Marion Weeks
Jenks High School
 Psychological
Disorders are often referred to
as Abnormal Behavior.
 No
one absolute definition of psychological
disorders.
 Continuum
between mental health on one
hand and pathology(the medical specialty
concerned with the study of the nature and
causes of diseases) on the other.
 Proposed
definitions include:

A pattern of behavioral or psychological
symptoms that causes significant personal stress
and impairs the ability to function in one or more
important areas of life, or both. (APA, 1994)

A psychological disorder may exist when behavior
is atypical, disturbing, maladaptive (types of
behaviors that inhibit a person’s ability to adjust
to particular situations.) and unjustifiable.
(Myers, 1998)

Example of maladaptive behavior

Someone might avoid crowds because of social phobia,
but in the end, it is not necessarily a technique that
will help them overcome this problem.
 Maladaptive
behavior can often be
considered as a sign of a mental disorder
(i.e. a sign of a medically determinable
impairment).
Examples of Maladaptive Behaviors
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Emotional withdrawal
Bed wetting
Eating disturbance
Sleep disturbance
Impulsivity
Poor concentration
and attention
Temper tantrums
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Negativity and
defiance
Lying, cheating,
stealing
Physical aggression
Running away
Self-injurious behavior
Destruction of
another’s property
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A psychological abnormality involves the
presence of at least two of the following:
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Distress
Maladaptiveness
Irrationality
Unpredictability
Unconventional and statistical rarity
Observer discomfort
Sanity and insanity are legal rather than
psychological terms.
Insanity

The ability of the defendant to distinguish right from
wrong.

The ancient world
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Greece
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Hippocrates (460-377 BC) believed mental illness was
the result of natural, as opposed to supernatural,
causes.
Galen (130-200 AD) divided the causes of mental
disorders into physical and psychological explanations.
In China (200 AD) Chung Ching stated that both
organ pathologies and stressful psychological
situations were causes of mental disorders.
 The
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In Europe, abnormal behavior viewed as demonic
possession.
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Middle Ages (500-1500 AD)
Treatment involved prayer, laying on of hands, and
exorcism by a clergy member.
Islamic countries
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Humane mental hospitals were established (Baghdad
792 AD)
Persian physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980-1037)
established principals for testing the effectiveness of
new drugs.
Still form the basis modern clinical drug trials.
 The
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Led to re-emergence of the scientific approach in
Europe.
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Renaissance
Spanish nun Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) established the
conceptual framework that the mind can be sick.
Weyer (1515-1588) of Germany and Scot (1538-1599)
of England used scientific skepticism to refute the
concept of demonic possession.
Humanitarian reforms of the 18th and 19th
century.
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In the U.S., Benjamin Rush(1745-1813), the founder of
American psychiatry, encouraged human treatment of
mentally ill and the establishment of hospitals for
their care.
 Scientific
advances of the 20th century.

Developments in technology such as MRI and PET
scans have added to our knowledge of biological
bases of psychological disorders.

Development of psychopharmacology have
provided effective treatments for many
psychological disorders.
 The
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biopsychological model
Emphasizes that mental illness needs to be
diagnosed on the basis of its symptoms
Cured only through therapy based on medical
intervention.
Recent discoveries genetically influenced
abnormalities in brain structure and biochemistry
contribute to wide range of disorders.
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Schizophrenia
Depression
Anxiety disorders
 Medications influence many disorders and symptoms
 Schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorders are
often successfully treated medically.

The psychoanalytic model
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Inspired by Freud
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Emphasizes the role of unconscious conflicts over
aggressive and sexual impulses.
Psychoanalytic therapy (the “talking cure”) dominated
mid-20th century approaches.
Currently practiced to a lesser extent.
The behavioral model
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Emphasizes that psychological disorders have learning
as their basis.
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Ex. Inappropriate behaviors might have been reinforced
and the punishment or extinction of appropriate
behaviors may have occurred.
Therapy relies on learning principles to change
maladaptive behaviors.

The Cognitive model
Grew out of dissatisfaction with behaviorism’s limits.
 Emphasizes that irrational or maladaptive thought
processes are the cause of psychological disorders.
 The greatest number of practitioners in psychology
today use this model.
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The Biopsychosocial model
Eclectic contemporary model.
 Assumes that biological, psychological, and
sociocultural factors interact to produce or
exacerbate psychological disorders.
 Therapists who subscribe to this view may
recommend drugs as well as behavioral and cognitive
therapies.
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Published by the American Psychological
Association, (APA), the DSM-IV, as it is known,
is a widely used diagnostic classification
system.
 Provides a set of criteria which allows
diagnosticians to make assessments.
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 System
based on five axes used by clinicians
to provide a complete diagnosis.
Axis I
Axis II
Is a Clinical Syndrome (cognitive, anxiety, mood disorders [16
syndromes]) present?
Is a Personality Disorder or Mental Retardation present?
Axis III
Is a General Medical Condition (diabetes, hypertension or
arthritis etc) also present?
Axis IV
Are Psychosocial or Environmental Problems (school or housing
issues) also present?
What is the Global Assessment of the person’s functioning?
Axis V
16
 Axis
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16 major categories of adult psychological
disorders.
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Mood disorders
Schizophrenic disorders
 Axis
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2
Includes personality disorders and developmental
disorders
 Axis
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1
3
Includes medical conditions that might affect or
interact with the client’s psychological disorder
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Hypothyroidism
Headaches
 Axis
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A rating of recent social and environmental
sources of stress,
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Death in the family
Chronic unemployment
 Axis
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4
5
Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) made on
a scale that ranges from 1 to 100, where 100
represents unimpaired function and 1 represents
severe dysfunction.
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Example of therapists multiaxial diagnosis:
 Axis 1: alcohol dependence
 Axis 2: dependent personality disorder
 Axis 3: diabetes
 Axis 4: death of spouse; unemployment
 GAF= 60 (moderate symptoms, e.g., occasional
panic attacks or moderate difficulty in social,
occupational, or school functioning)
System relies heavily on the medical
perspective.
 Reliability in diagnosis remains a problem;
psychological disorders have “fuzzy borders.”
 Different disorders share certain characteristics.
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Example
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A person might exhibit some, but not all, characteristics
of a particular disorder.
Controversy exists regarding the existence of
some disorders:
Dissociative identity disorder
 Premenstrual syndrome
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