Chapter 8

Psychological Disorders

Psychological Disorders are behaviors/mental processes that are connected with various kinds of distress or disability

They meet a combination of the following criteria: Unusual behavior Suggest faulty perception or interpretation of reality Suggest severe personal stress They’re self-defeating They’re dangerous Individual’s behaviors is socially unacceptable

Disorders are classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), currently in it’s fourth edition with a text revision (DSM-IV-TR)

Categories are suggested to be used to identify “problems with living” rather than diagnose disorders.

Adjustment Disorders Maladaptive reactions to identified

stressors. Usually associated with academic,

occupational, or social Problem is attempting to define where

normal behaviors leave off and abnormal begins.

Phobias

•Acrophobia: fear of high places•Aerophobia: fear of flying•Agoraphobia: "fear of marketplace" - fear of open spaces, meeting people, traveling, shopping, traffic, and leaving home. This is the most common phobia. 60% of phobics have agoraphobia.•Ailurophobia: fear of cats. It is one of the more common animal phobias. It may be caused by the way cats stare.•Animal phobias: fear of an animal becomes an obsession to avoid it•Arachnophobia: fear of spiders•Claustrophobia: fear of small, confined, or closed spaces•Cynophobia: fear of dogs•Dementophobia: fear of insanity

• Gephyrophobia: fear of bridges• Hydrophobia: fear of water• Mysophobia: fear of dirt or germs• Nyctophobia: fear of dark• Ochlophobia: fear of crowds• Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes• Phobophobia: fear of fear• Pyrophobia: fear of fire• Thanatophobia: fear of death

Xenophobia: fear of strangers

Anxiety Disorders A state of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear

resulting from anticipation of a realistic or fantasized threatening event or situation

Subjective features: worrying , fear of the worst, fear of losing control, nervousness, inability to relax

Physical features: arousal of nervous system, trembling, sweating, increased blood pressure, racing heart

Types of Anxiety Disorders: Panic Disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder OCD PTSD

Theoretical Views Psychodynamic Learning Social-Cognitive Cognitive

Dissociative Disorders Separation of mental processes such as thoughts,

emotions, identity, memory, or conscious. Types:

Dissociative amnesia Dissociative fugue DID (aka: Multiple Personality Disorder) Depersonalization Disorder

Theoretical Views Psychodynamic Learning

Somatoform Disorders Persistent complaining of physical

problems such as paralysis, pain, or a persistent belief that they have a serious disease.

Types Conversion Disorder Hypochondriasis

Mood Disorders Characterized by disturbances in expression of

emotions. Types

Major Depressive Disorder Bipolar Disorder

Theoretical Views Psychoanalytic Learning Cognitive Biological Linking

Cognitive Distortions Linked to Depression (pg 279) All-or-Nothing Thinking Misplacing blame Misfortune Telling Negative Focusing Dismissing the positives Jumping to conclusions Catasrophizing Emotion-based reasoning Shouldisms Name Calling Mistaken responsibility

Schizophrenia A severe psychological disorder that touches

every aspect of a person’s life. Positive and Negative symptoms Delusions

Grandeur Persecution Reference

Hallcinations (auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile)

Types: Paranoid Disorganized Catatonic

Theoretical Views Psychodynamic Learning

Personality Disorders Characterized by enduring patterns of behaviors that

are inflexible and maladaptive Types:

Paranoid Schizotypal Schizoid Antisocial Avoidant Borderline

Theoretical Views Psychodynamic Learning Cognitive

Preventing Suicide (pgs 290-291) Most linked to mood disorders More common after stressful event Runs in families At risk:

Teenagers College students Older adults (especially white males 65+) Women more so than men Men prefer guns, women sleeping pills