PSY 3044 - LECTURES > Psychological Disorders

I. ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

A. Criteria of abnormality

1. Statistical rarity: Behavior that is "away from the norm"

2. Interference with normal functioning: Behavior that is dysfunctional

3. Personal distress: Behavior that is personally troubling

4. Deviance from social norms: Behavior that violates common conventions

B. A working definition

1. A continuum of behavior

C. The concept of insanity

1. A legal ruling regarding the inability to judge right from wrong

D. Models of abnormal behavior

1. Medical model

a. Mental disorders are like physical illnesses, with organic causes

2. Psychological models

a. Psychodynamic model: Focus on unconscious conflicts

b. Behavioral model: Focus on learning, environmental causes

c. Cognitive model: Focus on thinking and perception

d. Sociocultural model: Focus on role of culture and society

i. Some syndromes are culture-bound

e. Biopsychosocial model encompasses many perspectives

II. CLASSIFYING and COUNTING PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

A. DSM-IV

1. A tool for diagnosing forms of psychological disorders

B. The labeling issue

1. Labeling makes it difficult to be sane in insane places

C. The prevalence of psychological disorders

1. Epidemiologists study the distribution and causes of disorders

a. Prevalence: Percentage in a population with a disorder

b. Incidence: Rate of new cases reported in a population

III. ANXIETY, SOMATOFORM, and DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS

A. Anxiety disorders

1. Phobias: Agoraphobia, social phobias, specific phobias

2. Panic disorder: Recurrent panic attacks of fear without cause

3. Generalized anxiety disorder: Prolonged intense fears without focus

4. Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Driven to disturbing thoughts or rituals

B. Somatoform disorders

1. Hypochondriasis: Interpreting insignificant symptoms as serious illness

2. Somatization disorder: Recurrent vague complaints with no physical cause

3. Conversion disorder: Dramatic disability with no physical cause

C. Dissociative disorders

1. Dissociative amnesia: Loss of memory without organic cause

2. Dissociative fugue: Flight and assumption of a new identity

3. Dissociative identity disorder: Multiple personality disorder

IV. MOOD DISORDERS

A. Depression

1. Symptoms: Sadness, reduced energy, lack of interest in activities

2. Prevalence and course: Rates vary with culture and sex

3. Suicide: Rates vary with race and sex

B. Bipolar disorder: Alternating periods of depression and mania

1. Mania: Euphoria, extreme activity, distractedness, excessive talkativeness

C. Causes of mood disorders

1. Biological explanations

a. Genetic influences studied by twin concordance rates

b. Neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and serotonin) also implicated

2. The psychodynamic explanation

a. Early childhood experiences contribute to later mood disturbances

3. Cognitive and behavioral explanations

a. Learned helplessness leads to passivity, reduced motivation

i. Hopelessness model focuses on beliefs of the individual

- explanatory style and attributions for depression

4. Multiple causes

a. Genetic, cognitive, behavioral, environmental factors play a role

V. SCHIZOPHRENIA

A. Symptoms of schizophrenia

1. Positive symptoms

a. Loose associations, word salad, clanging, delusions, hallucinations

2. Negative symptoms

a. Poverty of speech content, flat or blunted affect, avolition or apathy

B. Subtypes of schizophrenia

1. Catatonic, paranoid, disorganized, undifferentiated, residual

C. Causes of schizophrenia

1. Genetic factors: Risk linked to degree of genetic relationship

2. Brain abnormalities: Larger ventricles, smaller limbic structures

3. Neurotransmitters: Dopamine plays a central role

4. Environmental causes: Expressed emotion, prenatal nutrition, stress, SES

5. Multiple causes: Genetics predisposes, environment pushes