1. Chapter 17 – Mental Disorders

2. Define “crazy”… Misconceptions corrected: *
Only a few people with mental disorders are dangerous to others.
Statistically, mental patients are less violent than those making up the “normal” general public
Most emotionally disturbed people just exaggerate certain behaviors that are shown by all of us from time to time

3. Defining Abnormal Behavior1. 2. 3.
The person may suffer from discomfort more or less continually (anxiety, worry, depression)
May behave in a bizarre fashion
May e very inefficient

4. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV
DSM IV
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV
Classifies the symptoms of mental disorders into formal categories (7).

5. A. Disorders of Childhood
1. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ADHD or ADD
Symptoms/treatment:
Trouble focusing
Easily distratcted or frustrated
Constantly moving/restless
80% males; 3-5 % of population
Avg. age at referral 8-10
No known cause (possible prefrontal brain malfunction)
Treatment: Ritalin (drug therapy) – a stimulant
½ of cases more into adolescence and 1/3 into adulthood

6. A. Disorders of Childhood cont’d
2. Autistic Disorder
Symptoms/ treatment:
Failure to develop normal patterns of communicating, social interactions, emotional responses
Present from birth? Genetic predisposition with environmental trigger? Inherited?
Infants are difficult to feed, no social smiling, do not respond well to touch/cuddling
Tantrums
Spinning/rocking
Little sensitivity to pain: bang heads, bite themselves
Rarely maintain eye contact
Need sameness: strong negative reaction to change
Few have normal speech patterns
Echolalia: repeating what has just been said
No cures
Treatment: Therapy

8. 1. Panic Disorder – B. Anxiety Disorders Symptoms/Treatment:
Anxiety Disorders – disorders whose major symptom is anxiety
Anxiety – generalized feeling of apprehension and impending disaster
Panic disorder
Frequent, overwhelming attacks of anxiety that are not associated with specific objects or events
Often start when something is physically or chemically wrong
at first, not connected to anything specific but panic spreads and becomes associated with more and more objects and evetns
Treatment – drugs, psychotherapy

9. B. Anxiety Disorders cont’d
2. Phobic Disorders
Symptoms/Treatment
A person becomes disabled and overwhelmed by fear in the presence of certain objects/events
Cause – begins with associations and learning
All of us have mild phobias
Treatment – psychotherapy
Pg. 515 Phobia list

10. B. Anxiety Disorders cont’d
3. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive – endless preoccupation with a certain urge or thought
Compulsive – a symptom involving repeated, symbolic, ritualized behavior
BOTH repetitive thought AND repetitive behavior
Example: gamblers, hand washers
Caused by faulty attempts to resolve guilt, anxiety, insecurity
You are dirty! – wash hands
Insecure – are my doors locked?
Treatment – psychotherapy, some drug therapy

11. C. Somatoform Disorders
Psychological issues are expressed in bodily symptoms in the absence of any real physical symptoms.

12. C. Somatoform Disorders cont’d
1. Conversion Disorder – serious psychological trauma is changed into a symbolic physical dysfunction

13. C. Somatoform Disorders cont’d
2. Hypochondriasis – excessive concern about ones health and exaggerating the seriousness of minor physical complaints.

14. D. Dissociative Disorders
Memory of part of one’s life becomes disconnected from other parts.

15. D. Dissociative Disorders
1. Amnesia – traumatic events seem to disappear from memory.

16. D. Dissociative Disorders
2. Fugue – a person forgets his current life and starts a new one somewhere else.

17. Dissociative Disorders
3. Dissociative Identity Disorder(DID) – a person divides himself into separate personalities that can act independently.
NOT schizophrenia

18. Disorders characterized by emotional states
E. Mood Disorders
Disorders characterized by emotional states

19. 1. Dysthymic Disorder – moderate depression
E. Mood Disorders
1. Dysthymic Disorder – moderate depression
“Common cold” of mental illness

20. E. Mood Disorders
2. Major Depression – severe depression with loss of appetite, lack of energy, suicidal thoughts.

21. Suicide stats: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6

22. F. Schizophrenic Disorders
Psychosis involving disorganized thoughts and garbled speech as well as hallucinations and delusions.
MOST serious mental disorder

23. F. Schizophrenic Disorders
1. Catatonic – Disturbance of movement. They do not talk or say very little.

24. F. Schizophrenic Disorders
2. Paranoid – Strong feelings of suspicion and persecution

25. F. Schizophrenic Disorders
3. Undifferentiated – lacks distinguishing symptoms

27. G. Personality Disorders
A person has formed a peculiar or unpleasant personality

28. G. Personality Disorders
1. Anti-social Personality Disorder – a person seems to have no conscience and is in constant trouble with the law.
sociopath

29. G. Personality Disorders
2. Borderline Personality Disorder – Unstable emotions and relationships, dependency, and manipulation. Self-destructive behavior.