Psychological Disorders
 Patterns of thoughts, feelings or
behaviors that are deviant, distressful
and dysfunctional
 May vary with culture and across time
 Exp: 1952 - 1973: Homosexuality was classified as
a an illness

Are classified by the DSM-IV-TR: Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders
 Uses a process known as multiaxial diagnosis which includes five
axes:
 Axis 1: Clinical disorders – depression and anxiety disorers
 Axis 2: Personality disorders – antisocial behavior, mental
retardation
 Axis 3: General medical conditions – diabetes
 Axis 4: Psychosocial and environmental problems – death of family
member, loss of job
 Axis 5: Global assessment of a person’s overall level of functioning
from 1 (serious attempt at suicide) to 100 (happy, productive, many
interests
Theories of Abnormal Behavior

The psychoanalytic perspective
 Views mental disorders as the product of intrapsychic conflicts
among the id, ego and superego
 In order to protect itself, the ego represses psychic conflicts into
the unconscious
 Conflicts result from unresolved traumatic experiences that took
place in childhood

The humanist perspective
 Looks to a person’s feelings, self-esteem and self-concept for
causes of mental behavior
 Believe behavior is the result of choices we make in struggling
to find meaning in life
Theories of Abnormal Behavior -cont
The cognitive perspective
 Focuses on faulty, illogical and negative ways of thinking
 Maladaptive thoughts lead to misperceptions and
misinterpretations of events and social interactions

The behavioral perspective
 Stresses that abnormal behavior is learned
 Focus on how a behavior was reinforced and rewarded

The biological perspective
 Many psychological disorders are caused by hormonal or
neurotransmitter imbalances, differences in brain structure and
inherited predispositions
Anxiety Disorders
Characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety
or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety
 Five Types:

1. Generalized anxiety disorder - person is unexplainably
and continually tense and uneasy


Can lead to chronic fatigue and irritability
Affects twice as many women as men
2. Panic disorder - person experiences sudden episodes of
intense dread or anxiety

Accompanied by pounding heart, rapid breathing, sudden
dizziness and lightheadedness
Anxiety Disorders -cont Five Types -cont3. Phobias - an irrational fear causes a person
to avoid some object, activity or situation
Top Ten Fears, Men and Women
Combined
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Fear of snakes
Fear of being buried alive
Fear of heights
Fear of being bound or tied
up
Fear of drowning
Fear of public speaking
Fear of hell
Fear of cancer
Fear of tornados
Fear of fire
Top Five Fears of Men and Women
Top 5 Fears of Men
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Fear of being buried alive
Fear of heights
Fear of snakes
Fear of drowning
Fear of public speaking
Top 5 Fears of Women
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Fear of snakes
Fear of being bound or tied
up
Fear of being buried alive
Fear of heights
Fear of public speaking
Some Unusual Phobias
Anxiety Disorders -cont Five Types -cont4. Obsessive-compulsive disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive
thoughts (obsessions) and /or actions
(compulsions)
 Obsessive thoughts often lead to
compulsive behaviors
 Nightline segment
Obsessions v. Compulsions

Example:
 Obsession: A young woman is continuously terrified by the
thought that cars might careen onto the sidewalk and run
her over.
 Compulsion: She always walks as far from the street
pavement as possible and wears red clothes so she will be
immediately visible to an out of control car.

Example:
 Obsession: A woman cannot rid herself of the thought that
she might accidently leave her gas stove turned on,
causing her house to explode.
 Compulsion: Every day she feels the irresistible urge to
check the stove exactly 10 times before leaving for work.
Anxiety Disorders -cont Five Types -cont5. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) characterized by haunting memories,
nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy
anxiety and/or insomnia that last 4+ weeks
after a traumatic experience
 Can lead to depression, uncontrollable
crying, edginess and an inability to
concentrate
Understanding Anxiety Disorders

Learning perspective
 Fear conditioning – use of stimulus generalization and
reinforcement
 Observational learning – we learn fear by observing the fears of
others

Biological perspective
 Natural selection – we naturally fear threats faced by our
ancestors
 Genes – some people seem more predisposed to anxiety than
others
 The brain
Somatoform Disorders
 Characterized by physical complaints or
conditions which are caused by psychological
factors
 Hypochondriasis - people interpret normal
sensations (headache, stomach cramp) as
symptoms of a dreaded disease
 Conversion disorder – marked by paralysis,
blindness, deafness or other loss of sensation
with no discernible physical cause
Dissociative Disorders
Disorders in which a person appears to experience a sudden loss of
memory or change in identity, often in response to a stressful
situation
 Person’s conscious awareness is said to “dissociate” (become
separated) from painful memories, thoughts and feelings
 Dissociative identity disorder - 2+ distinct identities seem to
alternately control the person’s behavior

 Some question whether this disorder exists

Dissociative amnesia – characterized by partial or total inability to
recall past experiences and important information
 Usually in response to traumatic events or very stressful situations

Dissociative fugue – characterized by suddenly and inexplicably
leaving home and taking on a new identity with no memory of a
former life
Mood Disorders
 General characteristics – serious, persistent
disturbances in a person’s emotions
 Two forms
1. Major depressive disorder
 At least 5 signs of depression (lethargy, feelings of
worthlessness, loss of interest in family, friends and
activities) last 2 or more weeks and are not caused
by drugs or a medical condition
2. Bipolar disorder
 Alternating between depression and mania hyperactive, wildly optimistic state
Mood Disorders -cont Depression
 Is accompanied by many behavioral and cognitive
changes
 Is widespread
 Women are more than 2xs as vulnerable than men
 Most major episodes self-terminate
 Is often preceded by stressful events
 Is striking earlier w/each new generation and is
affecting more people
Common Characteristics of
Suicidal People
1.
2.

Security, achievement, trust, friendship
The search for a solution
An attempt to end consciousness
Helplessness and hopelessness
3.
4.
5.
6.
Unendurable psychological pain
Frustrated psychological needs

7.
8.
9.
10.

Constriction of options
See only two alternatives: total solution or total cessations
Ambivalence
Communication of intent
Departure
Lifelong coping patterns
How did person handle problems in the past?
Teen Suicide Rates 1960 - 2000
Understanding Mood Disorders

The biological perspective
 Genetic influence – the heritability of major depression is
estimated at 35-40%
 The brain – studies have found less activity in the brain during
slowed-down depressive states and more activity during periods
of mania
 Biochemical influences – norepinephrine and serotonin are both
reduced during depression

The social-cognitive perspective
 Self-defeating beliefs
 Negative explanatory style – depressed people tend to explain
bad events in terms that are stable, global and internal
Schizophrenia


Group of disorders characterized by disorganized and
delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions and
inappropriate emotions and actions
Characteristic symptoms:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Delusional beliefs – bizarre or farfetched belief that continues
in spite of competing contradictory evidence
Hallucinations – false or distorted perception that seems
vividly real to the person experiencing it
Disorganized speech and thought – creating artificial words
and jumbling words and phrases together
Emotional and behavioral disturbances – range from
exaggerated and inappropriate reactions to a flat affect,
showing no emotional or facial expressions
Incidence of Different Types of
Hallucinations of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia -contAffects 1 in 100 people
Typically begins in late adolescence or early
adulthood
 Sometimes develops suddenly
 When it develops slowly, recovery is doubtful
 Positive symptoms - hallucinations, talking in a
disorganized/deluded way, inappropriate
laughter, tears or rage
 Negative symptoms - toneless voices,
expressionless faces, or mute, rigid bodies




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focusing on the strengths inherent in our often fibrous or moderately
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forms for the evolutionarily important innovations of our time
Schizophrenia -cont
Causes




Excess of dopamine in the brain
Abnormal brain activity
Low birth weight/oxygen deprivation during delivery
Maternal viral infection - risk increases if




There was a flu epidemic during fetal development
Born in a densely populated area
Born in the winter/spring months
Mother is sick w/influenza during pregnancy
 Genetics
 1/10 chance of schizophrenia among those w/sibling or parent
w/disorder
 ½ if sibling is an identical twin (6/10 if they shared a placenta)
Risk of Developing Schizophrenia
Personality Disorders
Disruptive, inflexible and enduring behavior
patterns that impair one’s social functioning
 Usually become evident during adolescence or
early adulthood
 Antisocial personality disorder - exhibits a lack
of conscience for wrongdoing
 Narcissistic personality disorder - person has a
strong need to be admired, large sense of selfimportance and demonstrates lack of insight
into the feeling of others

 Believe they should receive special privileges
Percentage of Americans Reporting Selected
Psychological Disorders in the Past Year
Psychological Disorder
Percentage
Generalized anxiety
3.1
Social phobia
6.8
Phobia of specific object/situation
8.7
Mood disorder
9.5
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
1.0
Schizophrenia
1.1
Post-traumatic stress disorder
3.5
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
4.1
Any mental disorder
26.2
Other Facts
About ½ of Americans will meet the criteria for DSM-IV disorder
sometime in their lifetime
 By age 75, the lifetime probability of







Anxiety disorder (including phobias) = 32%
Mood disorders (including depression) = 28%
Impulse control disorders = 25%
Alcohol abuse = 15%
Drug abuse = 9%
Median age of onset is much earlier for anxiety (11 yrs) and impulse-control
(11 yrs) disorders than for substance abuse (20 yrs) and mood disorders (30
yrs)
 ½ of all cases start by 14 yrs and ¾ by 24 yrs
Rates of mental illness have flattened in the past 15 yrs
 41% of those having a disorder went for treatment in the prior year

 Up from 25% ten years ago
 Younger adults are more likely to seek prompt care