Today
Abnormal Psychology
General Information About Psychological
Disorders
Schizophrenia
Anxiety Disorders
Mood Disorders
History of Psychological
Assessment
How are disorders classified?
Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders
– (currently in the 4th edition:
DSM IV)
– Focuses on the symptoms of
disorders
What kinds of problems might
come from using a Diagnostic
Manual?
The problem with a DSM
– Labeling people
– People judge someone that has a diagnosis
differently than someone that doesn’t
In the 1950’s:
– Only 60 disorders defined
Now:
– Over 400 disorders
Then: homosexuality was a mental
disorder
Another problem
Labels aren’t always correct
– 8 psychologists went to a mental hospital
complaining that they heard voices (they were
faking)
All eight diagnosed as mentally ill
No symptoms shown after the hospital admitted
them
Doctors discovered the causes of their symptoms
as mixed emotions during upraising
Kept them for up to 19 days
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Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizo - means split
Phreno - means mind
Not a split in the mind,
as with multiple
personality disorder
Mind split from reality
Example of Disruptions of Language
“Don’t touch me! Especially
don’t touch my shoes! I like
my shoes. They have special
powers. The movie can’t
start until I remove my
shoes. Choose…Choose…
Juice… Do you like juice?”
Disruptions of Attention and
Perception
Problems directing their own focus and
attention
Breakdown of attentional filter
Noises louder & colors more intense
Disruptions of Thought and
Language
Incoherence
Poverty of speech
Loosening of associations
Clang associations
– Linking rhyming words
Lack of insight
Disruptions of Attention and
Perception
Hallucinations (auditory, & visual)
– false sensory experience that has a
compelling sense of reality
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Disruption in Motor Skills and
Life Functioning
strange facial expressions
peculiar sequence of
gestures
agitation or catatonic
immobility
Types of Schizophrenia
1) Schizophrenic
Paranoid
systematized
delusions (false
beliefs)
extensive auditory
hallucinations
think others are
conspiring against
them
Types of Schizophrenia
3) Schizophrenic
Catatonic
Episodes of being
withdrawn and non
communicative
frozen or excited motor
behavior
Limb will stay in the
position you put it
Disruption in Motor Skills and
Life Functioning
limited social skills
can't cope with school or
hold a job
ignore personal hygiene
Four Types of Schizophrenia
2) Schizophrenic Disorganized
eat dirt or own body products
silliness, incoherence, unclean
Four Types of Schizophrenia
4) Schizophrenic
Residual/Undifferentiated
absence of delusions, hallucinations, &
incoherence
flat affect, peculiar behavior
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Identify which type of Schizophrenia
is demonstrated below
Mickey laughed while a doctor was telling him
about an accident his mother had been in
Donald believes he is he King of France and that
people around him are plotting to take him down
Tweety was finally caught by Sylvester when he
was unable to run, because of getting stuck in one
position
Bugs lost his job due to poor hygiene and his
inability to communicate to customers
Neurological Causes of
Schizophrenia
Enlarged ventricles
Shrunken Hippocampus
Genetic Causes of Schizophrenia
Heritability Index of
46%
For fraternal twins
only 14% chance
Children of a
Schizophrenic patient:
14% chance
Causes of Schizophrenia
1) Biological
Tissue loss
Causes of Schizophrenia
1) Biological
dopamine
hypothesis –
overabundance of
dopamine
– Leads to
overactivity
– May be the basis
for
hallucinations
and delusions
Causes of Schizophrenia
2) Psychological
early childhood experiences
– Neglect
– Physical abuse
– Sexual abuse
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Causes of Schizophrenia
Causes of Schizophrenia
3) Sociocultural
8 times more schizophrenics among
poor people
poverty or social stress trigger
schizophrenia or schizophrenics can't
hold jobs which leads to poverty status
4) Diathesis-Stress Model
predisposition for schizophrenia
triggers when person encounters great
stresses
Treatments for Schizophrenia
Insulin Coma Therapy
In the past
– Most schizophrenics locked in
asylums
– Given Sedatives
– Mid 1930’s: Insulin Coma Therapy
Treatments for Schizophrenia
Late 1950’s
–First true drug for treating
Schizophrenia
–Antihistamines (as now taken for
allergies)
Now
–Dopamine Blocking Drugs
Give patients Insulin
– Aids in the digestion of glucose
(sugar)
When enough insulin was given,
patients went into a coma
– 1-10% mortality rate
Main treatment used through the 60’s
Anxiety Disorders
Stress and anxiety are normal
If it becomes intense and persistent, it may
be an anxiety disorder
– Panic disorder
– Phobias
– Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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Panic Disorder
A disorder where one
experiences panic attacks
– Panic attack: heart
palpitations, shortness of
breath, choking sensations,
trembling, dizziness
Often misperceived as a
heart attack
– Some people may have one
panic attack and never have
another
Panic disorder is having
multiple attacks
Phobias
An irrational fear that disrupts behavior
Fear is normal- this is fear that persists
and does not allow you to continue your
life
Arachnophobia: fear of spiders
Agoraphobia: fear of open spaces and
crowded areas
More on panic disorder
Stimulants can increase the likelihood for
an attack
– Cigarettes especially
1 in 75 have this disorder
Can become cyclic
– One may become terrified of having a panic
attack, which leads to anxiety, which causes
another panic attack
BUT… who can forget
Automatonophobia
– Fear of ventriloquist's dummies
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
– Fear of the number 666
Paraskavedekatriaphobia
– Fear of Friday the 13th.
Trichopathophobia
– Fear of hair
Pteronophobia
– Fear of being tickled by feathers
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
– Fear of long words.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Starts with: traumatic stressuncontrollable feelings
Symptoms: haunting memories and
nightmares, social withdrawal, insomnia,
jumpy, feeling numb
Combat veterans, accident and disaster
survivors, sexual assault victims
Possibly due to a link in the amygdala to
the traumatic event
Mood Disorders
Two main types:
– Major Depressive Disorder
Prolonged feelings of helplessness and lethargy
until it rebounds to normal
– Bipolar Disorder
Alternating between depression and a mania
(overexcited) state
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Major Depressive Disorder
Two or more weeks of being depressed
– Diminished feelings of pleasure in most
activities
Treatments:
– Commonly biological
Prozac, Zoloft: Selective Serotonin Reuptake
Inhibitors
– Makes more serotonin available
More likely to effect women
Bipolar Disorder
Depression + mania
– Mania: wildly optimistic state
Overactive, elated, little need for sleep, fewer
sexual inhibitions
Possibly leads to reckless investments
Men and women equally effected
Highly genetic: Heritability index: 90%
Treatments:
– Lithium: unsure of why it helps
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