Unit 13: Abnormal Psychology

AP PsychologyMs. Desgrosellier

2010 – 2011

Key Ideas• Defining abnormal

behavior• Causes of abnormal

behavior• Anxiety disorders• Somatoform disorders• Dissociative disorders• Mood disorders• Schizophrenia• Personality disorders• Mental health

practitioners

• History of therapy• Insight therapies –

psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, humanistic

• Behavioral approaches• Cognitive-behavioral

approaches• Biological treatments• Modes of therapy• Community and

preventive approaches

Defining Abnormal Behavior

• Abnormal behavior is:–Statistically rare–Violates cultural norms–Personally interferes with day-to-day living–Legally may cause a person to be unable to know right from wrong (insanity).

Defining Abnormal Behavior

• Currently 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 2012.

Causes of Abnormal Behavior

• Unresolved internal conflict in the unconscious mind.–Psychoanalytic

• Maladaptive behaviors learned from inappropriate rewards and punishments.–Behavioral

Causes of Abnormal Behavior

• Conditions of worth imposed by society, which cause lowered self-concept.–Humanistic

• Irrational and faulty thinking.–Cognitive

Causes of Abnormal Behavior

• Neurochemical or hormonal imbalances; abnormal brain structures or genetics.– Biological

Types of Disorders

Anxiety• Examples of disorders:–panic disorder–generalized anxiety disorder–phobias–obsessive-compulsive disorder–post-traumatic stress disorder

(PTSD)

Anxiety• Symptoms:• Panic attack:–pain & tightness of muscles in

chest or neck–feeling light-headed or faint–profuse sweating–clammy hands

Somatoform• Examples of disorders:–somatization disorder–conversion disorder–hypochondriasis

Somatoform• Symptoms:–Deal with the body and have no

realistic physical cause

Dissociative• Examples of disorders:–dissociative amnesia–dissociative fugue–dissociative identity disorder

(formally multiple personality disorder)

Dissociative• Symptoms:–sudden loss of memory (amnesia)–change in identity–Freudian explanation:

repression for hurtful situations too painful for the individual to deal with.

Mood• Examples of disorders:–Unipolar (depressive) disorder –bipolar (manic-depressive)

disorder

Mood• Symptoms:–Primary disturbance in affect or

mood that colors the individual’s entire emotional state.–depression symptoms (sadness,

lack of energy/motivation, etc.)–manic symptoms (feeling

indestructible, high energy, etc.)

Schizophrenia• Examples of disorders:• Four major types:–disorganized–catatonic–paranoid–undifferentiated

Schizophrenia• Symptoms:–Psychosis: lack of touch with

reality evidenced by abnormal thinking, emotion, movement, socialization, and/or perception.

Schizophrenia• Symptoms:–Delusions: erroneous beliefs that

are maintained even when compelling evidence to the contrary is presented.–Hallucinations: false sensory

perceptions, e.g. seeing, hearing, or otherwise perceiving something that is not present.

Schizophrenia• Schizophrenic artist Louis Wain

Personality• Examples of disorders:• Three clusters:–Odd/Eccentric: paranoid, schizoid,

schizotypal–Problematic: histrionic,

narcissistic, boderline, antisocial–Chronic fearfulness/avoidant:

avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive

Personality• Symptoms:–Persistent patterns of maladaptive

and inflexible traits in personality

Developmental• Examples of disorders:–Attention-deficit hyperactivity

disorder (ADHD)– infantile autism–anorexia nervosa–bulimia nervosa

Developmental• Symptoms:–Disturbances in learning,

language, and motor or social skills showing up in infancy, childhood, or adolescence.

Mental Health Practitioners

• Psychiatrists: medical doctors (M.D.) who can prescribe medication and perform surgery.

• Clinical psychologists: have a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.); use different therapeutic approaches depending on training and diagnosis.–Generally CANNOT prescribe medication.

Mental Health Practitioners

• Counseling psychologists: have a Ph.D., Ed.D., or M.A. in counseling; tend to deal with less severe mental health problems.

• Psychoanalysts: may or may not be psychiatrists, but follow the teaching of Freud and practice psychoanalysis or other psychodynamic therapies.

Mental Health Practitioners

• Clinical or psychiatric social workers: have masters degree in social work (M.S.W.).

Therapies• Approach• Cause – see first table• Goal of treatment• Key terms

Psychoanalytic• Goal: • Help patients gain insight into

their unconscious conflicts.• Does not offer a cure.

Psychoanalytic• Key Terms: • Psychoanalysis• Free Association: Just allowing

patients to talk about random things, then the psychoanalyst interprets.

Psychoanalytic• Key Terms: • Dream interpretation• Transference: putting feelings and

emotions on the therapist.• Catharsis: acting out aggression

and anger to release it.

Behavioral• Goal: • Unlearn maladaptive behavior and

replace it with more adaptive behavior.

Behavioral• Key Terms: • Systematic Desensitization: client

is trained to relax to increasingly fearful stimuli.

• Flooding: exposing client to phobias for extended periods of time without escape.

• Modeling

Behavioral• Key Terms: • Implosive: Flooding, but with

imagination, not real stimuli.• Aversive: Classical conditioning

technique, creating an association between unwanted behavior and negative stimuli (e.g. nausea)

Humanistic• Goal: • To reduce the discrepancy

between the ideal and real self.

Humanistic• Key Terms: • Client-centered therapy: the client

rather than the therapist directs the treatment process.• Existential Therapy: focus on helping

clients find purpose and meaning in their lives, and emphasize individual freedom and responsibility.• Unconditional positive regard

Cognitive• Goal: • Cognitive restructuring by:–changing the thoughts and

replacing irrational with more rational perceptions–Changing negative thinking to

more positive ideas.

Cognitive• Key Terms: • Rational emotive therapy: based on

confronting irrational thoughts.–Change in irrational thinking will

lead to a change in irrational behavior.

• Cognitive triad: Looks at what people think about their Self, their World, and their Future.

Biological• Goal: • Psychoactive drugs attempt to restore

balance:–antianxiety–antidepressant–antipsychotic

• Electroconvulsive shock therapy (ONLY effective for severe depression) 

• Psychosurgery (e.g. cutting the corpus callosum to relieve seizures).

Biological• Key Terms: • Repetitive transcranial magnetic

stimulation (rTMS): using magnets to stimulate parts of the brain.

• ECT: shock therapy

Biological• Key Terms: • Psychosurgery: lesioning or

removing parts of the brain.• Corpus Callosum• Transection: cutting sensory nerves• Prefrontal Lobotomy: formally a

treatment for psychopaths, separates the frontal lobe from the rest of the brain.