Chapter 13: Psychological
Disorders
Abnormal Behavior
• The medical model
• What is abnormal behavior?
– Deviant
– Dysfuntional/Maladaptive
– Distressing
Psychodiagnosis:
The Classification of Disorders
• American Psychiatric Association
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders – 4th ed.rev. (DSM – IV-TR)
Psychological Disorders
• Not uncommon
– 26% in a given year, 46% in a lifetime.
• Cultural
– What is accepted in one culture, may not
be in another
• Not Dangerous
– Most people who suffer from a disorder are
not dangerous.
Five Axes
• Axis I – Clinical Syndromes
• Axis II – Personality Disorders or Mental
Retardation
• Axis III – General Medical Conditions
• Axis IV – Psychosocial and Environmental
Problems
• Axis V – Global Assessment of Functioning
Important Terms
• Diagnosis
– Identification of a disorder
• Prognosis
– Indication of the outcome of a disorder
• Etiology
– Apparent cause or developmental history
of a disorder.
Anxiety Disorders
• Generalized anxiety disorder
– “free-floating anxiety”
• Phobic disorder
– Specific focus of fear
• Panic disorder and agoraphobia
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
– Obsessions
– Compulsions
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Etiology of Anxiety Disorders
• Biological factors
– Genetic predisposition
– GABA circuits in the brain
• Conditioning and learning
– Acquired through classical conditioning
– Maintained through operant conditioning
• Cognitive factors
– Judgments of perceived threat
• Stress/Adverse experiences—a precipitator
Figure 13.3 Twin studies of anxiety disorders
Figure 13.4 Conditioning as an explanation for phobias
Figure 13.5 Cognitive factors in anxiety disorders
Somatoform Disorders
• Somatization Disorder
• Conversion Disorder
• Hypochondriasis
• Etiology of somatoform disorders
– Cognitive factors
– Personality factors
– The sick role
Figure 13.6 Glove anesthesia
Dissociative Disorders
• Dissociative amnesia and fugue
• Dissociative identity disorder
– Etiology
• severe emotional trauma during
childhood
– Controversy
• Media creation?
Mood Disorders
• Major depressive disorder
– Dysthymia
• Bipolar disorder
– Cyclothymia
• Etiology
– Genetic vulnerability
– Neurochemical factors
– Cognitive factors
– Interpersonal roots
– Precipitating stress
Figure 13.7 Episodic patterns in mood disorders
Figure 13.9 Twin studies of mood disorders
Figure 13.10 Interpreting the correlation between negative thinking and depression
Figure 13.11 Interpersonal factors in depression
Schizophrenia
• General symptoms
– Delusions and irrational thought
– Deterioration of adaptive behavior
– Distorted perception
– Disturbed emotion
Subtyping of Schizophrenia
• Four subtypes
– Paranoid type
– Catatonic type
– Disorganized type
– Undifferentiated type
• New model for classification
– Positive vs. negative symptoms
Etiology of Schizophrenia
• Genetic vulnerability
• Neurochemical factors
• Structural abnormalities of the brain
• The neurodevelopmental hypothesis
• Expressed emotion
• Precipitating stress
Figure 13.13 The dopamine hypothesis as an explanation for schizophrenia
Figure 13.15 The neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia