CHAPTER 14 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
There is a fine line between what is normal and abnormal
have to look at different
EX:
psychological disorder: a pattern of psychological or behavioral symptoms that
causes significant personal distress; impairs the ability to function
to diagnose a disorder, psychologists use the DSM-IV, which is the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
APA publishes it
has approx. 250 psychological disorders
has symptoms, criteria for diagnosis, typical course for each disorder
(patterns, how long, etc.)
As each new edition comes out, more disorders are added
EX:
ANXIETY DISORDERS
anxiety: an unpleasant emotional state characterized by physical arousal and
feelings of tension, worry, and apprehension
with pathological anxiety, you are not able to calm down as easily
3 characteristics of pathological anxiety
1. irrational—threat is exaggerated or nonexistent
2. uncontrollable—can’t shut off the alarm
3. disruptive—interferes with school work, job performance,
relationships
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-- global, chronic, persistent, and excessive
apprehension
panic attack—a sudden episode of extreme anxiety that rapidly escalates in
intensity
a person suffers from panic disorder when they have frequent and unexpected
panic attacks
PHOBIAS
phobia: an intense and irrational fear of a particular object or situation
of the population have a phobia that disrupts their daily functioning
women are
as likely as men to suffer from a severe phobia
when a person suffers from a specific phobia, they are terrified of a specific
object or situation
4 categories of specific phobias
1)
2)
3)
4)
the most common phobia that people seek treatment for is agoraphobia: fear of
having a panic attack in public and not being able to escape or get help
social phobia: fear of social situations, especially performing a task in front of
other people
EX:
OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER
a person’s life is dominated by repetitive thoughts and behaviors
obsession—person has repeated, intrusive, and uncontrollable thoughts or
mental images; causes the person to be anxious and distressed
EX:
compulsion: the person does repetitive behaviors to relieve the anxiety from
obsessions
EX:
Most common:
MOOD DISORDERS
mood disorder: a serious, persistent disturbance in a person’s emotions that
cause psychological discomfort, and/or impairs the ability to function
the most common mood disorder is major depression, it’s called the common
cold of mental disorders
4 categories
1.
2.
3.
4.
to be diagnosed with major depression, have to have symptoms for 2 weeks or
more
there are approximately
Americans suffering from major
depression
women more likely than men (women- 1:4; men- 1:8)
those at higher risk are b/t ages 15-24 and 35-44
runs in families, esp. if mother suffered from depression, women more likely to
suffer from it then (3xs more likely)
risk factors:
treatment is usually in the form of antidepressants; the more common ones are
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), which increases the amount of
serotonin in the body
another treatment for severe depression, or when the patient is suicidal, is
electroconvulsive therapy, or shock therapy where an electrical current is sent
through the brain, creating a seizure
the patient is usually disoriented for a few hours after; main side effect is
memory loss
bipolar disorder: was called manic depression; major depression with the
person experiencing extreme euphoria and excitement
manic episode:
diagnosed usually in the early 20s
approx. 2 mil Americans have bipolar disorder (1% of men and women)
medication used is lithium, because of severe depressive episodes (bipolar
patients tend to have low levels of serotonin) and also for the mania (balances
the levels of another neurotransmitter called glutamate)
PERSONALITY DISORDERS
personality disorder: person has inflexible and maladaptive thoughts, behaviors,
emotions that are consistent over time and are not representative of the person’s
culture
3 most common personality disorders
1. paranoid personality disorder: characterized by mistrust and
suspiciousness of others, always thinks others are trying to harm them in some
way
3% of population; more men than women
not much research on causes
2.
borderline personality disorder:
most commonly diagnosed
personality disorder; person’s emotions, relationships, and self-image are
unstable; have extreme mood swings
are self-destructive (self-mutilate, have suicidal thoughts and attempts)
10 million Americans, 2/3 of them women
possible causes- disrupted attachment in early childhood and sexual,
emotional, or physical abuse during childhood
3. antisocial personality disorder: person has a blatant disregard when
violating the rights of others; most commonly called psychopaths or sociopaths
usually diagnosed in late childhood or early adolescence
EX:
occurs in 6% of men and 1% of women
DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
dissociative experience: awareness, memory, and identity are disrupted
EX:
a dissociative experience can become a dissociative disorder when the
experience is more extreme, frequent, and disrupts daily functioning
3 basic dissociative disorders
1. dissociative amnesia where the person remembers little or no personal
information
2. dissociative fugue where the person is unsure of his own identity
3. dissociative identity disorder: formerly known as multiple personality
disorder
memory is extensively disrupted, there is a presence of 2 or more
distinct identities (called alters); the most common amount of
alters is 10 to 15
characteristics of alters:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
EX:
always have memory problems or amnesia
they “lose time” from their childhood
usually caused by extreme physical or sexual abuse in childhood
SCHIZOPHRENIA
schizophrenia:
thought processes, beliefs, and perceptions are severely
distorted; lose touch with reality
the most serious psychological disorder
affects 1 out of 100 people;
begins in adolescence or early adulthood
positive—the abnormal behaviors that occur in schizophrenics
EX:
hallucinations: imaginary sensations, most common are auditory, hearing
voices
delusions—false beliefs that others don’t share
1. delusions of grandeur-- believe they are a famous person with
great knowledge, ability, or authority
EX:
2. delusions of persecution-- falsely believe that some person or
agency is trying to get them in some kind of way
EX:
negative-- decrease in thoughts and behaviors
EX:
may have flat affect—no emotions at all; look like a robot
those schizo with neg symptoms seem to have the poorest outcomes
3 types of schizophrenia
1. catatonic schizo
can be completely still or highly agitated
can “freeze” with a bizarred look on their faces or in a bizarre
posture
2. disorganized schizo
most serious type
have extreme social withdrawal, hallucinations, delusions, laughter,
grimaces, bizarre behavior
may show flat or inappropriate affect
many times are incoherent
obscene behavior
have poorer chance of recovery
3. paranoid schizo
delusions of grandeur or persecution
exaggerated anger and suspicion
can get violent to protect themselves if they think someone is trying
to hurt them
chance for recovery is better than in catatonic or disorganized
CAUSES OF SCHIZO
Evidence shows that it may be more biological
GENETICS
Tends to run in families
if 1 parent has it, 13:100 chance of developing
2 parents, 46:100 chance
adopted children are 10xs more likely to develop if one of parents has
than if adopted parent has it