PSYC 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Specific Phobia, Agoraphobia

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 102
• Professor: Sherri Atwood

Document Summary

Mental disorder: persistent disturbance or dysfunction in behaviour, thoughts, or emotion that causes significant distress or impairment; common set of signs and symptoms. Medical model: abnormal psychological experiences are conceptualized as illnesses that, like physical illnesses, have biological and environmental causes, defined symptoms, and possible cures; known pathological process affecting body. Diagnosis: determination if there is a disease or disorder present. Signs: objectively observed indicators of a disorder. Dsm (1952): classification system; describes features use =d to diagnose each recognized mental disorder; indicates how disorder can be distinguished from other similar problems. Dsm-5: 22 major categories containing more than 200 different mental disorders. Integrated perspective incorporates biological, psychological, and environmental factors (individuals may experience similar psychological disorder for different reasons) Diathesis-stress model: suggests a person may be predisposed for mental disorder that remains unexpressed until triggered by stress. Stigmas are likely attached to labeling people with psychological disorders.