UNIT 12 – ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
IntroductionHow should we define psychological disorders?How should we understand disorders?How should we classify psychological disorders?
Defining Psychological DisordersPsychological disorders - a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an
individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.Disturbed behaviorDysfunctional behaviorMaladaptive behavior
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by
age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms; extreme
inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
Understanding Psychological DisordersThe Medical Model
Philippe PinelMedical model - the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have
physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured often through
treatment in a hospital.
Mental illness (psychopathology)The Biopsychosocial Model
Interaction of nature and nurtureInfluence of culture on disorders
Classifying Psychological Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) - the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.
DSM-5Diagnostic labelsCriticisms of the DSM
Labeling Psychological DisordersRosenhan’s studyPower of labels
Preconception can stigmatizeStereotypes of the mentally illInsanity
Rates of Psychological Disorders
Anxiety DisordersAnxiety disorder - psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or
maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.Generalized anxiety disorder - an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense,
apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.
2/3 womenContinual worry, jittery, agitated and sleep deprivedFree floating anxiety
Panic disorders - an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations. Often followed by worry over a possible next attack.
Panic attacks Phobias - an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a
specific object, activity, or situation.Specific phobiaSocial anxiety disorder - intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of
such. (Formerly called social phobia)Agoraphobia - fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open spaces,
where one has felt loss of control and panic.
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related DisordersObsessive-compulsive disorder - a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).
An obsession versus a compulsionCheckersHand washers
Trauma Stressor and Related DisordersPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder - a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience.
PTSD“shellshock” or “battle fatigue”Not just due to a war situation
Post-traumatic growth - positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises.
Understanding Anxiety Disorders, OCD and PTSDThe Learning Perspective
Classical and operant conditioningStimulus generalizationReinforcement
Observational learningCognition
The Biological PerspectiveNatural selectionGenes
Anxiety geneGlutamate
The BrainAnterior cingulate cortex
Mood Disorders - psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes.Depressive Disorders
Major depressive disorder - a mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or a another medical condition, two or more weeks with five or more symptoms, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood, or (2) lost of interest or pleasure.
Problems regulating appetiteProblems regulating sleepLow energyLow self-esteemDifficulty concentrating and making decisionsFeelings of hopelessness
Persistent depressive disorder
Bipolar and Related DisordersBipolar Disorder - a mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. (formerly called manic-depressive disorder.)
Mania (manic) - a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state.Overtalkative, overactive, elated, little need for sleep, etc.
Disruptive Mood Dysregulation DisorderBipolar disorder and creativity
Understanding Depressive and Bipolar DisordersMany behavioral and cognitive changes accompany depressionDepression is widespreadWomen’s risk of major depression is nearly double men’sMost major depressive episodes self-terminateStressful events related to work, marriage and close relationships often proceed depressionWith each new generation, depression is striking earlier and affecting more people
The Biological PerspectiveGenetic Influences
Mood disorders run in familiesHeritabilityLinkage analysis
The depressed brainBiochemical influences
Norepinephrine and serotonin
The Social-Cognitive PerspectiveNegative Thoughts and Moods Interact
Self-defeating beliefsLearned helplessnessRumination - compulsive fretting; overthinking about our problems and their
causes.Explanatory style
Stable, global, internal explanationsCause versus indictor of depression?
Symptoms of SchizophreniaSchizophrenia (split mind) - a group of severe disorders characterized by delusions, hallucinations,
disorganized speech, and/or diminished or inappropriate emotional expression.
Not multiple personalitiesPsychosis (psychotic disorder) - a psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with
reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions.
Disorganized Thinking and Disturbed PerceptionsDisorganized thinking
Delusions - false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.
Delusions of persecution (paranoid)Word SaladHallucinations - false sensory experience, such as seeing something in the absence of
an external visual stimulus.Breakdown in selective attention
Diminished and Inappropriate EmotionsInappropriate Emotions
Flat affectInappropriate Actions
CatatoniaDisruptive social behavior
Onset and Development of SchizophreniaStatistics on schizophreniaOnset of the diseasePositive versus negative symptomsChronic (process) schizophreniaAcute (reactive) schizophrenia
Understanding SchizophreniaBrain Abnormalities
Dopamine OveractivityDopamine Overactivity
Dopamine – D4 dopamine receptorDopamine blocking drugs
GlutamateAbnormal Brain Activity and Anatomy
Abnormal Brain Activity and AnatomyFrontal lobe and core brain activityFluid filled areas of the brain
Maternal Virus During MidpregnancyMaternal Virus During Pregnancy
Studies on maternal activity and schizophreniaInfluence of the flu during pregnancy
Genetic FactorsGenetic predispositionTwin studies
Psychological Factors
Possible warning signsMother severely schizophrenicBirth complications (low weight/oxygen deprivation)Separation from parentsShort attention spanDisruptive or withdrawn behavior Emotional unpredictabilityPoor peer relations and solo play
Somatic Symptom and Related DisordersSomatic symptom disorder - psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause.
Somatic (body)
Conversion disorder - a disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no psychological basis can be found. (Also called functional neurological symptom disorder)
Functional neurological symptom disorderIllness anxiety disorder - a disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of the disease. (Formerly called hypochondriasis)
Hypochondriasis
Dissociative DisordersDissociative disorders - disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.
Fugue stateDissociate (become separated)Dissociative Identity Disorder - a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or
more distinct and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID)Multiple personality disorder
Understanding Dissociative Identity DisorderGenuine disorder or not?DID ratesTherapist’s creationDifferences are too greatDID and other disorders
Feeding and Eating DisordersEating disorders
Anorexia nervosa - an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly (15 percent or more) underweight.Bulimia nervosa - an eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating (usually of high- calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use), excessive exercise, or fasting.Binge-eating disorder - significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa.
Personality DisordersPersonality disorders - psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.
Cluster ASchizoid personality disorder
Cluster BHistrionic personality disorderNarcissistic personality disorderAntisocial personality disorder - a personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.
Cluster CAvoidant personality disorder
Antisocial Personality DisorderAntisocial personality disorder
Sociopath or psychopathUnderstanding antisocial personality disorder