Then, for each of the five behaviors, describe a situation in

which the abnormal behavior might be considered normal.

1. Discomfort: continuous discomfort

2. Bizarre behavior---fairly continuously

3. Inefficient---unable to perform their life roles properly

4. Inflexibility

5. See a threatening environment

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Specific Anxiety Disorders Stress: a physical, chemical or emotional

factor that causes physical or mental tension and may be a factor in causing disease

Anxiety: general apprehension that one is in danger. (Differs from fear: a reaction to real and identifiable threats.) Panic-Attacks: choking sensation, chest pain,

dizziness, trembling and hot flashes

GAD is common Characteristics:

Fear of unknown and unforeseen circumstances prevents enjoyment of life

Neglect relationships and have trouble forming relationships

Vicious cycle: worry, worry causes difficulty completing tasks, which causes greater worry

Despite it being self-defeating, often refuse to give up behaviors

Who? Anyone, even children and adolescence

Phobias Panic Disorder: extreme anxiety that

manifests in the form of panic attacks (usually lasts minutes but can last hours and occurs without warning)

Obsessive –Compulsive Disorder Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

An intense and irrational fear of a particular object or situation Includes Social phobia or Anxiety

Extreme anxiety that manifests in the form of panic attacks (usually lasts minutes but can last hours and occurs without warning)

Panic: a feeling of sudden, helpless terror, such as overwhelming feeling of fright when one is cornered by a predator

Obsession: uncontrollable pattern of thought

Compulsion: repeatedly performed behaviors

May serve as a diversion from a person’s real fears, thus reducing anxiety

Most recognize thoughts and actions are irrational but feel unable to stop them

Condition in which a person who experienced a traumatic event feels severe and long-lasting aftereffects.

Common in combat veterans and survivors of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, rape, child abuse and other traumatic events

A condition in which there is no apparent physical cause

Psychologists generally treat by “challenging” the individuals thinking

Types: Conversion Disorders Hypochondriasis Dissociative Disorders

Changing emotional difficulties into a loss of a specific voluntary bodily function

Many believe a person suffering from c.d. unconsciously invent physical symptoms to gain freedom from unbearable conflict Ex. Someone’s who’s family has been

threatened if they reveal a secret may lose the ability to speak

A person in good health becomes preoccupied with imaginary ailments

Will often switch practitioners, believing each doctor has failed to detect the problem

Occurs equally in men and women and usually in one’s early 20’s

Similar to conversion, occurs when an individual represses emotions and then expresses them symbolically in physical symptoms

A disorder in which a person experiences alterations in memory, identity, or consciousness

An effort to dissociate themselves from stressful events

Types: Dissociative amnesia Dissociative fugue Dissociative identity disorder

The inability to recall important personal events or information; is usually associated with stressful events

A person suddenly travels away from home or work and is unable to recall the past

Might actually create an entirely new identity

Can last days or decades but when they come out of it, they have no recollection of the interim

A person exhibits two or more personality states, each with its own pattern of thinking and behaving

Often believed that dividing up of personality is the individual’s effort to escape a part of the self that he/ she fears.

People diagnosed with DID usually suffered sever physical, psychological or sexual abuse during childhood.

Involves confused and disordered thoughts and perceptions

Problem of cognition involving emotion, perception and motor functions

They often: Withdraw from normal life Distorted perceptions and

behavior reach irrational, fantastical, fear-laden unimaginable levels

Loss of contact with reality

“Someone with depression or severe anxiety problems dreams in an unreal way about life, while a person with schizophrenia lives life as an unreal dream.”

No single cause or cure Collection of symptoms:

Confused use of language (word salad): i.e. “Naturally, I’m growing my father’s hair.”

Delusions: i.e. tin foil to prevent gov’t from entering brain Hallucinations: i.e. hearing voices Disturbance of Affect: emotions not matching situation

Autism Asperger’s Syndrome Pervasive Developmental Disorders- Not

Otherwise Specified PDD includes:

Autism Asperger’s Rhett’s Syndrome PDD-NOS Childhood Disintegrative

Disorder

A group of disorders marked by delayed development of socialization and communication skills.

Symptoms usually by age 3 Can have some and not all

Problems with language Relating to other people Repetitive patterns of behavior Unusual styles of play Difficulty in dealing with change

Major Depressive Disorder: sever form of lowered mood in which a person experiences feelings of worthlessness and diminished pleasure or interest in many activities

Bipolar Disorder: an individual alternates between mania and depression

Seasonal affective Disorder

Maladaptive or inflexible ways of dealing with others and one’s environment

Includes a wide-range: self-defeating personality patterns (excessive shyness) to vain, pushy show-offs

Disorder Characteristics Displayed

Antisocial Pattern of disregarding and violating the rights of others without feeling remorse

Avoidant Pattern of self-consciousness in social situations, feelings of inadequacy, and extreme sensitivity to criticism

Borderline Instability in interpersonal relationships and self-image and marked impulsivity

Dependent Pattern of submissiveness and excessive need to be taken care of

Histrionic Excessive emotions; excessively seeks attention

Narcissistic Exaggerated sensed of self-importance, need for admiration, and lack of empathy

Obsessive-Compulsive

Has an intense interest in being orderly, having control, and achieving perfection

Paranoid Distrusts others; perceives others as having evil motives

Schizoid Pattern of detachment from social relationships and limited range of emotional expression

Schizotypal Feels intense discomfort in close relationships; has distorted thinking and eccentric behavior

A major reason: people tend to fear what they do not understand

How should mental disorders be treated?