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Chapter 14 Psychological Disorders

Defining Abnormality Classifying Psychological

Disorders Origins of Psychological

Disorders

True or False?

  Abnormal behaviors are always bizarre.   A clear distinction can be drawn between

“normal” and “abnormal” behavior.   Mental disorders indicate a fundamental

deficiency in personality and are thus shameful.

What is Abnormal Behavior?

To determine if a behavior is “abnormal”

one must first determine what

behaviors are “normal”

Characteristics of Abnormal Behavior

•  Criteria: – Causing personal distress – Deviant

• Cultural Deviance • Statistical Deviance

– Dysfunctional behavior • Maladaptive

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Characteristics of Abnormal Behavior

•  Criteria: – Causing personal distress – Deviant

• Cultural Deviance • Statistical Deviance

– Dysfunctional behavior • Maladaptive

Statistical Deviance

Consider intelligence…

Prob

abili

ty

IQ Score 70 80 90 100 110 120 130

“Normal” “Abnormal” “Abnormal”

Prob

abili

ty

Number of showers per week 1 5 10 100 20

Now consider another behavior…

Abnormality is defined, in part, by statistical extremes (aka statistical deviance)

“Normal” “Abnormal” “Abnormal”

Two important points:

Prob

abili

ty

Behavior X

First, where is the cut off for a “normal” score?

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Where is the cut off for a “normal” score?

Prob

abili

ty

Behavior X

Where is the cut off for a “normal” score?

Prob

abili

ty

Behavior X

Second, not all behaviors that are statistically deviant are psychological disorders

IQ

Athletic Ability

Characteristics of Abnormal Behavior

•  Criteria: – Causing personal distress – Deviant

• Cultural Deviance • Statistical Deviance

– Dysfunctional behavior • Maladaptive

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Relatively normal and relatively functional

12:00AM

Did I remember to lock the front door? I’d better go check.

A behavior that is dysfunctional is one that prevents someone from functioning well in daily activities (work,

relationships, school, etc)

Dysfunctional or Maladaptive Behavior: A behavior that is dysfunctional is one that prevents

someone from functioning well in daily activities (work, relationships, school, etc)

Relatively abnormal and relatively dysfunctional

12:00AM

Did I remember to lock the front door? I’d better go check.

12:05AM

Did I remember to lock the front door? I’d better go check.

12:10AM

Did I remember to lock the front door? I’d better go check.

12:15AM

Did I remember to lock the front door? I’d better go check.

12:20AM

Did I remember to lock the front door? I’d better go check.

“Psychological Disorder” vs. “Insanity”

“Disorder” is a psychological term - abnormal, dysfunctional behavior

“Insanity” is a legal term - A person does not know right from wrong

at the time of a crime - determined by a court

- determined by a mental health professional

Labeling Disorders

•  Rosenhan (1973) –  Participants faked

disorders to enter psychiatric ward

•  Langer & Abelson (1974): –  people were asked to

watch a video of a person describing his problems in day to day life

–  they were asked to rate how well adjusted he seemed.

“Applicant” “Patient”

Ave

rage

rat

ing

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Labeling Disorders

•  However, labeling helps psychologists determine how best to help a person with a disorder

•  The DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is a guide for classifying psychological disorders

Classifying Disorders •  The Five Axes of the DSM-IV-TR •  “Axis” = Rating dimension •  Axis I: Common psychological disorders

–  e.g., Schizophrenia; substance abuse •  Axis II: Personality disorders or mental retardation

–  e.g., Paranoid personality disorder

•  Axis III: General medical conditions –  e.g., Diseases of the circulatory system

•  Axis IV: Psychosocial and environmental problems –  e.g., Homelessness

•  Axis V: Global assessment of functioning scale

Axis I •  Anxiety disorders •  Somatoform disorders •  Dissociative disorders •  Mood disorders •  Schizophrenia

Axis II •  Personality disorders

Advance Organizer

Anxiety Disorders

•  Generalized anxiety disorder •  Phobic disorder •  Panic disorder & agoraphobia •  Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) •  Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

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The most common phobias include:

Acrophobia - fear of heights

Other common phobias include:

Hematophobia Fear of the sight of blood Claustrophobia -

fear of closed spaces Arachnophobia Fear of spiders

Ophidophobia - fear of snakes Astraphobia

Fear of storms

Aviophobia Fear of flying

Etiology – What causes anxiety disorders?

Somatoform Disorders •  Hypochondriasis •  Somatization disorder •  Conversion disorder

Etiology – What causes somatoform disorders?

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Dissociative Disorders

•  Dissociative amnesia •  Dissociative fugue •  Dissociative Identity Disorder

–  Formerly MPD –  Controversial

•  Etiology –  Abuse, Trauma –  “Psychological”

Mood Disorders

•  Major depressive episode •  Dysthymia •  Bipolar Disorder

Etiology – What causes mood disorders? Schizophrenia

•  Distorted thought •  Positive symptoms

– Delusions and irrational thought – Hallucinations – Incoherent speech (neologisms) – Inappropriate/disorganized behavior

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Schizophrenia

•  Negative symptoms – Loss of motivation – Emotional flatness – Impoverished speech – Social withdrawal

Types of Schizophrenia

•  Paranoid type •  Catatonic type •  Disorganized type •  Undifferentiated type •  Residual type

Etiology – What causes schizophrenia?

*Diathesis Stress Hypothesis

Personality Disorders

•  Chronic, enduring patterns of behavior leading to significant impairment in social functioning

•  Tendency to act inflexibly •  Examples:

–  Paranoid personality disorder –  Dependent personality disorder –  Antisocial personality disorder