1. Monday, December 4
With your neighbors… define “psychological disorder.”
What do you think are the key elements of a psychological disorder?
What separates someone who behaves “different” or “odd” to someone who has a disorder?
Today’s topic:
Intro to Disorders
Upcoming Dates:
Homework:
Read anxiety disorders pages
Research your disorder
Assessments:
Presentations due Monday

2. Psychological Disorders
#inourownwords
AP Psychology
Myers, Ch. 12
Part 1
Psychological Disorders
“We are all mad at some time or anther.”
- Battista Mantuanus

3. Psychological Disorder
Psychological disorder - Deviant, Distressful, and Dysfunctional behavior patterns
Deviant - culture, context, and time dependent
Distressful – causing emotion/physical pain and harm
Dysfunctional – behavior has to be disabling enough to disrupt everyday life

4. UMAD
U – Unjustifiable
M – Maladaptive
A – Atypical
D – Disturbing

5. Mental Illness or not?
A stressed-out mom explodes in anger and breaks all of her fine china.
A teen-aged boy feels compelled to wash his hands seven times after he touches anything whether its dirty or not.
A college soccer coach has on nine occasions destroyed everything in the locker room after a bad loss.
A young housewife is very depressed and spends three days in bed crying uncontrollably.
An Iraqi war veteran wakes up every night screaming and thrashing his arms, apparently in response to a recurring nightmare.
A middle-aged woman stays isolated in her basement playing solitaire on her computer. She does this for an average of ten hours a day.

6. Mentally Ill vs. Insane
The term “insane” is not a clinical term, rather a legal term.
“Insanity defense” is rare
It is offensive to refer to a mentally ill individual as “crazy” or “insane.”
Often we say these terms when we are confused or uncomfortable.

7. The Medical Model
Earlier times… evil or strange forces caused psychological abnormalities
Treated with “removing” the force (teeth pulling, cauterizing, lobotomize, beating, burning, etc)
Modern times: Medical model – the concept that diseases have physical causes that can be diagnosed and hopefully cured.

8. Diagnosing Disorders How do you diagnose a disorder?
Disorders are diagnosed based on assessments, interviews, and observations based on 5 axes in the DSM-V.
Axis
Category
Axis I
Clinical psychological syndromes (mood, anxiety, dissociative, sleep, sexual, substance-related, schizophrenia, eating, etc)
Axis II
Personality disorders
Mental retardation
Axis III
General medical conditions (diabetes, hypertension, arthritis)
Axis IV
Psychosocial or Environmental problems (social/environmental stressors
Axis V
Global Assessment of functioning

9. Classifying Disorders
DSM-V
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Published by the American Psychological Association
A widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.
1950 – 60 disorders
Today – 400 disorders

10. Labeling Disorders
PRO
Anti
Communication between health professionals about care and therapy.
It provides a common vocabulary for research and treatment.
Labels can stigmatize people.
Labels can distort a person’s perception of themselves (affecting their well-being) and others’ perceptions of them (affecting treatment).
David Rosenhan Study
More on the study

11. Tuesday, December 5
What do you think could be the causes of some psychological disorders?
How are people diagnosed with a psychological disorder?
Today’s topic:
Labeling and Dissociative Disorders
Upcoming Dates:
Homework:
You should have read pages by today
Read about somatoform and dissociative disorders (pages ) by tomorrow
Read pages (Treatment of Disorders) by Thursday
Read page by Friday
Assessments:
Presentations begin Monday, 12/11
Test Friday, 12/15

12. ADHD

13. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more three key symptoms:
Inattention
Hyperactivity
Impulsivity
11% of school-age children (2011)
Does energetic child + boring school = ADHD?

14. ADHD Debate Genuine Disorder Over-Diagnosed
ADHD is a real neurological disorder that is inheritable
can be studied using brain imaging techniques
not caused by too much sugar or boring classes
often co-exists with other learning disorders
treatable with nonaddictive medications such as Ritalin or Adderall
behavioral therapies also help modify behaviors in the classroom and at home
ADHD diagnoses have been on the rise for 2 decades
more children are unnecessarily on medication
ADHD rates differ in different counties and states
adults also accept the diagnosis and use it to account for life failings
Bottom line – ADHD symptoms are disruptive and can be treated with medication.