 How do we classify disorders?
 Types of disorders
 Labeling
 What are:
 Anxiety disorders?
 Mood disorders?
 Dissociation disorders?
 Schizophrenic disorders
 Personality disorders?

 DSM-IV-TR

 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders
 (4th. Ed. Text revision(TR)
 Used to identify psychological disorders
 Does not explain causes

What is the effect of labeling psychological disorders?
 It biases your perception of the patient’s behavior
 After you know the diagnosis (label) even normal behavior is seen as a symptom of that diagnosis.

What are anxiety disorders?

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
 Vague expectation that something bad will happen.
 Unfocused, out-of-control negative feelings.

Panic Disorder
 Panic attack
 Agoraphobia - fear of situations you can not escape if a panic attack occurs.

Phobias
 An irrational fear of something
 E.g. Arachnophobia - fear of spiders
 Social phobia - fear of social situations
 (Shyness taken to an extreme)

Obsessive - compulsive disorders
 Obsessive = thoughts
 Thoughts that won’t go away
 Compulsive = behavior
 Checking a locked door
 Straightening books or fringe on a carpet
 Hand washing
 Flashing

Post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)
 Causes:
 Trauma
 War
 Rape
 Effects (symptoms)
 Nightmares
 Flashbacks
 Social withdrawal
 Anxiety
 Insomnia (trouble sleeping)

Dissociative disorders
 Conscious awareness becomes separated
(dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts and feelings.

Dissociative identity disorder
(Multiple personalities)
 Two or more distinct identities that control their behavior.
 Each person has its own voice and mannerisms.
 One personality is usually unaware of the others.

What are mood disorders?
 Depression
 The “common cold” of psychological disorders
 Main reason people seek mental health services
 Symptoms
 Low energy
 Low self-esteem
 Never happy

Bipolar Disorder
 Depression to manic episodes
 Alternating between hopelessness and unrestrained optimism.

Schizophrenia
 “Split mind”
 Disorganized speech and thought
 Word salad
 Flight of ideas
 Inappropriate emotions & actions
 Delusions (“I am God”)
 Hallucinations (see or hear things)
 False beliefs (Someone is poisoning me)

Types of Schizophrenia
 Paranoid
 Delusions or hallucinations
 Themes of persecution
 “The Russians are after me.”

Types of schizophrenia (cont.)
 Catatonic
 Motionless - for long periods of time
 Parrot like repeating of another’s speech

Undifferentiated
 Many different symptoms as discussed before.

What are Personality
Disorders?
 Antisocial personality disorder
 Formally called sociopath or psychopath
 No conscience or guilt feelings - (e.g. serial killer)