Chapter 16: Psychological Disorders
- maladaptive patterns of behaviour that cause distress
Where does one draw the line between normality and abnormality?
Distressing- causes us discomfort (pedophiles might not feel distressed, bipolar manic phases)
Dysfunction- interferes with optimal functioning/lives
Deviant- can behave in deviant behaviour without having a disorder (pedophiles are deviant in society)
Historical Perspectives
Ancient World- evil spirits, imbalance of body fluids (holes in skull to remove)
MiddleAges- supernatural forces, forces of the moon
Early 20 Century- psychodynamic perspective, conflict of mind (id, ego, superego)
Modern Times- biological (medical perspective), cognitive, social, cultural factors
Multiple Causation
Predisposing Causes- genetically inherited characteristics, early life trauma
Precipitating Causes- put a great deal of stress on us (losing job, failing class, divorce)
Maintaining Causes- play a role once the disorder comes into being, continue feeling depressed, avoid
people, reduced social life
Vulnerability(Predisposing)-Stress(Precipitating) Model
Identifying Disorders
DSM-IV (1994)- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV
– 200+ disorders are grouped into 17 major families
– describes symptoms, onset, and prevalence (how often found in population)
- Improvements from earlier versions (subjective)
– more empirical- based on published research
– greater focus on cultural factors
How people are diagnosed:
Axis 1: Clinical Syndromes and other conditions (Panic attacks)
Axis 2: Personality Disorders and Mental Retardations (has a panic attack because of OCD)
Axis 3: General Medical Conditions (depressed, has HIV)
Axis 4: Psychosocial and Environmental Problems (Whats going on with life, job, family, social)
Axis 5: GlobalAssessment of Function (GAF)- Schizophrenia, scored 0-100, 10= severe risk of hurting
someone, 100=superior functioning in all areas of life
Anxiety Disorders: Symptoms
Emotional- feelings of tension, apprehension
Cognitive- worry, thoughts about inability to cope
Physiological- increased HR, muscle tension, other autonomic arousal symptoms
Behavioural- avoidance of feared situations, decreased task performance, increased startle response
Generalized Anxiety Disorder- overriding feel of anxiety that isn’t connected to any specific threat in
your life, stressed out over little things (grocery store), 3.5%-5% of people are diagnosed, has to
seriously impair daily function for at least 6 months to be diagnosed
Panic Disorder- recurrent unexpected panic attacks (chest pains, sweating, shaking, nausea, dizziness,
choking) Agoraphobia- avoid public places for fear of getting a panic attack
Phobias- persistent irrational fear of a specific object or situation
– natural aversions, classical conditioning
– can become more severe overtime, broader (sailing on a cruise then canoe, motor boat etc)
– females more likely than males to have phobias
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)- anxiety characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts
(obsessions) and behaviour (compulsions)
- intrudes on a persons thoughts until they take a course of action
- compulsion doesnt always have to do with obsession**
- compulsions- cleaning, checking things (door, oven off etc), counting, routines
- germs, contamination, disease, doing things wrong/imperfection, death, disfigurement
- can happen from damage to basal ganglia or often show lesions, dopamine deficiency
Obsessions create anxiety which leads to compulsions. (negative reinforcement) which then reduces the
obsession. Self reinforcing set of behaviours.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
– occurs with soldiers, torture and rape victims, car accidents, violent assault, natural disasters
– symptoms include numbness, guilt, depression, alcohol abuse, anxiety, diarrhoea
– often relieve trauma in “flashbacks”, dreams, fantasies
Biological Factors in Anxiety Disorders
Genetics- Identical (MZ) twins more similar than Fraternal (DZ) twins
GABA- relaxens, low levels=more likely to have anxiety disorders, panic disorders (22% less)
Psychological Factors
Catastrophizing- turn small thing into huge, exaggeration
– believe everything needs to be perfect
– make incorrect assumptions about threat and/pr whether or not they can deal with it
Learning- classical conditioned responses (phobias), OCD people learn compulsions relax them
Mood Disorders
Major Depression (unipolar)-
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