Psychological Disorders
Preface
§ UB Counseling Services
120 Richmond Quad
645-2720
https://www.buffalo.edu/studentlife/who-weare/departments/counseling.html
§ Psychological Services Center
Park Hall 168
645-3697
http://artssciences.buffalo.edu/psychology/about/psycholo
gical-services.html
Having a Taxonomy
§ Advantages
§ Disadvantages
1
Defining Abnormal Psychology
§ Continuum
Defining Abnormal Psychology
§ Characteristics
• Social Norm Deviance
• Maladaptive
• Personal Distress
Classification System
§ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM-5-TR), 2022
“A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by
clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s
cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a
dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or
developmental processes underlying mental functioning.
Mental disorders are usually associated with significant
distress or disability in social, occupational, or other
important activities. An expectable or culturally approved
response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of
a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant
behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts
that are primarily between the individual and society are
not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results
from a dysfunction in the individual”
2
Classification System
§ Categories
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Anxiety Disorders (e.g., GAD, Phobias, Panic Disorder)
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders (e.g., OCD)
Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders (e.g., PTSD)
Depressive Disorders & Bipolar Disorders (Mood Disorders)
(e.g., Major Depressive Disorder)
Dissociative Disorders (e.g., Dissociative Amnesia, DID)
Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders
Neurodevelopmental Disorders (e.g., Autism Spectrum
Disorders)
Feeding and Eating Disorders (e.g., Anorexia Nervosa,
Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder)
Personality Disorders (e.g., Antisocial PD, Borderline PD,
Narcissistic PD)
(and others)
Classification System
§ Prevalence
Disorder
Annual
Lifetime
Any Disorder
32%
44 - 57%
Anxiety Disorder
19%
29%
Mood Disorder
10%
21%
Schizophrenia
1%
1%
Diathesis-Stress Model
§ Stress-Vulnerability model
§ Genetic predisposition + Environmental
Stressors
3
Mood Disorders
§ Overview
• Disordered feelings
• 21% at some point in life
Mood Disorders
§ Overview
• Unipolar vs. Bipolar
Mood: Major Depressive Disorder
§ Symptoms
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Depressed mood
Loss of interest/pleasure in activities
Appetite disturbance; weight changes
Sleep disturbances
Psychomotor agitation or retardation
Fatigue or loss of energy
Feelings of worthlessness and guilt
Difficulty concentrating
Thoughts of death; suicidal ideation, attempts
4
Mood: Major Depressive Disorder
§ Prevalence
§ Onset
§ Duration
§ Complications
Mood: Major Depressive Disorder
§ Causes
• Genetic
• Neurotransmitter
§ *Serotonin*, norepinephrine
• Environmental Stress
• Cognitive Theories
§ Pessimistic Explanatory Style, Rumination
Schizophrenia
§ Introduction
• Disorder in which person loses contact with
reality, experiencing extremely irrational ideas or
distorted perceptions
• NOT split personality
• Split from reality
• Generally not violent toward others
5
Schizophrenia
§ Symptoms
• Delusions
(for example…)
• Persecution
• Reference
• Grandeur
• External Control
• Hallucinations
§ Auditory
§ Visual/Tactile/Somatic/Smell
Schizophrenia
§ Symptoms, cont.
• Disorganized Speech
(for example…)
§ Loosening of Associations
§ Tangentiality
§ Incoherence
Schizophrenia
§ Symptoms, cont.
• Grossly Disorganized or Catatonic Behavior
(for example…)
§ Childlike Silliness
§ Agitation
§ Repetitive Movements
§ Catatonia: decreased reactivity to environment
6
Schizophrenia
§ Symptoms, cont.
• Negative
(for example…)
§ Flat Affect
§ Avolition
§ Diminished quantity of speech
§ Anhedonia
§ Lack of interest in social interactions
Schizophrenia
§ Diagnosis
• Symptoms from 2 of 5 categories
• One must be delusions, hallucinations, or
disorganized speech
• 6 months, affect functioning
• Rule-out
§ Prevalence
§ Onset
§ Complications
Schizophrenia
§ Causes
• Genetic
7
Schizophrenia
§ Causes, cont.
• Neurological
§ Larger Ventricles
§ Neurotransmitter: Dopamine hypothesis (overly
simplistic)
§ Reduced Myelin
Schizophrenia
§ Causes, cont.
• Environmental
§ Obstetric Complications: Neurodevelopmental
Hypothesis
§ Expressed Emotion
§ Stress
Schizophrenia
§ Long-term Prognosis
10% remain continuously in hospital
24% cycle in and out of hospital
33% relatively stable; occasional episodes
33% stable and recover
8