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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