Psychological DisordersAn IntroductionStolen from www.appsychology.com
What is a Psychological Disorder?
• A “harmful dysfunction” in which behavior is judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive and unjustifiable.
What is abnormal, disturbing, maladaptive and unjustifiable depends on:
• Culture
• Environmental Conditions• Individual Person
• Time Period
Early Theories
• Afflicted people were possessed by evil spirits.
Early Theories• Music or singing was
often used to chase away spirits.• In some cases trephening was used:
Cutting a hole in the head of the afflicted to let out the evil spirit.
Early Theories• Another theory was to make the body
extremely uncomfortable.
Current Perspectives
• Medical Perspective: psychological disorders are sicknesses and can be diagnosed, treated and cured.
Current Perspectives
• Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective: assumes biological, psychological and sociocultural factors combine to interact causing psychological disorders.
Used to be called Diathesis-Stress Model: diathesis meaning predisposition and stress meaning environment.
Classifying Psychological Disorders
• What is the DSM-IV? Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: the book to classify mental disorders
Two Major Classifications:Psychotic and neurotic disorders.
Psychotic Disorders• Person loses contact with reality, experiences distorted perceptions
Neurotic Disorders• Distressing but one can still function in
society and act rationally
• Spongebob may be hyperactive and manic, but not psychotic.
Personality Disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior
patterns that impair social functioning.
Paranoid Personality Disorder
• Paranoid personality disorder is characterized by a distrust of others and a constant suspicion that people around you have sinister motives.
Paranoid Personality Disorder
• They search for hidden meanings in everything and read hostile intentions into the actions of others.
• They are quick to challenge the loyalties of friends and loved ones and often appear cold and distant to others. They usually shift blame to others and tend to carry long grudges.
Antisocial Personality Disorder
• antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a lack of conscience
• People with this disorder are prone to criminal behavior, believing that their victims are weak and deserving of being taken advantage of. They tend to lie and steal
Antisocial Personality Disorder
• they are careless with money and take action without thinking about consequences
They are often aggressive and are much more concerned with their own needs than the needs of others.
Borderline Personality Disorder• characterized by mood instability
and poor self-image
“I hate you. Get away! Why did you leave me asshole!”
Borderline Personality Disorder
• they will take their anger out on themselves, causing themselves injury
Suicidal threats and actions are not uncommon They are quick to anger when their expectations are not met.
Histrionic Personality Disorder
• constant attention seekers
They need to be the center of attention all the time, often interrupting others in order to dominate the conversation.
Histrionic Personality Disorder
• They may dress provocatively or exaggerate illnesses in order to gain attention.
They also tend to exaggerate friendships and relationships, believing that everyone loves them
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• characterized by self-centeredness
They exaggerate their achievements, expecting others to recognize them as being superior
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
They tend to be choosy about picking friends, since they believe that not just anyone is worthy of being their friend.
They are generally uninterested in the feelings of others and may take advantage of them.
Schizoid Personality Disorder• People with
schizoid personality disorder avoid relationships and do not show much emotion
They genuinely prefer to be alone and do not secretly wish for popularity.
Schizoid Personality Disorder• They tend to seek jobs that require
little social contact
Their social skills are often weak and they do not show a need for attention or acceptance
They are perceived as humorless and distant and often are termed "loners."
Avoidant personality disorder
• characterized by a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation.
• consider themselves to be socially inept or personally unappealing, and avoid social interaction for fear of being ridiculed or humiliated.
Dependent personality disorder
• characterized by a pervasive psychological dependence on other people.
• has difficulty making everyday decisions without an excessive amount of advice and reassurance from others
Mood Disorders• Psychological
Disorders characterized by emotional extremes.
• Major Depressive Disorder
• Bipolar Disorder
• Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Dysthymic Disorder
Depression
Major Depressive Disorder• A person, for no
apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks of depressive moods.
Includes feelings of worthlessness and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities.
Dysthymic Disorder• Suffering from
mild depression every day for at least two years.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Bipolar Disorder
• Person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.
Bipolar Brain
Norepinephrine
Increases arousal and boosts moods.
Suicide
Suicide
Eating disorders
• Anorexia – starving yourself
• Bulimia – binging and purging
Anxiety Disordersa group of conditions where the
primary symptoms are anxiety or defenses against anxiety.the patient fears something awful will happen to them.
Are anxiety disorders a neurosis or psychosis.?
What is anxiety?• is a state of
intense apprehension, uneasiness, uncertainty, or fear.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder• An anxiety disorder in which a
person is continuously tense, apprehensive and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.
The patient is constantly tense and worried, feels inadequate, is oversensitive, can’t concentrate and suffers from insomnia.
Panic Disorder• An anxiety disorder marked by a
minutes-long episode of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking and other frightening sensations.
Can cause secondary disorders, such as agoraphobia.
Phobias• A person experiences sudden episodes of intense dread.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).
Common Examples of OCDCommon Obsessions: Common
Compulsions:Contamination fears of germs,
dirt, etc. WashingImagining having harmed self or
others RepeatingImagining losing control of
aggressive urges CheckingIntrusive sexual thoughts or
urges TouchingExcessive religious or moral
doubt Counting
Forbidden thoughts Ordering/arrangingA need to have things "just so" Hoarding or savingA need to tell, ask, confess Praying
Explanations for Anxiety Disorders
• You Learn them through conditioning.
•Evolution
•Genes•Physiology (the brain)
Dissociative Disorders
What are dissociative disorders?
• Dissociative fuge• Dissociative amnesia
Dissociative Disorders• Disorders in which
conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts and feelings.
Dissociative Amnesia• This disorder is
characterized by a blocking out of critical personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature.
Dissociative Amnesia• Dissociative amnesia, unlike other
types of amnesia, does NOT result from other medical trauma (e.g. a blow to the head).
Dissociative Fugue• An individual with dissociative fugue
suddenly and unexpectedly takes physical leave of his or her surroundings and sets off on a journey of some kind.
• These journeys can last hours, or even several days or months.
Dissociative Fugue• Individuals experiencing a dissociative
fugue have traveled over thousands of miles.
An individual in a fugue state is unaware of or confused about his identity, and in some cases will assume a new identity (although this is the exception).
Dissociative Identity Disorder• A rare dissociative disorder in
which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities.
•Also known as multiple personality disorder.
Somatoform disorders• Soma = body• Physical illnesses caused by the mind• ex: conversion disorder – significant loss of
bodily function with no physical cause• Ex: hysterical blindness – blindness after traumatic
event (no physical cause)• Hysterical pregnancy – body acts pregnant but no baby!• Hypochondriasis – excessive worry about getting sick.
Schizophrenia
How Prevalent?• About 1 in every 100 people are
diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
• Disorganized thinking.
•Disturbed Perceptions•Inappropriate Emotions and Actions
Disorganized Thinking• The thinking of a person with
Schizophrenia is fragmented and bizarre and distorted with false beliefs.
• Disorganized thinking comes from a breakdown in selective attention.- they cannot filter out information.
Often causes………
Delusions (false beliefs)
• Delusions of Persecution
• Delusions of Grandeur
Disturbed Perceptions• hallucinations- sensory
experiences without sensory stimulation.
Inappropriate Emotions and Actions
• Laugh at inappropriate times.
• Flat Effect (no emotion)
• Senseless, compulsive acts.
• Catatonia- motionless Waxy Flexibility
Positive v. Negative Symptoms
Positive Symptoms
• Presence of inappropriate symptoms
Negative Symptoms
• Absence of appropriate ones.
Types of Schizophreni
a
Paranoid Schizophrenia
• preoccupation with delusions or hallucinations.
• Somebody is out to get me!!!!
Disorganized Schizophrenia
• disorganized speech or behavior, or flat or inappropriate emotion.
Catatonic Schizophrenia
• parrot like repeating of another’s speech and movements
Undifferentiated Schizophrenia
• Many and varied Symptoms.