Introduction to Psychology
Professor Christine Mihal Vasapoli
Chapter 12- Psychological Disorders
Chapter 12
Psychological Disorders
Abnormality
Mood disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Defining Abnormality
Abnormality
– a deviation from the average
Statistically-based approach
– a deviation from the ideal
Majority standard
– a sense of personal discomfort
– the inability to function effectively
Unable to adjust to societal demands
– a legal concept
Perspectives on Abnormality
Medical perspective
Psychoanalytic perspective
Behavioral perspective
Cognitive perspective
Humanistic perspective
Sociocultural perspective
Classifying Abnormal Behavior
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) is the standard system
used in the United States to diagnose and classify abnormal behavior
devised by the American Psychiatric Association
Rosenhan “On being sane in insane places” (1973) demonstrates
that placing labels on individuals powerfully influences the way
mental health workers perceive and interpret actions.
Summary of Mental Illness
Prehistoric times
Ancient Greece and Rome
Middle Ages
Renaissance
1700s
1800s
Early to mid-20th century
Late 20th century
Bonus Information
Defining insanity in the courtroom
Vincent Van Gogh
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorder
Anxiety occurs without external justification and begins to
affect a person’s daily functioning
Phobic disorder
Intense, irrational fears of specific objects or situations
Panic disorder
Anxiety that is not triggered by any identifiable stimulus and
last from a few seconds to several hours
Generalized anxiety disorder
Experience long term persistent anxiety
Anxiety Disorders
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsession
A persistent, unwanted thought or idea that
keeps recurring
Compulsion
Urge to repeatedly carry out some act that
seems strange and unreasonable, even to
the individual who experiences them
Somatic Symptom and
Related Disorders
Psychological difficulties
characterized by physical
(somatic) forms, but for which
there is no medical cause
Conversion disorder
Involves an actual physical disturbance,
such as the inability to see or hear, or to
move an arm or leg whose cause is purely
psychological
Dissociative Disorders
Characterized by the separation (or dissociation) of critical parts of
personality that are normally integrated and work together in order to
keep disturbing memories or perceptions from reaching conscious
awareness, thereby reducing their anxiety
Dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality)
individual displays characteristics of two or more distinct
personalities
Amnesia a disorder in which a significant selective memory
loss occurs
Fugue an amnesiac condition where an individual leaves
home and sometimes assume a new identity.
Mood Disorders
Disturbances in emotion strong enough to intrude on
everyday life.
Major depression is a severe form of depression that
interferes with concentration, decision making, and
sociability.
• Worthless feelings
• Loneliness
• Crying
• Sleep disturbance
• Suicide
Mood Disorders
Bipolar disorder
A disorder in which a person alternates between
periods of euphoric feelings of mania and periods
of depression.
Mania
Extended state of intense, wild elation.
Causes of Mood Disorders
Psychoanalytic
– Feelings of loss
– Anger directed at oneself
Genetic and biochemical routes
Learned helplessness
Evolutionary theory
Depression is an adaptive response to
goals that are unattainable
Schizophrenia
Class of disorders in which severe distortion of
reality occurs
– Decline from a previous level of functioning
– Disturbances of thought and language
– Delusions
– Hallucinations
– Emotional disturbances
– Withdrawal
Schizophrenia
Process schizophrenia
Symptoms develop relatively early in life, slowly
and subtly
Reactive schizophrenia
Onset of symptoms is sudden and conspicuous
Type 1: Positive-symptom schizophrenia
Type 2: Negative-symptom schizophrenia
Schizophrenia: Causes
Biological Environmental perspectives
– Heredity Expressed emotion is an interaction
style characterized by criticism,
– Structural abnormalities
hostility, and emotional
– Dopamine hypothesis intrusiveness by family members
• Schizophrenia occurs
when there is excess
activity in those areas of Cognitive perspective
the brain that use
– Over attention to certain stimuli
dopamine as a
neurotransmitter – Underattention
Personality Disorders
Narcissistic personality disorder
Disorders characterized Exaggerated sense of self-importance
by inflexible,
maladaptive
Antisocial personality disorder
personality traits that (sociopath)
do not permit the
Characterized by no regard for the moral
person to function and ethical rules of society or the rights
appropriately as of others
members of society Borderline personality disorder
Characterized by their difficulty in
developing a secure sense of who they
are
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is a disorder marked by
inattention, impulsiveness, a low
tolerance for frustration, and generally
a great deal of inappropriate activity
Psychological Disorders in
Perspective
How prevalent are psychological disorders?
What indicators signal a need for the help of
mental health practitioner?
