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.