PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISORDERS
“We are all mad at some time or another.”
- Battista Mantuanus
Psychological Disorder
• Psychological disorder – a psychological condition
characterized by behaviors and/or thinking patterns
that are UMAD
• Unjustifiable - irrational, doesn’t make sense to most people
• Maladaptive – unhealthy and/or harmful
• Atypical – unusual, outside of social norms
• Disturbing – makes the individual or others feels
uncomfortable
Mentally Ill vs. Insane
• The term “insane” is not a clinical term, rather a legal
term.
• The rare “insanity defense.”
• It is offensive to refer to a mentally ill individual as “crazy”
or “insane.”
• Often we say these terms when we are confused or uncomfortable.
Classifying Disorders
• DSM 5
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders
• Published by the American Psychiatric
Association
• A widely used system for classifying
psychological disorders.
• 1950 – 60 disorders
• Today – over 400 disorders
Anxiety Disorders
• Psychological disorders characterized by
distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive
behaviors that reduce anxiety
Anxiety Disorders
Disorder
Generalized Anxiety
Disorder
Characteristics
Continually tense and apprehensive for 6+ months
Cannot identify, avoid, or cope with anxiety source
Panic Disorder
Unpredictable minutes long panic attacks
1 in 75 people
Phobias
Persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object
or situation that disrupts normal life
Agorophobia (fear of inability to escape situation)
Social phobia
Object phobias
Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder
Haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy
anxiety, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more
after a traumatic experience
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts
(obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).
• Must disrupt everyday life
• Trichotillomania (hair-pulling), Excoriation (skin-
picking), Hoarding disorder
OBSESSION = Thought
COMPULSION = Ritual/Action
A young man is continuously scared
that a car will hit him when he walks
on the sidewalk.
He always walks as far from the street
pavement as possible and wears red clothes so
that he will be immediately visible to cars.
A mother is tormented by the concern
that she will contaminate her family’s
food while cooking.
Everyday she sterilizes all cooking utensils in
boiling water, scours every pot and pan before
placing food in it, and wears rubber gloves while
handling food.
A young boy worries incessantly that
something terrible might happen to
his mother while sleeping at night.
On his way to bed each night, he climbs the
stairs in the same sequence of three steps up,
followed by two steps down in order to ward off
the danger.
Famous OCD Sufferers
• Charles Darwin
• Howard Hughes
• Marc Summers
• Howie Mandel
• Megan Fox
Mood Disorders
• Psychological disorders characterized by
emotional extremes
• Depression is the number one reason people seek mental
health services.
Mood Disorders
Disorder
Major
Depressive
Disorder
Characteristics
2+ weeks of significantly depressed moods, feelings of
worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities
Not enough serotonin absorption in the brain?
Must disrupt everyday functioning
Bipolar Disorder
Periodic fluctuations between depression and mania
Mania - hyperactive, wildly optimistic state (in milder forms can fuel
creativity and production.)
Famous Mood Disorder Sufferers
Major Depressive Disorder
Bipolar Disorder
• Abraham Lincoln
• Kurt Cobain
• Woody Allen
• Robin Williams
• Bob Dylan
• Russell Brand
• Winston Churchill
• Carrie Fischer
• Audrey Hepburn
• Ernest Hemingway
• Marilyn Monroe
• Amy Winehouse
Schizophrenia
• A group of severe disorders characterized by
disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed
perception, and inappropriate emotions and
actions.
• Literally means “split mind” – split with reality
• 1 in 100 people
• Delusions – false beliefs
• I AM Santa Claus.
• I know the FBI is monitoring my phone!
• Hallucinations – false perceptions
• I SEE Santa Claus.
• I HEAR the FBI listening in on my phone line!
Schizophrenia Subtypes
Type
Characteristics
Paranoid
Most common
Auditory hallucinations
Delusions about persecution or conspiracy
Disorganized
Disorganized speech or behavior (word salad)
Difficulty performing basic tasks
Inappropriate emotions
Less hallucinations/delusions
Catatonic
Disturbances in movement
catatonic state – withdrawal and immobility
Parrotlike repeating of another’s speech or movements
Undifferentiated
Many and varied symptoms that cannot be categorized into a particular
subtype
Residual
After hallucinations, delusions, and other symptoms have mostly
disappeared
Managed but may need support
Schizophrenia’s Biological Roots
• Overabundance of
dopamine receptors –
medication can lessen
dopamine activity,
amphetamines can worsen
• Less frontal lobe activity
• Paranoid – more activity in
amygdala
• Shrinkage of tissue and
enlargement of fluid-filled
areas
Famous Schizophrenics
• There are few famous schizophrenics due to its early-life
development and impairment
• Mary-Todd Lincoln (possibly bipolar)
• Jack Kerouac
• Eduard Einstein (son of Albert)
• Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd)
Dissociative Disorders
• Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes
separated (disassociated) from previous memories,
thoughts, and feelings
• Can manifest in a sudden loss of memory or change in identity
• When a situation becomes overwhelmingly stressful, people are
said to dissociate themselves from it  conscious awareness
becomes separated from painful memories, thoughts, or feelings.
Dissociative Disorders
Disorder
Dissociative
Identity Disorder
(DID)
Characteristics
AKA multiple personalities
Two or more distinct and alternating personalities during
which the original personality denies awareness of the
others
Rare and contested (controversial)
Possibility a coping mechanism for anxiety or PTSD
Dissociative Fugue
Reversible amnesia for personal identity
Sudden, unexpected travel away from home/work/life with
inability to recall one's past
Somatoform Disorders
• characterized by symptoms that suggest physical
illness or injury but cannot be explained fully by a
medical condition, a drug substance, or another
mental disorder
Somatoform Disorders
Disorder
Hypocondriasis
Characteristics
Excessive preoccupancy or worry about having a serious
illness
Often accompanied by other disorders, mainly anxiety
disorders
Conversion
Disorder
Blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurologic)
symptoms that cannot be explained by medical evaluation
Mind-over-matter
Personality Disorders
• Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and
enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.
• Several different types – can appear similar to
psychological disorders, however personality disorders
are enduring and inflexible
Personality Disorders
Type
Characteristics
Avoidant
Feel inadequate
Sensitivity to others’ opinions
Lack of close relationships – fear of rejection
Borderline
Unstable sense of self
Rapid mood changes
Unstable personal relationships
Suicide attempts and self-mutilation are common
Histrionic
Seek emotion and attention
Center of attention, suggestible, emphasized physical appearance
Rapid changes in emotions
Exaggerated emotions
Inappropriate sexual behavior
Personality Disorders
Type
Characteristics
Narcissistic
Need for admiration
Lack empathy for others
Extreme arrogance
Believes people are envious of them
Exploits others for self gain
Fantasies of power or success
Sense of entitlement
Schizotypal
Lack of close relationships because of discomfort
Eccentric beliefs
Need for social isolation
Likely to experience delusions/hallucinations
Schziod
Lack of close relationships because of lack of interest and
indifference
Emotionless
Personality Disorders
Type
Antisocial
Characteristics
Superficial charm and intelligence
Lack personal responsibility
No regret, shame, or remorse
Inability to establish close relationships
Poor judgment
Usually male
Appears before age 15
Criminal, con artist, even serial killer
Less frontal lobe activity
Less reactivity with stress hormones
“I didn’t know what made people want to
be friends. I didn’t know what made
people attracted to one another.” – Ted
Bundy