PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
Psychological disorders – behavior and/or thinking patterns that are UMAD
 Unjustifiable
 Maladaptive
 Atypical
 Disturbing
Diagnosing Psychological Disorders (no longer used in the DSM 5)
Axis
Category
Axis I
Clinical psychological syndromes (mood, anxiety, dissociative, sleep, sexual, substance-related,
schizophrenia, eating, etc)
Axis II
Personality disorders
Mental retardation
Axis III
General medical conditions (diabetes, hypertension, arthritis)
Axis IV
Psychosocial or Environmental problems (social/environmental stressors
Axis V
Global Assessment of functioning
DSM – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychological Disorders
 2014 AP Exam will be the last exam based on the DSM-IV
 DSM 5 published in May 2013; will appear on the 2015 AP Exam
Disorder Group
Anxiety
Mood (affective)
Dissociative
Somatoform
Schizophrenia
Personality
Disorders
Generalized anxiety disorder
Panic disorders
Phobias
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (DSM 5 – separate group)
 Obessions = unwanted repetitive thoughts
 Compulsions = wanted repetitive behaviors (to reduce the anxiety caused by the thoughts)
Major depressive disorder
Bipolar disorder
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) aka multiple personality disorder
Dissociative fugue
Hypocondriasis
Conversion disorder
Paranoid
 Hallucinations = false perceptions
 Delusions = false beliefs
Disorganized
Catatonic
Undifferentiated
Residual
Avoidant
Histrionic
Dependent
Schizotypal
Borderline
Schizoid
Narcissistic
Antisocial
Diathesis-stress model – behaviors are a result of both biological (nature) factors and life experiences (nurture).
 Ex: Schizophrenia
o Nature – chance of developing schizophrenia increases 10x if there is a family history; twin studies revel
genetic links
o Nurture – stressful or traumatic events can trigger the onset of schizophrenia
 Other phenomena that demonstrate the diathesis-stress model  obesity, eating disorders, heart disease
THERAPY and TREATMENT
THE TYPE OF THERAPY USED DEPENDS ON THE PROBLEM!
Psychotherapies – interaction between therapist and patient/client
Psychotherapy
Techniques
Psychoanalysis
Free association
Dream interpretation
Projective tests
Psychodynamic
Face-to-face discussions about relationship themes
Humanistic
Behavioral
Cognitive
Cognitive-Behavioral
Client-centered therapy
Unconditional positive regard
Active listening
Counter-conditioning (based on classical conditioning)
 Exposure therapy/systematic desensitization
 Aversion therapy
Behavior modification (based on operant conditioning)
 Token economy
Changing thinking patterns
Rational-emotive behavior therapy – proposes that unrealistic
and irrational beliefs cause maladaptive behaviors; focuses on
changing thinking patterns
Best for…
Depression
General anxiety
Depression
General anxiety
Depression
General anxiety
Phobias
Specific anxiety
Addictions
Depression
General anxiety
OCD
Eating disorders
Pseudo-therapies – therapies that still require scientific testing
 Eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
 Light exposure therapy (useful for seasonal affective disorder)
Biomedical therapies – physically altering the brain’s functioning with medication, electrical or magnetic
stimulation, or psychosurgery
Biomedical Therapy Techniques
Best for…
Antipsychotics
Schizophrenia
Anti-anxiety
General and specific anxiety
Phobias
Psychopharmacology
Anti-depressants
Depression
General anxiety
Mood-stabilizers (Lithium)
Bipolar disorder
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
Severe depression
Brain Stimulation
Repetitive transcranial magnetic
Severe depression
stimulation (rTMS)
Cutting the corpus callosum
Epilepsy
Psychosurgery
Lobotomy
NOT USED ANYMORE