1. Psychological Disorders  Psychological Disorder a “harmful dysfunction” in which behavior is judged to be (text discussion):  Atypical  not enough in itself  Disturbing  varies with time and culture  Maladaptive  harmful  Unjustifiable  By what standard?

2. Defined as Function  Individual is not functioning adequately based on either his/her standards or according to significant others in the person’s life.  Almost all the disorders we discuss have symptoms that everyone experiences. Diagnosis of disorder depends of intensity, length of time and how much it’s impacting on the person. Depression Anxiety Psychosis?

3. Psychological Disorders  Medical Model  concept that diseases have physical causes  can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases, cured  assumes that these “mental” illnesses can be diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms and cured through therapy, which may include treatment in a psychiatric hospital

4. Problems with medical model  Effects of labeling person, especially if based on limited number of symptoms May limit true understanding of behavior in favor of “listed” symptoms and assumptions about outcome Confirmation bias: future information interpreted in a biased way based on label  Similar problems can exist with diagnosis physical ailments

5. Psychological Disorders  Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective  assumes that biological, sociocultural, and psychological factors combine and interact to produce psychological disorders

6. Bio-Psycho-Social Approach

7.  These factors change over time. Hence, it’s harmful to place a constant label on a person  “Normal” behavior changes over cultures, sub-cultures and time. E.g., is gang behavior or violence “abnormal”?  It’s more important to understand behavior (and symptoms) then worry about labels.

8. Classifying Psychological Disorders (medical approach dominates )  DSM-IV  American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition)  a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders  presently distributed as DSM-IV-TR (text revision)

9. Classifying Psychological Disorders  Neurotic Disorder usually distressing but that allows one to think rationally and function socially  Psychotic Disorder  person loses contact with reality  experiences irrational ideas and distorted perceptions

10. Rates of Psychological Disorders

11. Anxiety Disorders  Anxiety Disorders  distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety  Generalized Anxiety Disorder  person is tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal  Persistence (out of control)  Problem in identifying source

12. Anxiety Disorders  Panic Disorder  marked by a minutes-long episode of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensation  Person comes to fear the panic attack itself and start to avoid any situations or places that might provoke an attack

13. Anxiety Disorders  Phobia  persistent, irrational fear of a specific object or situation  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder  unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions)

15. Anxiety Disorders  Common and uncommon fears

16. Anxiety Disorders

17. Causes: Learning Perspective  Fears are learned thought classical conditioning Stimulus generalization often occurs Development of behaviors to avoid the anxiety Perhaps also through observational learning

18. Causes: Biological Influence  Research with identical twins and non-human primates suggest a genetic aspect

19. Anxiety Disorders  PET Scan of brain of person with Obsessive/ Compulsive disorder  High metabolic activity (red) in frontal lobe areas involved with directing attention (impulse control and executive function)  Effectiveness of drug therapy

20. Dissociative Disorders  Dissociative Disorders  conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings  Not uncommon when in a highly traumatic situation to feel “removed” from the situation. Problem is when this becomes more then a brief situation

21. Dissociative Disorder  Dissociative Identity Disorder  rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities  formerly called multiple personality disorder  At Issue: Is it a real phenomena  Skeptics– Everyone has difference aspects of their personality. These get exaggerated by person and perhaps encourage by therapist  Believers– Personality differences are dramatic (even handedness might be effected) and person may have many personalities (e.g., 3 faces of eve– 28)  Origins from sever trauma especially in childhood  Both may be right

22. Personality Disorders  Personality Disorders (vs. mood disorder)  disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning

23. Types of Personality Disorders  Fearful, afraid of rejection, withdrawn  Extreme eccentrics– “The Character”  Narcissistic– Over exaggerates self importance  Borderline– Unstable identity, emotions, relationships, etc.

24. Personality Disorders  Antisocial Personality Disorder  disorder in which the person (usually man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members  may be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist  Most criminals do not have this– they show concern for family and friends

25. Mood Disorders  Boys who were later convicted of a crime showed relatively low arousal

26. Personality Disorders  PET scans illustrate reduced activation in a murderer’s frontal cortex Normal Murderer

27. Personality Disorders

28. Mood Disorders  Mood Disorders  characterized by emotional extremes  Major Depressive Disorder  a mood disorder in which a person, for no apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks of depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities

29. Mood Disorders  Manic Episode  a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state  Bipolar Disorder  a mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania  formerly called manic-depressive disorder

30. Mood Disorders-Depression  Canadian depression rates

31. Mood Disorders- Suicide

32. Mood Disorders-Bipolar  PET scans show that brain energy consumption rises and falls with emotional switches Depressed stateManic stateDepressed state

33. Mood Disorders-Depression  Altering any one component of the chemistry- cognition-mood circuit can alter the others

34. Mood Disorders-Depression  The vicious cycle of depression can be broken at any point

35. Schizophrenia  Schizophrenia  literal translation “split mind”  a group of severe disorders characterized by:  disorganized and delusional thinking  disturbed perceptions  inappropriate emotions and actions

36. Schizophrenia  Delusions  false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders  Hallucinations  sensory experiences without sensory stimulation

37. Schizophrenia

38. Causes of Schizophrenia  Evidence of both chemical and anatomical differences in the brain  There are clear genetic predispositions

39. Schizophrenia

40. Causes of Schizophrenia  Viral infections during pregnancy?  Role of environment is unclear

41. The End  Is Psychology a Science?  Future Courses