Chapter 16 pt. 1: Perspectives on
Psychological Disorders and
Anxiety
Defining Psychological Disorder
A
Psychological Disorder is:
 a “harmful dysfunction” in which behavior
is judged to be:
1. atypical- not enough in itself
2. disturbing- varies with time &
culture
3. maladaptive- harmful; causes
suffering
4. unjustifiable- sometimes there’s a
good reason
History of Understanding
Psychological Disorders
 In
Ancient times, disorders were thought
to have been caused by movements of
the sun and moon (lunacy is full moon)
or by evil spirits.
 Treatments for people with mental illness
were very inhumane even up until the
mid 1900’s. Patients were often chained
like animals, beaten, burned, castrated,
etc.
Conditions for Psychologically
Disabled

Ancient Greek Traphines
European Traphines
“released evil spirits.”
Conditions for Psychologically
Disabled
Conditions for Psychologically
Disabled
Conditions for Psychologically
Disabled
Deinstitutionalization
1960s
 the process of replacing long-stay
psychiatric hospitals with less isolated
community mental health services for
those diagnosed with a mental disorder or
developmental disability
 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mentallyill-youth-in-crisis/

Medical Model Improves
Conditions

Eventually the medical model came to
dominate understandings of mental illness.
 Late
1800s
The medical model assumes that diseases
have physical causes that can be diagnosed
based on their symptoms and be treated and in
most cases cured.
 Assumption of medical model drastically
improves conditions in mental hospitals.

Perspectives on Psychological
Disorders
 What
would Psychoanalytic
psychologist argue as the cause?
 Humanistic
would view cause?
Perspectives on Psychological
Disorders
 Cognitive?
 Behavioral?
Perspectives on Psychological
Disorders
 Biological?
 Socio-Cultural?
Most Mental Health Professionals
Assume Disorders Have
Interlocking Causes

Bio-Psycho-Social
Perspective:
assume biological,
psychological,
and sociocultural factors
interact to produce
disorders.
Biological
(Evolution,
individual
genes, brain
structures
and chemistry)
Sociocultural
(Roles, expectations,
definition of normality
and disorder)
Psychological
(Stress, trauma,
learned helplessnes
mood-related perceptio
and memories)
Classifying Psychological
Disorders
 DSM-IV: the most widely
used manual for
classifying psychological
disorders.

The DSM-IV currently lists 410
mental disorders up from 145
in the DSM-II (1968) and 60 in
DSM-I (1951).
17 categories
Does not explain
causes
DSM V

http://www.today.com/video/today/51915406#51915406
DSM AXIS

Axis I: Clinical disorders, including major mental disorders,
and learning disorders, Substance Use Disorders


Depression, Anxiety, bipolar, autism, anorexia
Axis II: Personality disorders and intellectual disabilities
(although developmental disorders, such as Autism, were
coded on Axis II in the previous edition, these disorders are
now included on Axis I)

Axis III: Acute medical conditions and physical disorders



Brain injuries
Axis IV: Psychosocial and environmental factors
contributing to the disorder
Axis V: Global Assessment of Functioning or Children's
Global Assessment Scale for children and teens under the
age of 18
Classifying Neurotic vs. Psychotic
Disorders
Neurotic disorder
 usually distressing but that allows one to
think rationally and function socially
 Freud saw the neurotic disorders as ways of
dealing with anxiety
 Psychotic disorder
 person loses contact with reality
 experiences irrational ideas and distorted
perceptions

Pros and Cons of the DSM-IV and
Labeling
 Pros?
Reliable
Need
a DSM diagnosis for insurance
 Cons?
Almost any behavior can be labeled
Distorts how we perceive others
Prejudice
Self fulfilling prophecy
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Disorders in general refer to
disorders that involve persistent and
distressing nervousness and apprehension
OR maladaptive behaviors which reduce
anxiety (defenses against anxiety).
 General Characteristics of Anxiety:
 Constant worrying, fear, or uncertainty
 Feels inadequate
 Oversensitive
 Difficulty concentrating
 May suffer insomnia

Causes of Anxiety Disorders from
Biological Perspective
1. Evolution: certain fears
help us survive.
 2. Genes: correlations with
identical twins and phobias.
 3. Physiology: brain
chemistry. Often see
increased brain activities in
brain areas involving impulse
control. Ex: picture
overactive frontal lobe
activity involved in directing
attention.

Anxiety Disorders
 Generalized
Anxiety Disorder:
person is tense, apprehensive, and in a
state of autonomic nervous system
arousal.
Anxiety Disorders
 Panic
Disorder:
disorder marked by
moments of intense
dread in which a person
experiences terror and
accompanying chest
pain or other
frightening sensations.
“Panic Attacks.”
1 in 75 people
Anxiety Disorders
 Obsessive
Compulsive
Disorder (OCD):
disorder
characterized by
unwanted
repetitive
thoughts
(obsessions) and/or
actions
(compulsions).
Anxiety Disorders
 Phobia:
disorder marked by persistent,
irrational fear and avoidance of specific
object or situation.
Common Phobias
 Claustrophobic?
 Agoraphobic?
 Acrophobic?
 Xenophobic?
Phobias
 Triskaidekaphobia
Phobias
 Santa
Claustrophobia
Phobia
 Trichophobia
Anxiety Disorders
 Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder:
disorder brought on by
traumatic experiences,
memories.
Characterized by
haunting memories
and nightmares,
social withdrawal, or
anxiety.
Anxiety Disorder (NOT IN BOOK)
 Tourettes
Syndrome:
involves involuntary
twitching and the making
of unusual sounds.
 -dopamine which helps
control movement and
norepinephrine, which helps
body respond to stress
seems to be involved in
Tourettes Syndrome.
Causes of Anxiety Disorders from
Learning Perspective (Behavioral)
 1.
Fear Conditioning : ex: rape victim may
develop fear of being alone in apartment.
 2. Stimulus Generalization: ex: fear of
heights leads to fear of flying even without
flying.
 3. Reinforcement (ENCOURAGES
behavior): avoiding places you have phobia
about rewards you by lessening your anxiety.
 4. Observational Learning/Modeling ex:
monkeys with snakes.