CHAPTER 16: PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISORDERS
SECTION 1: DEFINING ABNORMAL
DEVIATION FROM NORMALITY
 Abnormality is when a
person deviates from the
average or majority
 Limitations: cultural
norms must be considered
and the majority is not
always right or best
ADJUSTMENT
 Idea that normal people
can function in the world
physically, socially, and
emotionally
 Abnormal is a failure to
adjust
 Limitations: not all psych
disorders are violent or
destructive
PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH
 Treats abnormality as a
sickness
 Uses phrases such as mental
illness or mental health
 Believe that healthy people
should strive for ideal
functioning (selfactualization)
 Problem: How can you
tell?
THOMAS SZASZ
 Believed labeling someone
as “mentally ill” is damaging
 Mentally ill simply have
“problems in living”
 They are not ill at all
THE PROBLEM OF CLASSIFICATION
DSM-IV-TR
 Def: the 5th version of the
American Psychiatric
Association’s Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders
 Used to categorize mental
illness
DSM AXES
 DSM-IV-TR uses 5 major
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dimensions or axes:
Axis I: list current symptoms
Axis II: developmental
disorders, personality
disorders, maladaptive traits
Axis III: general medical
conditions
Axis IV: current stress level
Axis V: highest level of
adaptive functioning in the
last year
ADAPTIVE FUNCTIONING
 3 major areas:
 1) Social relations: quality
of relationships
 2) Occupational
functioning
 3) Use of leisure time
SECTION 2: ANXIETY DISORDERS
ANXIETY
 Def: a vague, generalized
apprehension or feeling
that one is in danger
GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER
 Non-specific anxiety
 Fear of the unknown and
unforeseen
 Neglects relationships
 Physical symptoms: muscle
tension, inability to relax,
furrowed brow, strained
face, difficulty sleeping
 Causes: stress, trauma,
genetics, learning
PHOBIC DISORDERS
 Phobia: an intense and
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irrational fear of a particular
object or situation
Specific phobia: fear
something specific (dark,
snakes, etc…)
Social phobia: fear of
embarrassing yourself in
public
Phobias range in intensity
Caused by classical
conditioning, maintained by
operant conditioning
PANIC DISORDER
 Def: an extreme anxiety
that manifests itself in the
form of panic attacks
 Panic is a feeling of sudden,
helpless terror
 Panic attacks: feel a sense
of smothering, choking,
dizziness, nausea, chest
pains
 Usually last a few minutes
OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER
(OCD)
 Obsession: uncontrollable
pattern of thoughts
 Compulsion: repeated
coping behaviors
 Become a problem when
they interfere with what a
person needs and wants
 Possible genetic cause
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
(PTSD)
 Def: disorder in which
victims of traumatic events
experience the original
event in the form of
flashbacks and dreams
 Common among war
veterans, survivors of:
terrorism, natural
disasters, and rape
SECTION 3: SOMATOFORM AND
DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
SOMATOFORM DISORDERS
 Def: physical symptoms for
which there is no apparent
physical cause
 Used to be called “hysteria”
 2 major types…
CONVERSION DISORDER
 Def: changing emotional
difficulties into a loss of
specific voluntary body
functions
 Usually mild
 La Belle Indifference: calmly
accepting the loss of
function (shows the
problem is psychological)
HYPOCHONDRIASIS
 When a person in good
health becomes
preoccupied with
imaginary ailments
 Occurs mainly in young
adulthood
 Equal among genders
 Usually caused by
repressed emotions
DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
 Def: when a person
experiences alterations in
memory, identity, or
consciousness
 Very rare
DISSOCIATIVE AMNESIA
 Def: inability to recall
important personal events
or info; usually associated
with stressful events
 Caused by trauma
DISSOCIATIVE FUGUE
 Def: when a person
suddenly and unexpectedly
travels away from home or
work and is unable to recall
the past
 Could last days or decades
 It is an attempt to escape
from unbearable conflict or
anxiety
DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER
 Multiple personalities
 Def: person exhibits 2 or
more personality states,
each with its own patterns
of thinking and behaving
 Usually caused by severe
physical, psychological, or
sexual abuse during
childhood
SECTION 4: SCHIZOPHRENIA AND
MOOD DISORDERS
SCHIZOPHRENIA
 Def: a group of disorders
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characterized by confused
and disconnected thoughts,
emotions, and perceptions
Affects 1 in 100 (1%)
It is a problem with cognition
Can impair motor functions
Usually experience
Delusions: false beliefs
maintained in the face of
contrary evidence; or
Hallucination: perceptions
with no external cause
SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
 Incoherence
 Disturbance of affect:
display inappropriate
emotions
 Deterioration of normal
movement
 Decline of level of
functioning
 Diverted attention
TYPES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
 Paranoid type: hallucinations,
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delusions of grandeur or
persecution
Catatonic type: remain
motionless for long periods
of time
Disorganized type: incoherence,
inappropriate emotions, poor
motor function
Remission type: symptoms not
severe
Undifferentiated type: basic
symptoms
TREATMENT FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA
 Long term
 Usually requires
hospitalization
 May lead to “burn out”:
patient can no longer
function in society
POSSIBLE CAUSES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
 Dopamine hypothesis:
idea that schizophrenia is
caused by chemical
imbalances in the brain
 Excess dopamine in certain
synapses
 Don’t know if it is a cause
or a result of schizophrenia
FAMILY AND INTERACTION
 Living in a pathogenic
(unhealthful) family may
add to problems in adult
years
 Disorganized
communication, families
on the verge of falling apart
POSSIBLE CAUSES CONTINUED
 Diathesis-stress
hypothesis: states an
individual may inherit a
predisposition to
schizophrenia
 For it to develop, must be
exposed to an environment
with certain stressors
MOOD DISORDERS
MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER
 Def: severe form of
lowered mood in which a
person experiences feelings
of worthlessness and
diminished pleasure or
interest in many activities
 Must last at least 2 weeks
 Symptoms: problems
eating, sleeping, thinking;
lack of energy, suicidal
thoughts
BIPOLAR DISORDER
 Def: disorder in which a
person alternates between
feelings of mania
(euphoria) and depression
 Manic Phase: elation, easily
distracted, impulsive
 Depressive Phase: low selfesteem, lethargy, despair
SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER
 Deep depression during
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winter
Eat and sleep excessively
Due to less sunlight
This causes a release of
melatonin
Treatment: sitting under
bright fluorescent lights
SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION
 Suicidal thoughts are
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common among the
depressed
Reasons for suicide: escape
from emotional or physical
pain, to punish themselves
Roughly 38,000 each year in
U.S.
10th leading cause of death in
U.S.
More women attempt, but
more men are successful
SECTION 5: PERSONALITY
DISORDERS AND DRUG ADDICTION
PERSONALITY DISORDERS
 Def: maladaptive or inflexible
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ways of dealing with others and
one’s environment
Antisocial: violate rights of others
w/o remorse
Dependent: submissive; need to
be taken care of
Histrionic: excessive emotions;
seeks attention
Obsessive-Compulsive: controlling;
perfectionist
Paranoid: distrusts others
Schizotypal: intense discomfort
in close relationships; eccentric
behavior
NARCISSISTIC
“I’m a genius”
“I’m Shakespeare”
“I’m Michelangelo”
“I feel like I’m too busy making
history to read it”
“I still think I am the greatest”
ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY
 Treat people as objects
 Live for the moment
 Feel no shame or guilt
 Intelligent, entertaining,
can feign emotions
SERIAL KILLERS
DRUG ADDICTION
 Addiction: pattern of drug
abuse; an overwhelming and
compulsive desire to obtain
and used the drug
 Tolerance: physical
adaptation to a drug so that a
person needs an increased
amount in order to produce
the original effect
 Withdrawal: symptoms that
occur after a person
discontinues the use of a drug
to which he/she has become
addicted
ALCOHOLISM
 Alcohol slows inhibitions
 Creates relaxation (it is a
depressant)
 Perceptions and sensations
distort, behavior becomes
obnoxious
 Violent withdrawal
(delirium tremens)
 Use of antabuse is common
(makes one violently ill if
alcohol is imbibed)