Perspectives on the Causes of Mental Disorders

1. Perspectives on the Causes of Mental Disorders • Psychodynamic • Results from intrapsychic conflict and ineffective defense mechanisms • Medical • Caused by abnormalities of brain & nervous system • Cognitive-Behavioral • Due to learning and/or faulty beliefs • Humanistic • Being overly sensitive to the expectations & criticisms of others • Sociocultural • Mismatch between behavior & expectations of culture • Diathesis-Stress Model • Genetic predispositions triggered by stress that exceeds coping ability

2. Classification of Mental Disorders • The DSM-IV • How are diagnoses done? • The clinical approach: Based upon experience of therapist • The actuarial approach: Applying statistical rules based on research • Research shows actuarial approach to be superior

3. Types of Psychological Disorders • Psychoses • Severely Disordered Thinking • Delusional • Person may be unaware that anything is wrong • Neuroses • People are anxious, fearful, unhappy, depressed • Behavioral/Perceptual Strategies no longer work well • Person knows that something is wrong • Mood Disorders • Miscellaneous Disorders

4. Psychoses (Schizophrenia) • Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia • Thought Disorders • Loose associations; word salads; clang associations • Excessively concrete thinking • Hallucinations (Usually auditory) • Delusions • Persecution • Grandeur • Somatic • Control • Reference • Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia • Flattened, blunted emotions; apathetic • Poverty of speech • Social Withdrawal • Lack of Initiative • Inability to experience pleasure

5. Classification of Schizophrenia • Catatonic • Catatonic postures; Waxy Flexibility • Alternates with repetitive activity • Paranoid • Delusions of persecution & grandeur • Disorganized • Progressive, irreversible disturbances of thought • Undifferentiated • Pattern of symptoms change; a little bit of everything

6. Causes of Schizophrenia • There have been a variety of different theoretical explanations over time, but it has a clear biological basis • A Biological predisposition activated by stress • Positive symptoms seem to be the result of the overproduction of Dopamine (Can be treated by Chlorpromazine [brand name = Thorazine]) • Negative symptoms appear to be due to an actual loss of brain tissue • Evidence indicates a genetic link • Neurodevelopmental hypothesis: • Nervous system impairments that develop around the time of birth (not necessarily genetic) • (e.g., People in North born in winter are at greater risk)

7. Neuroses • Anxiety Disorders • Generalized Anxiety Disorder • Panic Disorder • Attacks of terror (may last seconds or hours) • Often afraid that they are dying or going crazy • Hyperventilation • More common in women • Phobic Disorders • Agoraphobia • Social Phobias • Specific Phobias • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders • Somatoform Disorders • Dissociative Disorders

8. Neuroses • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders • Obsession (thought) leads to compulsion (behavior) • Obsessions center on doubts/uncertainty or fear of doing something prohibited • Common categories: counting, checking, cleaning, avoidance • Somatoform Disorders • Physical symptoms without apparent cause • Somatization Disorder: Pain, heart symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms • Conversion Disorder: Blindness, deafness, loss of felling, paralysis. • Often occurs in response to an event • Dissociative Disorders • Dissociative Amnesia • Dissociative Fugue State (Fugue State) • Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) (Multiple personality Disorder)

9. Mood Disorders • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) • Overeating, oversleeping, lethargy • Bipolar Disorder • Alternating Mania & Depression • Severe Depression • Sad, apathetic mood • Feelings of worthlessness/hopelessness • Social Withdrawal • Sleeplessness, loss of appetite & sexual desire • Change in activity level • In extreme cases there may be delusions • CAUSES: Faulty cognitions; internal attributions for negative things; genetic predisposition • TREATMENT: ECS; Lithium Carbonate (Bipolar); Anti-depressants; Cognitive Therapy

10. Miscellaneous Disorders • Substance Abuse Disorders (More common in men) • Impulse Control Disorders • Intense drive; behaviors reduce tension • Gambling, Pyromania, Kleptomania • Psychosexual Disorders • Gender Identity Issues (Transexualism, Transvestism) • Paraphilias • Sexual Dysfunction • Personality Disorders • Narcissism • Anti-Social Personality (Psychopath, Sociopath)

11. Types of Psychotherapy • Insight Therapies • Psychoanalysis • Person-Centered Therapy (Humanistic) • Existential Therapy • Gestalt Therapy • Behavior Therapies • Systematic Desensitization • Aversion Therapy • Implosive Therapy/Flooding • Behavior Modification • Cognitive-Behavior Therapies • Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET) • Beck’s Cognitive Therapy for Depression • Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

12. Types of Psychotherapy • Somatic/Biological Therapy • Psychosurgery • Electroconvulsive Therapy • Psychopharmacology • Group Therapy

13. Does Psychotherapy Work?

14. Professionals Involved in Therapy

15. A History of Treating Mental Disorders