A b n o r m a l P s y c h o l o g y A.K.A. Psychological Disorders

1. AbnormalPsychologyA.K.A. Psychological Disorders A “harmful dysfunction” in which behavior is judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive and unjustifiable.

2. Psychological Disorder • A “harmful dysfunction” in which behavior is judged to be: • atypical--be unusual to the vast majority of people in that culture • disturbing--varies with time and culture • maladaptive--harmful • unjustifiable--be irrational; not make sense to the average person

3. Early Theories of Psychological Disorders • Afflicted people were possessed by evil spirits. • Movements of sun or moon *lunacy = full moon

4. Early Theories • Music or singing was often used to chase away spirits. • In some cases trephening was used: Cutting a hole in the head of the afflicted to let out the evil spirit

5. Ancient Treatments • Another theory was to make the body extremely uncomfortable • Ancient treatments included: exorcism, caged like animals, beaten, burned, castrated, mutilated, blood replaced with animal’s blood

6. History of Mental Disorders • In the 1800’s, disturbed people were no longer thought of as madmen, but as mentally ill. They were first put in hospitals. Did this mean better treatment?

7. Early Mental Hospitals • They were nothing more than barbaric prisons. • The patients were chained and locked away. • Some hospitals even charged admission for the public to see the “crazies”, just like a zoo.

8. Philippe Pinel • French doctor who was the first to take the chains off and declare that these people are sick and “a cure must be found!!!”

9. Perspectives and Disorders ***Most psychologists do not pick just one perspective for their practice but pick a combination of them; this is called being eclectic.

10. Current Perspectives • Medical Perspective: psychological disorders are sicknesses and can be diagnosed, treated and cured. • concept that diseases have physical causes • assumes that these “mental” illnesses can be diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms and cured through therapy, which may include treatment in a psychiatric hospital

11. Current Perspectives • Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective: assumes biological, psychological and sociocultural factors combine and interact causing psychological disorders Used to be called Diathesis-Stress Model: diathesis meaning predisposition; stress meaning environment

12. Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective:

13. Sane or Insane? • Insane is a legal term to benchmark whether or not a person is capable of committing a crime.  Psychologists almost never use that term (unless they are getting paid a lot of money to testify in court).

14. DSM IV Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: the big book of disorders. DSM will classify disorders and describe the symptoms. DSM will NOT explain the causes or possible cures.

15. Two Major Classifications in the DSM Neurotic Disorders Psychotic Disorders Distressing but one can still function in society and act rationally. Person loses contact with reality, experiences distorted perceptions. John Wayne Gacy

16. Anxiety Disorders a group of conditions where the primary symptoms are anxiety or defenses against anxiety. the patient fears something awful willhappen to them. They are in a state of intense apprehension, uneasiness, uncertainty, or fear.

17. What is anxiety? • is a state of intense apprehension, uneasiness, uncertainty, or fear.

18. Generalized Anxiety DisorderGAD An anxiety disorder in which a person is continuously tense, apprehensive and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal. The patient is constantly tense and worried, feels inadequate, is oversensitive, can’t concentrate and suffers from insomnia.

19. Panic Disorder • An anxiety disorder marked by a minutes-long episode of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking and other frightening sensations. Can cause secondary disorders, such as agoraphobia.

20. Phobias • A person experiences sudden episodes of intense dread • Persistent, irrational fear of a specific object or situation

21. Phobias • Common and uncommon fears

22. Some Unusual Phobias • Ailurophobia - fear of cats • Algobphobia - fear of pain • Anthropophobia - fear of men • Monophobia - fear of being alone • Pyrophobia - fear of fire

23. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder • An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).

24. Common Examples of OCD

25. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

26. Post-traumatic Stress Disordera.k.a. PTSD Flashbacks or nightmares following a person’s involvement in or observation of an extremely stressful event Memories of the even cause anxiety

27. Explanations for Anxiety Disorders • You learn them through conditioning • Evolution • Genes • Physiology (the brain)

28. Somatoform Disorders Occur when a person manifests a psychological problem through a physiological symptom. Two types……

29. Hypochondriasis Has frequent physical complaints for which medical doctors are unable to locate the cause. They usually believe that the minor issues (headache, upset stomach) are indicative of more severe illnesses.

30. Conversion Disorder Report the existence of severe physical problems with no biological reason Many people that suffer from conversion disorder become blind after witnessing a horrible tragedy or paralyzed from the waist down after the death of a loved one.  Pol Pot

31. MoodDisordersExperience extreme or inappropriate emotion

32. Mood Disorders • Psychological Disorders characterized by emotional extremes 1) Major Depressive Disorder * 2) Dysthymic Disorder 3) Seasonal Affective Disorder 4) Bipolar Disorder *

33. Depression • The common cold of psychological disorders It is like a warning that something is wrong

34. Major Depressive Disorder • A person, for no apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks of depressive moods. Includes feelings of worthlessness and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities.

35. Dysthymic Disorder • Suffering from mild depression every day for at least two years This is one mildly depressed sheep!!!  I guess we should try to shear her up (get it?)

36. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) • People that suffer from SAD only experience depression during the winter months.  • It is believed that the lack of sunlight (not temperature) in the winter brings about the depression. • Therapist recommend something called light therapy; using a light that mimics the sun (it is pricey so my advice would be just to move to Florida!)

37. Bipolar Disorder Formally manic depression. Involves periods of depression and manic episodes. Manic episodes involve feelings of high energy (but they tend to differ a lot…some get confident and some get irritable). Engage in risky behavior during the manic episode.

38. Famous People with Bipolar

39. Bipolar Brain Norepinephrine – Increases arousal and boosts mood

40. Dissociative Disorders • Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts and feelings. • Three types….

41. Psychogenic Amnesia A person cannot remember things with no physiological basis for the disruption in memory. Retrograde Amnesia NOT organic amnesia. Organic amnesia can be retrograde or antrograde.

42. Dissociative Amnesia • This disorder is characterized by a blocking out of critical personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature • Dissociative amnesia, unlike other types of amnesia, does NOT result from other medical trauma (e.g. a blow to the head)

43. Dissociative Amnesia • Localized amnesia is present in an individual who has no memory of specific events that took place, usually traumatic. The loss of memory is localized with a specific window of time. For example, a survivor of a car wreck who has no memory of the experience until two days later is experiencing localized amnesia. • Selective amnesia happens when a person can recall only small parts of events that took place in a defined period of time. For example, an abuse victim may recall only some parts of the series of events around the abuse. • Generalized amnesia is diagnosed when a person's amnesia encompasses his or her entire life. • Systematized amnesia is characterized by a loss of memory for a specific category of information. A person with this disorder might, for example, be missing all memories about one specific family member.

44. Dissociative Fugue • An individual with dissociative fugue suddenly and unexpectedly takes physical leave of his or her surroundings and sets off on a journey of some kind • These journeys can last hours, or even several days or months

45. Dissociative Fugue • Individuals experiencing a dissociative fugue have traveled over thousands of miles An individual in a fugue state is unaware of or confused about his identity, and in some cases will assume a new identity (although this is the exception)

46. Depersonalization Disorder • is marked by a feeling of detachment or distance from one's own experience, body, or self. One can easily relate to feeling as they in a dream, or being "spaced out." A person's experience with depersonalization can be so severe that he or she believes the external world is unreal or distorted.

47. Dissociative Identity Disorder • A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. • Also known as Multiple Personality Disorder

48. Schizophrenic Disorders • About 1 in every 100 people are diagnosed with schizophrenia. Symptoms of Schizophrenia • Disorganized thinking. • Disturbed Perceptions • Inappropriate Emotions and Actions

49. DisorganizedThinking • The thinking of a person with Schizophrenia is fragmented and bizarre and distorted with false beliefs • Disorganized thinking comes from a breakdown in selective attention.- they cannot filter out information Often causes………

50. Delusions of Persecution Delusions of Grandeur Delusions (false beliefs)