Bell Ringer4.11.2013 Objective: SWBAT define psychological disorders. Pick up a new note packet and write your name on it! Remember your last reading assignment!

Bell Ringer 4.11.2013Objective: SWBAT define psychological disorders.

Pick up a new note packet and write your name on it!

Remember your last reading assignment!

Mod. 47-54 (pgs. 641 – 723)

Ms. Desgrosellier

Key Ideas

Defining Abnormal BehaviorAbnormal behavior is:

Statistically rareViolates cultural normsPersonally interferes with day-to-day living

Legally may cause a person to be unable to know right from wrong (insanity).

Defining Abnormal BehaviorCurrently diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM IV-TR).Manual used by mental health professionals for classifying psychological disorders.

Published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

New edition DSM-V is expected to be published in May 2013.

Defining Abnormal BehaviorDiagnoses are given on five axes (dimensions)Axis I: Clinical Syndromes: all the major disorders, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and organic mental disorders.

Defining Abnormal BehaviorDiagnoses are given on five axes (dimensions)Axis II: Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation: Obsessive-Compulsive and mild retardation that could be overlooked when the focus is on Axis I. Individuals can have diagnoses on both Axes I and

II.

Defining Abnormal BehaviorDiagnoses are given on five axes (dimensions)The other axes deal with general medical conditions, psychosocial and environmental problems, and global assessment of functioning.

Defining Abnormal BehaviorMost North American medical insurance companies require a diagnosis from the DSM-IV for payment of mental health benefits.

However, critics warn that “labeling is disabling,” whereby diagnostic labels are applied to the whole person (“Joe is a schizophrenic”) rather than used to mean the individual is suffering from a particular disorder.

Defining Abnormal BehaviorAlso, categorization results in attributing characteristics to the individual that he/she doesn’t possess, or in missing something important about the individual.

Causes of Abnormal BehaviorPsychoanalytic: unresolved internal conflict in the unconscious mind.

Behavioral: maladaptive behaviors learned from inappropriate rewards and punishments.

Humanistic: conditions of worth imposed by society, which cause lowered self-concept.

Causes of Abnormal BehaviorCognitive: irrational and faulty thinking.

Biological: neurochemical or hormonal imbalances; abnormal brain structures or genetics.

Anxiety DisordersAnxiety is the primary symptom, or cause of other symptoms.

Anxiety DisordersAnxiety is a feelings of impending doom or disaster from a specific or unknown source that is characterized by:Mood symptoms: tension, agitation, and apprehension

Bodily symptoms: sweating, muscular tension, and increased heart rate and blood pressure

Cognitive symptoms: worry, rumination, and distractibility symptoms.

Examples of disorders include:panic disorder: when an individual experiences repeated attacks of intense anxiety, along with:severe chest paintightness of muscleschokingfeeling light-headed or faintprofuse sweatingclammy hands

Examples of disorders include:panic disorder:

Symptoms can last for a few minutes to a couple of hours

Panic attacks have no apparent trigger and can happen at any time

Since they are statistically rare, having perhaps 3 of these in a 6-month period would be cause for alarm.

Examples of disorders include:generalized anxiety disorder: similar to panic disorder, but symptoms must occur for at least 6 months and include chronic anxiety not associated with any specific situation or object.The person frequently has trouble sleeping, is hyper-vigilant and tense, has difficulty concentrating, and can be irritable much of the time.

Examples of disorders include:Note: panic disorder has acute symptoms short in duration, whereas generalized anxiety disorder has less-intense symptoms for a longer period of time.

Examples of disorders include:phobias: intense, irrational fear responses to specific stimuli.Nearly 5% of the population suffers from some mild form of phobic disorder.

A fear turns into a phobia when it provokes a compelling, irrational desire to avoid a dreaded situation or object, disrupting the person’s daily life.

Examples of disorders include:Common phobias include:

Agoraphobia: fear of being out in public

Acrophobia: fear of heightsClaustrophobia: fear of enclosed spaces

Zoophobia: fear of animals (e.g. snakes, mice, rats, spiders, dogs, cats, etc.)

Examples of disorders include:obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): a compound disorder of thought and behavior.

Examples of disorders include:Obsession: persistent, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts that an individual cannot get out of his/her mind.Different from worries; they generally involve a unique topic (e.g. dirt, contamination, death, aggression), are often repugnant, and are seen as uncontrollable.

Examples of disorders include:Compulsion: ritualistic behaviors performed repeatedly, which the person does to reduce the tension created by the obsession. Common compulsions: handwashing, counting, checking, touching.

Examples of disorders include:e.g. a person thinks about getting sick and germs all the time and as a result, washes their hands three times in a row every time they pass a sink.

Examples of disorders include:post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): The result of some trauma experienced (natural disaster, war, violent crime) by the victim.

Examples of disorders include:Victims re-experience the traumatic event in nightmares about the event, or flashbacks in which the individual relives the event and behaves as if he/she is experiencing at that moment.

Victims may also experience reduced involvement with the external world, and general arousal characterized by hyper-alertness, guilt, and difficulty concentrating.

Causes of anxiety disorders:Behavioral: acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning.

Cognitive: misinterpretation of harmless situations as threatening focusing excessive attention on perceived threats, and selectively recalling threatening information.

Causes of anxiety disorders:Biological: at least partially due to neurotransmitter imbalancesGeneralized anxiety disorder is treated with benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax), and is associated with too little of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA.

OCD and panic disorder are often treated with antidepressants (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft), and are associated with low levels of serotonin.

Causes of anxiety disorders:Evolutionary: natural selection for enhanced vigilance that operates ineffectively in the absence of real threats.


Take out your notes or pick up a new packet (if necessary)

Remember your last reading assignment!

Mod. 47-54 (pgs. 641 – 723)

Somatoform DisordersSomatoform disorders are characterized by physical symptoms such as pain, paralysis, blindness, or deafness without any demonstrated physical cause.They are different from psychosomatic disorders, like ulcers, tension headaches, and cardiovascular problems.

However, with somatoform disorders, no physical damage is done.

Examples of somatoform disorder:Somatization disorder: characterized by recurrent complaints about usually vague and unverifiable medical conditions such as dizziness, heart palpitations, and nausea, which do not apparently result from any physical cause.An individual needs to have complained about, taken medicine for, changed lifestyle because of, or seen a physician regarding many different symptoms.

Examples of somatoform disorder:Conversion disorder: formally

known as hysteria in the Freudian era, is characterized by loss of some bodily function, such as becoming blind, deaf, or paralyzed, without physical damage to the affected organs or their neural connections.It is often marked by indifference and

quick acceptance on the part of the patient.

The symptoms usually last as long as anxiety is present.

Examples of somatoform disorder:Hypochondriasis: a person

unrealistically interprets physical signs – such as pain, lumps, and irritations – as evidence of serious diseases. The person consequentially becomes anxious and upset about the symptoms.They show excessive anxiety about only

one or two symptoms and the implications they could have for potential future diseases.

e.g. Thinking every headache is evidence of a brain tumor.

Causes of somatoform disorders:Psychoanalysis: Freud’s explanation attributes disorders to bottled up energy that is transformed into physical symptoms.

Behaviorists: operant responses are learned and maintained because they result in rewards.

Causes of somatoform disorders:Cognitive: rewards enable individuals with somatoform disorders to avoid some unpleasant or threatening situation, provide an explanation or justification for failure, or attract concern, sympathy, or care.

Social Cognition: logical experiences, amplifying their bodily sensations, and forming disastrous conclusions about minor complaints.

Dissociative DisordersDissociative disorders are psychological disorders that involve a sudden loss of memory (amnesia) or change in identity.

If extremely distressed, an individual can experience separation of conscious awareness from previous memories and thoughts.

Examples of dissociative disorders:Dissociative amnesia: loss of memory for a traumatic event or period of time that is too painful for an individual to remember. The person holds steadfast to the fact that he/she has no memory of the event and becomes upset when others try to stimulate recall. In time, parts of the memory may begin to reappear.

Examples of dissociative disorders:e.g. A woman whose baby has died in childbirth may block out that memory and perhaps the entire period of her pregnancy. When more emotionally able to handle this information, the woman may gradually come to remember it.

Examples of dissociative disorders:Dissociative fugue: memory loss for anything having to do with personal memory. It is accompanied by flight from the person’s home, after which the person establishes a new identity. All skills and basic knowledge are still intact. The cause of the fugue is often abundant stress or an immediate danger of some news coming out that would prove embarrassing to the individual.

Examples of dissociative disorders:Dissociative identity disorder (DID): formerly called multiple personality disorder, is diagnosed when two or more distinct personalities are present within the same individual.Although extremely unusual, it is most common in people who have been a victim of physical or sexual abuse when very young.

Examples of dissociative disorders:Dissociative identity disorder (DID):Amnesia is involved when alternate personalities “take over.” Missing time is one of the clues to this diagnosis.

Each alternate personality has its own memories, behaviors, and relationships, and might have different prescriptions, allergies, and other physical symptoms.

Examples of dissociative disorders:Dissociative identity disorder (DID):Although there has been some interesting work done by the National Institute for Mental Health that lends credibility to this diagnosis, many professionals are still skeptical about it.

Causes of Dissociative disorders:Psychoanalysis: repression of anxiety and/or trauma, caused by such disturbances of home life as beatings, rejection from parents, or sexual abuse.

Causes of Dissociative disorders:Social learning theorists: many are skeptical about DID, and think that individuals displaying the disorder are role playing. They question why DID has become so much more prevalent since publication of books and production of films dealing with the disorder, and why different personalities pop out, in contrast to years ago when alternate personalities emerged very slowly.


Briefly describe one somatoform AND one dissociative disorder.

Remember your last reading assignment!Mod. 47-54 (pgs. 641 – 723)

Mood DisordersMood disorders are psychological disorders characterized by a primary disturbance in affect or mood that colors the individual’s entire emotional state. This disrupts the person’s normal ability to function in daily life.

Mood DisordersThere are two types of mood disorders:Unipolar: depressive disordersBipolar: manic-depressive

Mood DisordersMost are treated at least in part by drugs suggesting a biological etiology or cause.

The prevalence of depression has been increasing, affecting at least twice as many women as men.

Because it occurs so often, depression has been called the “common cold of psychological disorders.”

Examples of mood disorders:Major depressive disorder: or unipolar depression, involves intense depressed mood, reduced interest or pleasure in activities, loss of energy, and problems in making decisions for a minimum of 2 weeks.

Examples of mood disorders:Major depressive disorder:

The individual feels sad, hopeless, discouraged, “down,” and frequently isolated, rejected and unloved.

There are a series of changes in eating, sleeping, and motor activity, and a lack of pleasure in activities that usually caused pleasure in the past.

Examples of mood disorders:Major depressive disorder:

Cognitive symptoms include low self-esteem, pessimism, reduced motivation, generalization of negative attitudes, exaggeration of seriousness of problems, and slowed thought processes. Suicidal thoughts, inappropriate guilt, and other faulty beliefs may also be present.

Examples of mood disorders:Seasonal affective disorder: a type of depression that recurs, usually during the winter months in the northern latitudes. One hypothesis why this happens is that shorter periods of and less direct sunlight during winter disturbs both mood and sleep/wake schedules, bringing on the depression.

Examples of mood disorders:Bipolar disorder: characterized by mood swings alternating between periods of major depression and mania, the two poles of emotion.Symptoms of the manic state include an inflated ego, little need for sleep, excessive talking, and impulsivity.

Examples of mood disorders:Bipolar disorder:

Rapid cycling is usually characterized by short periods of mania followed almost immediately by deep depression, usually of longer duration.

Newer drug treatments, including lithium carbonate, have proved successful in bringing symptoms under control for many sufferers.

Causes of mood disorders:Biological perspective: evidence from family studies, including twin studies, shows that there is a genetic component involved in mood disorders. Too much of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine is available during mania, too little norepinephrine or serotonin during depression. Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil increase availability of serotonin by blocking reuptake.

Causes of mood disorders:Biological perspective:

PET and fMRI scans reveal lowered brain energy consumption in individuals with depression, especially in the left frontal lobe, associated with positive emotions. MRI and CAT scans show abnormal shrinkage of frontal lobes in severely depressed patients.

Causes of mood disorders:Psychoanalytic perspective: attributes depression to early loss of or rejection by a parent, resulting in depression when the individual experiences personal losses later in life and turns anger inside.

Behavioral perspective: depressed people elicit negative reactions from others, resulting in maintenance of depressed behaviors.

Causes of mood disorders:Social cognitive: self-defeating beliefs that may arise from learned helplessness influence passive resignation that results form inability to avoid repeated aversive events.

Causes of mood disorders:Social cognitive: According to psychologist Martin

Seligman, a negative explanatory style puts an individual at risk for depression when bad events occur. When bad events happen, people with a negative (pessimistic) explanatory style think the bad events will last forever, affect everything they do, and are all their fault; they give stable, global, internal explanations.

Causes of mood disorders:Cognition: include Aaron Beck’s theory (cognitive triad) that depressed individuals have a negative view of themselves, their circumstances, and their future possibilities, and that they generalize from negative events.Also Susan Nolen-Hoeksema’s rumination theory that depressed people who ruminate are prone to more intense depression than those who distract themselves.

SchizophreniaSchizophrenia is a broad umbrella of symptoms and disorders characterized by psychosis or lack of touch with reality evidenced by highly disordered thought processes. Patients can show abnormal thinking, emotion, movement, socialization, and/or perception.

SchizophreniaA positive symptom of schizophrenia isn’t something good, but a behavioral excess or peculiarity rather than an absence. Delusions and hallucinations, two frequent signs of schizophrenia, are both positive symptoms.

SchizophreniaDelusions are erroneous beliefs that are maintained even when compelling evidence to the contrary is presented.

Hallucinations are false sensory perceptions, such as the experience of seeing, hearing, or otherwise perceiving something that is not present.

SchizophreniaLack of emotion, sometimes called flat affect; social withdrawal; apathy; inattention; and lack of communication are examples of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Types of schizophrenia:Disorganized: incoherent speech, inappropriate mood, hallucinations, and delusional thought pattern.May make no sense when talking and act in a very bizarre way that is inappropriate for the situation (e.g. laughing in the back of the church during a funeral). Silly, childlike behavior is typical.

Types of schizophrenia:Paranoid: characterized by delusions of grandeur, persecution, and reference. The delusions typically form an elaborate network resulting from misinterpretation of reality.

Types of schizophrenia:For example, people with paranoid schizophrenia often think that they are special and have been selected for exceptional attention (delusions of reference). They often misinterpret occurrences as directly relevant to them, such as lightening being a signal from God. They frequently believe that such attention is because of their specialness, and that they are world leaders (delusions of grandeur).

Types of schizophrenia:They then think that others are so threatened that these other people plot against them (delusions of persecution). Suffering delusions of persecution, people are fearful and can be a danger as they attempt to defend themselves against their imagined enemies.

Types of schizophrenia:Catatonic: characterized by disordered movement patterns, sometimes immobile stupor or frenzied and excited behaviors. People suffering from this disorder might remain in one position, becoming “statues” with what is called waxy flexibility or holding postures that would normally by impossible to maintain by others.

Types of schizophrenia:Undifferentiated: or simple schizophrenia, is marked by disturbances of thought or behavior and emotion that do not fit neatly into any of the above categories. One area of dysfunction is noted and yet the person may be perfectly normal in every other aspect of life.


Briefly describe one mood disorder AND one type of schizophrenia.

Remember your last reading assignment!Mod. 47-54 (pgs. 641 – 723)

SchizophreniaSchizophrenic artist Louis Wain

Causes of schizophrenia:Biological: some positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions, to excessively high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, and some negative symptoms, such as lack of emotion or social withdrawal, to the lack of the neurotransmitter glutamate.

Causes of schizophrenia:Biological:

Brain scans show abnormalities in numerous brain regions of individuals with schizophrenia. These abnormalities may result from teratogens such as viruses or genetic predispositions.

Causes of schizophrenia:Biological:

The diathesis-stress model holds that people predisposed to schizophrenia are more vulnerable to stressors than other people. Thus, only people who are both predisposed and also stressed are likely to develop schizophrenia.

Causes of schizophrenia:Psychoanalysis: schizophrenia is a result of fixation at the oral stage and a weak ego.

Behaviorism: assume that schizophrenia results from reinforcement of bizarre behavior.

Humanism: schizophrenia is caused by lack of congruence between the public self and the actual self.

Causes of schizophrenia:Note: Schizophrenia is NOT split personality! People with schizophrenia experience a split with reality.People with dissociative identity disorder show two or more personalities.

Personality DisordersPeople with personality disorders have longstanding, maladaptive thought and behavior patterns that are troublesome to others, harmful, or illegal. Although these patterns impair people’s social functioning, individuals do not experience anxiety, depression, or delusions.

Personality DisordersDSM-IV classifies personality disorders on Axis II grouped into three clusters:Odd/eccentric: including paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal

Personality DisordersDSM-IV classifies personality disorders on Axis II grouped into three clusters:Dramatic/emotionally problematic: including histrionic, narcissistic, borderline, and antisocial

Chronic fearfulness/avoidant: including avoidant, dependent, and obsessive compulsive

Odd/Eccentric:Paranoid: pervasive, unwarranted suspiciousness and mistrust; overly sensitive; often envious (more common in males).

Odd/Eccentric:Schizoid: poor capacity for forming social relationships; shy, withdrawn behavior; considered “cold” (more common in males).

Schizotypal: Odd thinking; often suspicious and hostile

Dramatic/Emotionally Problematic:Histrionic: excessively dramatic; seeking attention and tending to overreact; egocentric (more common in females)

Narcissistic: Unrealistically self-important; manipulative; lacking empathy; expects special treatment; can’t take criticism (more common in males)

Dramatic/Emotionally Problematic:Borderline: Emotionally unstable; impulsive; unpredictable; irritable; prone to boredom (more common in females)

Dramatic/Emotionally Problematic:Antisocial: Used to be called sociopaths or psychopaths. Violate other people’s rights without guilt or remorse. Manipulative, exploitive, self-indulgent, irresponsible; can be charming. Commit disproportionate number of violent crimes (more common in males)

Chronic Fearfulness/Avoidant:Avoidant: Excessively sensitive to potential rejection, humiliation; desires acceptance but is socially withdrawn

Dependent: Excessively lacking in self-confidence; subordinates own needs; allows others to make all decisions (more common in females)

Chronic Fearfulness/Avoidant:Obsessive-Compulsive: usually preoccupied with rules, schedules, details; extremely conventional; serious; emotionally insensitive

Developmental DisordersDisorders of infancy, childhood, and adolescence, include attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, infantile autism, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa.

Developmental DisordersChildren with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are unable to focus their attention, are easily distracted, and often act impulsively – quickly changing activities, which results in failure to complete tasks.

Developmental DisordersAttention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD):Their inattention and inappropriate behaviors often lead to personal, social, and academic problems.

ADHD is diagnosed 10 times more frequently in boys than in girls.

Developmental DisordersAutism can be an extremely serious childhood disorder and children with autism engage in repetitive behaviors.

AutismDiagnosis is based on three primary symptoms that become evident early in life:lack of responsiveness to other people

impairment in verbal and nonverbal communications

very limited activities and interests

Developmental DisordersEating disorders have become more common, especially in females in North America and Western Europe.Anorexia nervosa: characterized by an unrealistic body image which can result in death.

Developmental DisordersBulimia nervosa: characterized by a pattern of eating binges followed by purging by either vomiting or using laxatives.Following the purge, people with bulimia typically feel guilty, self-critical, and depressed.

Developmental DisordersBulimia nervosa: Purging can cause sore throat,

swollen glands, loss of tooth enamel, nutritional deficiencies, dehydration, and intestinal damage.

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Bell Ringer4.11.2013 Objective: SWBAT define psychological disorders. Pick up a new note packet and write your name on it! Remember your last reading assignment!