Unit 3
Abnormal
Psychology
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A. Possible Indications
of Abnormal Behavior
1. Maladaptiveness
–
Does behavior interferes with regular life
activities?
2. Irrationality
–
Does the person think logically?
3. Observer discomfort
–
Does the person’s behavior make others feel
uncomfortable?
4. Unpredictability
–
Is their behavior consistent or “out of the
blue”?
5. Distress
–
Does the person have distress such as
extreme anxiety or prolonged depression?
6. Unconventionability
–
Is their behavior bizarre?
B. 5 different
perspectives on the
causes of mental illness
1. Biological Perspective
• Biological factors affect mental
health
– Genetics
– Chemical imbalances
– Brain structure
– Injuries to the brain
– Infections
2. Psychodynamic Perspective
• Look to an individuals
unconscious for the cause of the
disorder
– Do this through conversations with
patient to explore events and
relationships throughout their life
that have shaped their attitude
3. Behavioral Perspective
• Believe disorders are the result of
faulty learning
• Life experiences have conditioned
us to respond to events or
situations in a particular way
• To remedy the situation we must
“unlearn” these behaviors (like
phobia’s)
4. Cognitive Perspective
• Disorders arise from faulty thoughts
– Ex. If a person always thinks , “I’m not
very interesting, nobody likes me.”
• This person may then mis-interpret how
others respond to her and begin believing
these things
• To remedy the situation we must
change the thoughts
– Many popular self help books are based
on cognitive psychology
5. Humanistic Perspective
• Disorders develop due to people
adopting standards and values
that conflict with their true inner
feelings
• To remedy this therapists work to
help them identify and embrace
their genuine goals and desires
C. Classifying Mental Illness
• Mental illnesses today are classified based
on their symptoms
– American Psychiatric Association defines
them in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders IV-TR (DSM-IV)
D. 7 types of mental
illness (disorders)
1. Anxiety Disorders
• Among the most common psych. disorder…1015% of US pop./ year
• Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension that danger
or misfortune is looming
• Physical symptoms: rapid heart rate,
perspiration, nausea, dizziness
• Types of anxiety disorders:
–
–
–
–
–
Phobic disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
2. Somatoform Disorders
• Physical symptoms arise from
psychological causes
– A person may suffer physical symptoms
even though there is nothing physically
wrong or no physical explanation
• Types of somatoform disorders:
– Conversion disorder
– Hypochondriasis
3. Dissociative Disorders
• Escape from painful problems or situations by
dissociating (cutting themselves off) from
certain parts of themselves
– May happen gradually or suddenly
– May be temporary or permanent
• Can disturb normal life function and cause
extreme distress
• Types of Dissociative disorders:
– Amnesia
– Dissociative fugue
– Dissociative Identity Disorder
4. Affective Disorders (Mood disorders)
• Experiences moods so extreme
that they interfere with their daily
life
• Types of affective disorders:
– Dysthymic disorder (moderate
depression)
– Major depression
– Bipolar disorder
5. Psychotic Disorders
• People lose contact with reality so very difficult
to carry on normal life activity
• During a psychotic episode may experience
hallucinations or delusions
– Hallucinations :Person senses something that isn’t
there
• Auditory most common
– Delusions: unshakable beliefs that are obviously not
true (believing they are Santa)
• Person may have coherent periods in between
psychotic episodes
• Types of psychotic disorders:
– Schizophrenia
•
•
•
•
Disorganized
Catatonic
Paranoid
Undifferentiated
– Delusional Disorder
6. Personality Disorders
• Maladaptive personality traits usually more
disturbing to other people than the individual
• Types of personality disorders:
– Antisocial Personality Disorder
– Borderline Personality Disorder
7. Childhood Disorders
• Categorized separately from disorders that occur
in adulthood due to the differences in children
and adults
• Abnormal behavior difficult to assess in children
because they each develop at different rates
• Types of childhood disorders:
– Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
– Autistic Disorder
Etiology
Genetics
• Investigated through family studies, mainly of
monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (fraternal) twins,
often in the context of adoption.
• These studies allow calculation of a heritability
coefficient.
Biological factors
• Investigates effects of hormones, neurotransmitters and
neuron damage in mental illness, for example Alzheimer's
Disease (neuronal degeneration), Seasonal Affective
Disorder (hormonal imbalance) and depression/anxiety.
• Different theories focus on structural, biochemical and
genetic theories.
Etiology
Psychological factors
• Psychoanalysis (Freud)
• Behavioural therapy (Wolpe) based on behaviourism, and
involving classical and operant conditioning.
• Humanistic therapy aiming to achieve self-actualisation
(Carl Rogers, 1961)
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy aims to influence thought
and cognition (Beck, 1977).
Socio-cultural factors
• Effects of urban/rural dwelling, gender and minority
status on state of mind.
• Conducted by Jenkins (1998)
Etiology
Systemic factors
• Family systems
• Negatively Expressed Emotion playing a
part in schizophrenic relapse and anorexia
nervosa.
Biopsychosocial factors
• Holistic causal model
• Illness dependent on stress 'triggers'.