavior, delusions, and hallucinations; visibly disturbed (often described as “crazy”)  Undifferentiated schizophrenia – symptoms that are disturbed but are not clearly consistent with other types

Biological Factors:  Genetics :  predisposition – higher rates for people w/ sibling or parent (1 in 10) who has it (1 in 100 in general pop); 1 in 2 if identical twin has it  Brain Structure :  small amounts of brain tissue & larger fluid-filled spaces  thalamus (routes sensory memory) is smaller  Brain Function:  less activity in frontal lobes  6x normal number of receptor sites for dopamine  Prenatal Viruses:  viral infection during middle of pregnancy (pg. 565)

Psychological Factors:  Stress & disturbed family communications – may contribute to the development of schizophrenia (for those have a predisposition)

 Lasting, rigid patterns of behavior that seriously impair one’s social functioning  Usually evident by adolescence  The person often does not recognize the problem exists

 Avoidant personality disorder – sensitive about being rejected; personal relationships difficult  Dependent personality disorder – behave in clingy, submissive ways & display a strong need to have others take care of them

 Paranoid personality disorder – shows deep distrust of other people; suspiciousness gets in the way of personal relationships  Schizoid personality disorder – detached from social relationships; hermits; avoid intimate interactions with others

 Borderline personality disorder – instability of emotions, self-image, behavior, and relationships  Antisocial personality disorder – (also known as psychopathic or sociopathic) no concern for the rights or feelings of other people; willing to engage in criminal behavior & shows no remorse; occurs more often in males & develops in adolescence ; often charming & clever; difficult to treat