Abnormal Psychology (Chapter 16)

Lecture Outline:“Abnormality” and diagnosisAnxiety Disorders (video 92 case)

Quiz

• 40 questions, 2 points each (80 points)

• Chapters 11, 13, 16• 13/14 questions/chapter• 3-4 short answer questions (20

points)• Get to class on time please!!!!!!

On the sheet of paper, list three things you are afraid of

Abnormality

• Behavior is – Statistically unusual– Maladaptive or harmful behavior– Labeled “abnormal” because of a violation of

cultural standards– Mental disorder as suffering, personal distress

• Historical examples of abnormal behavior:– psychosis: demon possession, syphillis– mentally retarded individuals & midgets were

“court-jesters”– Salem witch trials: girls may have ingested ergot,

LSD derivative

Salem witch trial

Models of abnormality

• Psychodynamic: Intrapsychic conflict – e.g., sexual abuse and conversion disorder

• Humanistic: Oversensitivity to others– e.g., alcoholism for social anxiety

• Behavioral: Reinforcement/Punishment– e.g., snake bite leads to snake phobia

• Cognitive: Distorted thinking– e.g., negative thoughts and depression

• Medical: Physiological imbalance

Diagnosis: DSM-IV

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th Ed. (APA, 1994)

• Axis I: Clinical syndromes/ Mental disorders

• Axis II: Personality and Disorders• Axis III: General Medical Conditions• Axis IV: Psychosocial and Environmental

Problems • Axis V: GAF Scale (1:low to 100:high)

Problems with DSM

• Overdiagnosis, e.g., attention problems• Power of diagnostic labels, e.g., person

“becomes the disorder”• Mental disorder vs. “everyday problems”,

e.g., bad spellers?• Illusion of objectivity• But diagnosis leads to treatment, categories

lead to empirical verification, and there is cross-cultural evidence of various mental health problems such as psychosis and depression

Anxiety Disorders

Symptoms of Anxiety

• Symptoms of anxiety: – Mood: tension, apprehension and

panic– Cognitive: catastrophe, concentration– Somatic: Sweat, pulse, dizzy,

pounding– Motor: Tics, bite nails, pace, fidget

• Case examples of clients with anxiety disorders, with emphasis on panic disorder (video #92)

Case example: Social phobia "I couldn't go on dates or to parties.

For a while, I couldn't even go to class. My sophomore year of college I had to come home for a semester."

"My fear would happen in any social situation. I would be anxious before I even left the house, and it would escalate as I got closer to class, a party, or whatever. I would feel sick to my stomach--it almost felt like I had the flu. My heart would pound, my palms would get sweaty, and I would get this feeling of being removed from myself and from everybody else."

"When I would walk into a room full of people, I'd turn red and it would feel like everybody's eyes were on me. Iwas too embarrassed to stand off in a corner by myself, but I couldn't think of anything to say to anybody. I felt so clumsy, I couldn't wait to

get out."

Specific kinds of anxiety disorders

• Phobias: Simple, social, and agoraphobia

• Panic Disorder: Bouts of intense and uncontrollable anxiety

• Generalized anxiety disorder: Chronic• Stress Disorder: PTSD• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

– obsession: unwanted impulses or thoughts– compulsion: uncontrolled repetitive act

Etiology (Cause) of Anxiety

• Psychodynamic: External threats– guilt after id-superego struggle

• Learning theory: Classical conditioning– sexual anxiety after unprotected sex

• Cognitive: Anxious cognitions– public speaking catastrophes

• Humanistic-Existential: “A” gets a “B”• Physiological: Autonomic reactivity