UNIT 12 – ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

IntroductionHow should we define psychological disorders?How should we understand disorders?How should we classify psychological disorders?

Defining Psychological DisordersPsychological disorders - a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an

individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.Disturbed behaviorDysfunctional behaviorMaladaptive behavior

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by

age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms; extreme

inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Understanding Psychological DisordersThe Medical Model

Philippe PinelMedical model - the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have

physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured often through

treatment in a hospital.

Mental illness (psychopathology)The Biopsychosocial Model

Interaction of nature and nurtureInfluence of culture on disorders

Classifying Psychological Disorders

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) - the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.

DSM-5Diagnostic labelsCriticisms of the DSM

Labeling Psychological DisordersRosenhan’s studyPower of labels

Preconception can stigmatizeStereotypes of the mentally illInsanity

Rates of Psychological Disorders

Anxiety DisordersAnxiety disorder - psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or

maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.Generalized anxiety disorder - an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense,

apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.

2/3 womenContinual worry, jittery, agitated and sleep deprivedFree floating anxiety

Panic disorders - an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations. Often followed by worry over a possible next attack.

Panic attacks Phobias - an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a

specific object, activity, or situation.Specific phobiaSocial anxiety disorder - intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of

such. (Formerly called social phobia)Agoraphobia - fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open spaces,

where one has felt loss of control and panic.

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related DisordersObsessive-compulsive disorder - a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).

An obsession versus a compulsionCheckersHand washers

Trauma Stressor and Related DisordersPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder - a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience.

PTSD“shellshock” or “battle fatigue”Not just due to a war situation

Post-traumatic growth - positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises.

Understanding Anxiety Disorders, OCD and PTSDThe Learning Perspective

Classical and operant conditioningStimulus generalizationReinforcement

Observational learningCognition

The Biological PerspectiveNatural selectionGenes

Anxiety geneGlutamate

The BrainAnterior cingulate cortex

Mood Disorders - psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes.Depressive Disorders

Major depressive disorder - a mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or a another medical condition, two or more weeks with five or more symptoms, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood, or (2) lost of interest or pleasure.

Problems regulating appetiteProblems regulating sleepLow energyLow self-esteemDifficulty concentrating and making decisionsFeelings of hopelessness

Persistent depressive disorder

Bipolar and Related DisordersBipolar Disorder - a mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. (formerly called manic-depressive disorder.)

Mania (manic) - a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state.Overtalkative, overactive, elated, little need for sleep, etc.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation DisorderBipolar disorder and creativity

Understanding Depressive and Bipolar DisordersMany behavioral and cognitive changes accompany depressionDepression is widespreadWomen’s risk of major depression is nearly double men’sMost major depressive episodes self-terminateStressful events related to work, marriage and close relationships often proceed depressionWith each new generation, depression is striking earlier and affecting more people

The Biological PerspectiveGenetic Influences

Mood disorders run in familiesHeritabilityLinkage analysis

The depressed brainBiochemical influences

Norepinephrine and serotonin

The Social-Cognitive PerspectiveNegative Thoughts and Moods Interact

Self-defeating beliefsLearned helplessnessRumination - compulsive fretting; overthinking about our problems and their

causes.Explanatory style

Stable, global, internal explanationsCause versus indictor of depression?

Symptoms of SchizophreniaSchizophrenia (split mind) - a group of severe disorders characterized by delusions, hallucinations,

disorganized speech, and/or diminished or inappropriate emotional expression.

Not multiple personalitiesPsychosis (psychotic disorder) - a psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with

reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions.

Disorganized Thinking and Disturbed PerceptionsDisorganized thinking

Delusions - false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.

Delusions of persecution (paranoid)Word SaladHallucinations - false sensory experience, such as seeing something in the absence of

an external visual stimulus.Breakdown in selective attention

Diminished and Inappropriate EmotionsInappropriate Emotions

Flat affectInappropriate Actions

CatatoniaDisruptive social behavior

Onset and Development of SchizophreniaStatistics on schizophreniaOnset of the diseasePositive versus negative symptomsChronic (process) schizophreniaAcute (reactive) schizophrenia

Understanding SchizophreniaBrain Abnormalities

Dopamine OveractivityDopamine Overactivity

Dopamine – D4 dopamine receptorDopamine blocking drugs

GlutamateAbnormal Brain Activity and Anatomy

Abnormal Brain Activity and AnatomyFrontal lobe and core brain activityFluid filled areas of the brain

Maternal Virus During MidpregnancyMaternal Virus During Pregnancy

Studies on maternal activity and schizophreniaInfluence of the flu during pregnancy

Genetic FactorsGenetic predispositionTwin studies

Psychological Factors

Possible warning signsMother severely schizophrenicBirth complications (low weight/oxygen deprivation)Separation from parentsShort attention spanDisruptive or withdrawn behavior Emotional unpredictabilityPoor peer relations and solo play

Somatic Symptom and Related DisordersSomatic symptom disorder - psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause.

Somatic (body)

Conversion disorder - a disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no psychological basis can be found. (Also called functional neurological symptom disorder)

Functional neurological symptom disorderIllness anxiety disorder - a disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of the disease. (Formerly called hypochondriasis)

Hypochondriasis

Dissociative DisordersDissociative disorders - disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.

Fugue stateDissociate (become separated)Dissociative Identity Disorder - a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or

more distinct and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)Multiple personality disorder

Understanding Dissociative Identity DisorderGenuine disorder or not?DID ratesTherapist’s creationDifferences are too greatDID and other disorders

Feeding and Eating DisordersEating disorders

Anorexia nervosa - an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly (15 percent or more) underweight.Bulimia nervosa - an eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating (usually of high- calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use), excessive exercise, or fasting.Binge-eating disorder - significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa.

Personality DisordersPersonality disorders - psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.

Cluster ASchizoid personality disorder

Cluster BHistrionic personality disorderNarcissistic personality disorderAntisocial personality disorder - a personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.

Cluster CAvoidant personality disorder

Antisocial Personality DisorderAntisocial personality disorder

Sociopath or psychopathUnderstanding antisocial personality disorder