Abnormal Psychology

1. Abnormal Psychology

2. Psychological Disorders • Patterns of thoughts, feelings or behaviors that are deviant, distressful and dysfunctional • May vary with culture and across time • Exp: 1952 - 1973: Homosexuality was classified as a an illness

3. Are classified by the DSM-IV-TR: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders • Uses a process known as multiaxial diagnosis which includes five axes: • Axis 1: Clinical disorders – depression and anxiety disorers • Axis 2: Personality disorders – antisocial behavior, mental retardation • Axis 3: General medical conditions – diabetes • Axis 4: Psychosocial and environmental problems – death of family member, loss of job • Axis 5: Global assessment of a person’s overall level of functioning from 1 (serious attempt at suicide) to 100 (happy, productive, many interests

5. Theories of Abnormal Behavior • The psychoanalytic perspective • Views mental disorders as the product of intrapsychic conflicts among the id, ego and superego • In order to protect itself, the ego represses psychic conflicts into the unconscious • Conflicts result from unresolved traumatic experiences that took place in childhood • The humanist perspective • Looks to a person’s feelings, self-esteem and self-concept for causes of mental behavior • Believe behavior is the result of choices we make in struggling to find meaning in life

6. Theories of Abnormal Behavior -cont- • The cognitive perspective • Focuses on faulty, illogical and negative ways of thinking • Maladaptive thoughts lead to misperceptions and misinterpretations of events and social interactions • The behavioral perspective • Stresses that abnormal behavior is learned • Focus on how a behavior was reinforced and rewarded • The biological perspective • Many psychological disorders are caused by hormonal or neurotransmitter imbalances, differences in brain structure and inherited predispositions

7. Anxiety Disorders • Characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety • Five Types: • Generalized anxiety disorder - person is unexplainably and continually tense and uneasy • Can lead to chronic fatigue and irritability • Affects twice as many women as men • Panic disorder - person experiences sudden episodes of intense dread or anxiety • Accompanied by pounding heart, rapid breathing, sudden dizziness and lightheadedness

8. Anxiety Disorders -cont- • Five Types -cont- • Phobias - an irrational fear causes a person to avoid some object, activity or situation

9. Top Ten Fears, Men and Women Combined • Fear of snakes • Fear of being buried alive • Fear of heights • Fear of being bound or tied up • Fear of drowning • Fear of public speaking • Fear of hell • Fear of cancer • Fear of tornados • Fear of fire

10. Top 5 Fears of Men Top 5 Fears of Women Top Five Fears of Men and Women • Fear of being buried alive • Fear of heights • Fear of snakes • Fear of drowning • Fear of public speaking • Fear of snakes • Fear of being bound or tied up • Fear of being buried alive • Fear of heights • Fear of public speaking

11. Some Unusual Phobias

12. Anxiety Disorders -cont- • Five Types -cont- • Obsessive-compulsive disorder - characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and /or actions (compulsions) • Obsessive thoughts often lead to compulsive behaviors • Nightline segment

13. Obsessions v. Compulsions • Example: • Obsession: A young woman is continuously terrified by the thought that cars might careen onto the sidewalk and run her over. • Compulsion: She always walks as far from the street pavement as possible and wears red clothes so she will be immediately visible to an out of control car. • Example: • Obsession: A woman cannot rid herself of the thought that she might accidently leave her gas stove turned on, causing her house to explode. • Compulsion: Every day she feels the irresistible urge to check the stove exactly 10 times before leaving for work.

15. Anxiety Disorders -cont- • Five Types -cont- • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety and/or insomnia that last 4+ weeks after a traumatic experience • Can lead to depression, uncontrollable crying, edginess and an inability to concentrate

16. Understanding Anxiety Disorders • Learning perspective • Fear conditioning – use of stimulus generalization and reinforcement • Observational learning – we learn fear by observing the fears of others • Biological perspective • Natural selection – we naturally fear threats faced by our ancestors • Genes – some people seem more predisposed to anxiety than others • The brain

17. Somatoform Disorders • Characterized by physical complaints or conditions which are caused by psychological factors • Hypochondriasis - people interpret normal sensations (headache, stomach cramp) as symptoms of a dreaded disease • Conversion disorder – marked by paralysis, blindness, deafness or other loss of sensation with no discernible physical cause

18. Dissociative Disorders • Disorders in which a person appears to experience a sudden loss of memory or change in identity, often in response to a stressful situation • Person’s conscious awareness is said to “dissociate” (become separated) from painful memories, thoughts and feelings • Dissociative identity disorder - 2+ distinct identities seem to alternately control the person’s behavior • Some question whether this disorder exists • Dissociative amnesia – characterized by partial or total inability to recall past experiences and important information • Usually in response to traumatic events or very stressful situations • Dissociative fugue – characterized by suddenly and inexplicably leaving home and taking on a new identity with no memory of a former life

19. Mood Disorders • General characteristics – serious, persistent disturbances in a person’s emotions • Two forms • Major depressive disorder • At least 5 signs of depression (lethargy, feelings of worthlessness, loss of interest in family, friends and activities) last 2 or more weeks and are not caused by drugs or a medical condition • Bipolar disorder • Alternating between depression and mania - hyperactive, wildly optimistic state

20. Mood Disorders -cont- • Depression • Is accompanied by many behavioral and cognitive changes • Is widespread • Women are more than 2xs as vulnerable than men • Most major episodes self-terminate • Is often preceded by stressful events • Is striking earlier w/each new generation and is affecting more people

22. Common Characteristics of Suicidal People • Unendurable psychological pain • Frustrated psychological needs • Security, achievement, trust, friendship • The search for a solution • An attempt to end consciousness • Helplessness and hopelessness • Constriction of options • See only two alternatives: total solution or total cessations • Ambivalence • Communication of intent • Departure • Lifelong coping patterns • How did person handle problems in the past?

23. Teen Suicide Rates 1960 - 2000

24. Understanding Mood Disorders • The biological perspective • Genetic influence – the heritability of major depression is estimated at 35-40% • The brain – studies have found less activity in the brain during slowed-down depressive states and more activity during periods of mania • Biochemical influences – norepinephrine and serotonin are both reduced during depression • The social-cognitive perspective • Self-defeating beliefs • Negative explanatory style – depressed people tend to explain bad events in terms that are stable, global and internal

25. Schizophrenia • Group of disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions and inappropriate emotions and actions • Characteristic symptoms: • Delusional beliefs – bizarre or farfetched belief that continues in spite of competing contradictory evidence • Hallucinations – false or distorted perception that seems vividly real to the person experiencing it • Disorganized speech and thought – creating artificial words and jumbling words and phrases together • Emotional and behavioral disturbances – range from exaggerated and inappropriate reactions to a flat affect, showing no emotional or facial expressions

26. Incidence of Different Types of Hallucinations of Schizophrenia

27. Schizophrenia -cont- • Affects 1 in 100 people • Typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood • Sometimes develops suddenly • When it develops slowly, recovery is doubtful • Positive symptoms - hallucinations, talking in a disorganized/deluded way, inappropriate laughter, tears or rage • Negative symptoms - toneless voices, expressionless faces, or mute, rigid bodies

28. cardinals and hummingbirds • The wild turkeys brethren we will ingest and digest with words of gratitude and pleasure in a successful year have great import on the futures we invest in for our generations joys and hopes for a brighter world. May the leaders and knowledgeable interpreters of common unconsciousness reap the benefits of revolutionary reassessment of our celebrations of harvests connection to the widespread and definitive collaborations and commitments to communities sanctity and sanity in responding to the woes and difficulties of our time with an eye towards understanding all of our interests in enjoying what short life we have to the fullest and spreading the positive methods and learning happiness that we can arrive at with the love of ancient histories constant lessons to stay true to the past and recall the philosophical lessons a reduction of our routines to some true message of youthful wisdom in health, wellness, fitness, and the true beauties of acknowledging our faults and focusing on the strengths inherent in our often fibrous or moderately tenuous connections to something perpetually reintegrated into new forms for the evolutionarily important innovations of our time

29. Schizophrenia -cont- • Causes • Excess of dopamine in the brain • Abnormal brain activity • Low birth weight/oxygen deprivation during delivery • Maternal viral infection - risk increases if • There was a flu epidemic during fetal development • Born in a densely populated area • Born in the winter/spring months • Mother is sick w/influenza during pregnancy • Genetics • 1/10 chance of schizophrenia among those w/sibling or parent w/disorder • ½ if sibling is an identical twin (6/10 if they shared a placenta)

30. Risk of Developing Schizophrenia

32. Personality Disorders • Disruptive, inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair one’s social functioning • Usually become evident during adolescence or early adulthood • Antisocial personality disorder - exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing • Narcissistic personality disorder - person has a strong need to be admired, large sense of self-importance and demonstrates lack of insight into the feeling of others • Believe they should receive special privileges

34. Percentage of Americans Reporting Selected Psychological Disorders in the Past Year

35. Other Facts • About ½ of Americans will meet the criteria for DSM-IV disorder sometime in their lifetime • By age 75, the lifetime probability of • Anxiety disorder (including phobias) = 32% • Mood disorders (including depression) = 28% • Impulse control disorders = 25% • Alcohol abuse = 15% • Drug abuse = 9% • Median age of onset is much earlier for anxiety (11 yrs) and impulse-control (11 yrs) disorders than for substance abuse (20 yrs) and mood disorders (30 yrs) • ½ of all cases start by 14 yrs and ¾ by 24 yrs • Rates of mental illness have flattened in the past 15 yrs • 41% of those having a disorder went for treatment in the prior year • Up from 25% ten years ago • Younger adults are more likely to seek prompt care