Behavior that is deviant, maladaptive, or personally distressful
Deviant behavior
(abnormal)
Atypical behavior that deviates from culturally accepted norms
Maladaptive Behavior
(abnormal behavior)
Behavior that interferes with a person's ability to function effectively
Personally distressful
(abnormal behavior)
Behavior that causes personal distress
What are the 3 Theoretical Approaches to Psychological Disorders?
- Biological Approach
- Psychological Approach
- Sociocultural Approach
Biological Approach
(theoretical approach)
- psych. disorders have biological origins
- focuses on brain/genetics
- (medical model)
Psychological Approach
(Theoretical approaches)
- thoughts, emotions, personality
- influence of childhood & personality traits on disorders
Sociocultural Approach
(Theoretical approaches)
- social context like work stress or your neighborhood
- Venn diagram mix of the theoretical approaches for psychological disorders
- The biological, psychological, and sociocultural approaches act in combination with each other
- Used because no ONE thing leads to a psychological disorder... they interact with each other
DSM-V Classification System
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition)
- The APA's major classification of psychological disorders
Advantages of the
DSM classification system
- provides common basis for communication
- helps clinicians make predictions
- naming the disorder provides comfort
Disadvantages of the DSM classification system
- stigma- shame, negative reputation
- medical terminology implies an internal cause (& that's not always the case)
- focus on weakness & ignore strength
A biological approach that describes psychological disorders as medical diseases with a biological origin
Anxiety-related Disorders
- Psychological disorders that include:
- uncontrollable fears that are disruptive and disproportionate
- motor tension, hyperactivity, apprehensive expectations and thoughts
What are the 6 types of anxiety disorders?
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Specific Phobia
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
- PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
diagnosis/symptoms
- persistent anxiety for at least 6 months
- inability to specify reasons for anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Etiology/Cause
- GABA deficiency, genetic predisposition, respiration, chronic over-arousal
- harsh self standards, life stress, critical parents, negative thoughts
Panic Disorder
diagnosis/symptoms
- recurrent, sudden onsets of intense terror- often happen with no warning
- chest pains, trembling, dizziness, sweating, helplessness
Panic Disorder
Etiology/Cause
- genetic predisposition
- conditioning (CO2), human's carbon dioxide is a strong
conditioned stimulus for fear, so humans may be classically conditioned to feel that high concentrations of CO2 are associated with fear
- poverty, gender difference- twice as likely in women
Specific Phobia
diagnosis/symptoms
- Irrational, overwhelming, persistent fear of a particular object or situation
- A fear becomes a phobia when a situation is so dreaded that the person will go to almost ANY length to avoid it
Specific Phobia
Etiology/Cause
- Extreme variant of fear
- Based on experiences, memories, and learned associations
- Other factors- neural correlates (brain activity that produces certain responses) can cause some people to be more prone to phobias than others
Social Anxiety disorder
Diagnosis/Symptoms
an intense fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in social situations
Social Anxiety
Disorder
Etiology/Cause
- Genes, Neural circuits involving the thalamus, amygdala & cerebral cortex, and neurotransmitters like seratonin may be involved
- Vulnerabilities like genetic characteristics, overprotective OR rejecting parenting, and learning experiences in a social context
OCD- Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder
Diagnosis/Symptoms
- Anxiety-provoking thoughts that will not go away and/or urges to perform repetitive, ritualistic behaviors to prevent or produce some future situation
- Obsession: anxiety provoking thoughts
- Compulsion: ritualistic behavior to prevent a situation
OCD- Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder
Etiology/Causes
- Brain/body chemistry
- Genetic (but scientists don't know what genes cause it)
- Low serotonin & dopamine levels, high glutamte levels in the brain pathways
PTSD- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Diagnosis/Symptoms
- A disorder that develops through exposure to a traumatic event that overwhelms the person's ability to cope
- Can occur in people who experienced trauma, witness trauma, or even hear about the trauma
- Flashbacks, avoidance of emotional experiences, feelings of anxiety, nervousness, inability to sleep, impulsive behavior, & difficulties w/ memory & concentration
PTSD- Post traumatic stress disorder
Etiology/Cause
- Develops through exposure to a traumatic event, severely oppressive situations, severe abuse, natural/unnatural disasters
- The traumatic event itself can be the cause, but that doesn't mean an event that causes PTSD for one person will cause it for everyone-- some people are more vulnerable to it:
- abuse, psychological disorders, cultural background & genetic predisposition
- Psychological disorders in which there is a primary disturbance in mood- prolonged emotion that colors the individual's entire mood state
- Can feel sad OR happy for no reason at all
What are the 2 types of mood
disorders?
- Depressive disorders
- Bipolar disorder
Depressive Disorder
(mood disorder)
- Individual suffers from depression without ever experiencing mania (happy episodes)
- Unrelenting lack of pleasure in life
- Fairly common
MDD- Major Depressive Disorder
(depressive disorder)
Diagnosis/symptoms
- Indicated by a major depressive episode & depressed characteristics, such as lethargy and hopelessness
- Lasts at least 2 weeks
MDD- Major Depressive
Disorder
(depressive disorder)
Etiology/Causes
- Genetic disposition, underactive prefrontal cortex, regulation of neurotransmitters
- Learned helplessness, negative/self defeating thoughts, pessimistic attribution
- Poverty, gender difference- women
Bipolar Disorder
(mood
disorder)
Diagnosis/Symptoms
- extreme mood swings, including mania
- mania: extreme feelings of euphoria, energy or impulsivity
- Usually separated by 6 months to a year- symptoms of depression happen between mania stages
Bipolar Disorder
(mood disorder)
Etiology/Cause
- Strong genetic component
- Swings in metabolic activity in cerebral cortex
Schizophrenia
diagnosis/symptoms
- Severe psychological thought disorder characterized by highly disordered thoughts
- psychosis- perceptions and thoughts are removed/split
from reality
- typically diagnosed in early adulthood
- high suicide risk
Schizophrenia
Positive Symptoms (added)
- Hallucinations- seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling things that aren't there
- Delusions- false beliefs (grandeur, reference, persecution) *explained on another notecard
Grandeur
(Schizophrenia Delusions)
- "I'm an extremely important person"
- Thinking President Bush had files on him in his office
Reference
(Schizophrenia delusion)
- "World events are caused by my actions"
Persecution
(Schizophrenia delusion)
- "People are out to get me"
Schizophrenia
Negative Symptoms (deficit)
- Flat affect: no facial expressions
- Social withdrawal
Schizophrenia
Etiology/Cause
- genetic predisposition, structural brain abnormalities, regulation of neurotransmitters (excessive dopamine)
- vulnerability- stress
- family can influence how the disorder progresses