Abnormal Psychology A.K.A.  Psychological  Disorders  

A  “harmful  dysfunc/on”  in  which  behavior  is  judged  to  be  atypical,  deviant,  distressful,  and  

disfunc/onal.    

Early  Theories  

•  Abnormal  behavior  was  evil  spirits  trying  to  get  out.  

•  Trephining  was  o>en  used.  

Perspec/ves  and  Disorders  Psychological    School/Perspec1ve   Cause  of  the  Disorder  

Psychoanaly/c/Psychodynamic   Internal,  unconscious  drives  

Humanis/c   Failure  to  strive  to  one’s  poten/al  or  being  out  of  touch  with  one’s  feelings.  

Behavioral   Reinforcement  history,  the  environment.  

Cogni/ve   Irra/onal,  dysfunc/onal  thoughts  or  ways  of  thinking.  

Sociocultural   Dysfunc/onal  Society  

Biomedical/Neuroscience   Organic  problems,  biochemical  imbalances,  gene/c  predisposi/ons.  

DSM  IV  •  Diagnos1c  Sta1s1cal  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.  

Two  Major  Classifica/ons  in  the  DSM  

Neuro1c  Disorders  •  Distressing  but  one  can  s/ll  

func/on  in  society  and  act  ra/onally.  

Psycho1c  Disorders  •  Person  loses  contact  with  

reality,  experiences  distorted  percep/ons.  

John  Wayne  Gacy  

Anxiety  Disorders  •  a  group  of  condi/ons  

where  the  primary  symptoms  are  anxiety  or  defenses  against  anxiety.  

•  the  pa/ent  fears  something  awful  will  happen  to  them.  

•  They  are  in  a  state  of  intense  apprehension,  uneasiness,  uncertainty,  or  fear.      

Phobias  •  A  person  experiences  sudden  episodes  of  intense  dread.  

•  Must  be  an  irra/onal  fear.  •  Phobia  List  •  Agoraphobia  

Top  10  Fears  Women    

•  snakes    •  Tied  up  •  Buried  alive  •  Heights  •  Public  speaking    

Men  

•  Buried  alive  •  Heights  •  Snakes  •  Drowning  •  Public  speaking    

Generalized  Anxiety  Disorder  GAD  

•  An  anxiety  disorder  in  which  a  person  is  con/nuously  tense,  apprehensive  and  in  a  state  of  autonomic  nervous  system  arousal.  

•  The  pa/ent  is  constantly  tense  and  worried,  feels  inadequate,  is  oversensi/ve,  can’t  concentrate  and  suffers  from  insomnia.    

•  Anxiety  in  Children  

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  sensa/ons.  

•  Video  

Obsessive-­‐compulsive  disorder  •  Persistent  unwanted  

thoughts  (obsessions)  cause  someone  to  feel  the  need  (compulsion)  to  engage  in  a  par/cular  ac/on.  

•  Obsession  about  dirt  and  germs  may  lead  to  compulsive  hand  washing.  

•  OCD  video  •  As  OCD  as  it  gets  •  Stuck  in  a  Doorway  

Post-­‐trauma/c  Stress  Disorder  a.k.a.  PTSD  

•  Flashbacks  or  nightmares  following  a  person’s  involvement  in  or  observa/on  of  an  extremely  stressful  event.  

•  Memories  of  the  even  cause  anxiety.  

•  PTSD  video  

Somatoform  Disorders  

•  Occur  when  a  person  manifests  a  psychological  problem  through  a  physiological  symptom.  

•  Two  types……  

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  indica/ve  are  more  severe  illnesses.  

Conversion  Disorder  •  Report  the  existence  of  severe  physical  problems    with  no  biological  reason.  

•  Like  blindness  or  paralysis.  •  Band  of  Brothers  example  •  Leroy,  NY  example  •  Leroy,  NY  example  analysis  

Pol  Pot  

Dissocia/ve  Disorders  

•  These  disorders  involve  a  disrup/on  in  the  conscious  process.  

•  Three  types….  

Psychogenic  Amnesia  •  A  person  cannot  remember  things  with  no  physiological  basis  for  the  disrup/on  in  memory.  

•  Retrograde  Amnesia  •  NOT  organic  amnesia.  •  Organic  amnesia  can  be  retrograde  or  antrograde.  

Dissocia/ve  Fugue  People  with  psychogenic  amnesia  that  find  themselves  in  an  unfamiliar  environment.  David  Fitzpatrick  from  London  Edward  Lighthart  from  Sea_le      

Dissocia/ve  Iden/ty  Disorder  •  Used  to  be  known  as  

Mul/ple  Personality  Disorder.  

•  A  person  has  several  rather  than  one  integrated  personality.  

•  People  with  DID  commonly  have  a  history  of  childhood  abuse  or  trauma.  

•  Herschel  Walker  

Mood  Disorders  •  Experience  extreme  or  inappropriate  emo/on.  

Major  Depression  •  A.K.A.  unipolar  depression  •  Unhappy  for  at  least  two  weeks  with  no  apparent  cause.  

•  Depression  is  the  common  cold  of  psychological  disorders.  

Explanatory  Style  •  Stable/Unstable    •  Global/Specific  •  Internal/External    

Seasonal  Affec/ve  Disorder  

•  Experience  depression  during  the  winter  months.  

•  Based  not  on  temperature,  but  on  amount  of  sunlight.  

•  Treated  with  light  therapy.  

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.  

•  Video  

Personality  Disorders  

•  Well-­‐established,  maladap/ve  ways  of  behaving  that  nega/vely  affect  people’s  ability  to  func/on.  

•  Dominates  their  personality.  

An/social  Personality  Disorder  •  Lack  of  empathy.  •  Li_le  regard  for  other’s  feelings.  

•  View  the  world  as  hos/le  and  look  out  for  themselves.  

•  Ex:  The  Joker  •  Psychopaths  usually  have  no  guilt  or  

remorse  and  tend  to  be  self-­‐centered.  However,  the  term  itself  is  not  listed  in  the  (DSM)  so  it  technically  isn't  considered  a  mental  health  disorder.  Psychopathy  does  tend  to  be  closely  related  to  an/social  personality  disorder,  which  is  a  listed  condi/on.  

Dependent  Personality  Disorder  •  Rely  too  much  on  the  

a_en/on  and  help  of  others.  

•  People  with  this  disorder  do  not  trust  their  own  ability  to  make  decisions.    

•  They  may  be  very  upset  by  separa/on  and  loss.    

•  They  may  go  to  great  lengths,  even  suffering  abuse,  to  stay  in  a  rela/onship  

Borderline  Personality  Disorder    •  o>en  have  difficul/es  controlling  emo/ons  and  impulses  •  find  it  hard  to  keep  rela/onships  •  experience  feelings  of  emp/ness  •  suffer  quick  changes  in  mood    •  may  harm  themselves  •  Problems  coping  with  abandonment  and  a  rapidly  

changing  view  of  other  people  can  form  part  of  their  difficul/es  

•  find  it  hard  to  engage  in  or  s/ck  with  treatment  and  leave  before  the  end  

•  Overview  

Histrionic  Personality  Disorder  

•  Needs  to  be  the  center  of  a_en/on.  

•  Whether  ac/ng  silly  or  dressing  provoca/vely.  

Narcissis/c  Personality  Disorder  

•  Having  an  unwarranted  sense  of  self-­‐importance.  

•  Thinking  that  you  are  the  center  of  the  universe.  

Obsessive  –  Compulsive  Personality  Disorder  

•  Overly  concerned  with  certain  thoughts  and  performing  certain  behaviors.  

•  Not  as  extreme  as  OCD  anxiety.  

Schizophrenic  Disorders  

•  About  1  in  every  100  people  are  diagnosed  with  schizophrenia.  

Symptoms  of  Schizophrenia  1.  Disorganized  thinking.  2.  Disturbed  Percep/ons  3.  Inappropriate  Emo/ons  

and  Ac/ons  Schizophrenia  Overview  

Disorganized  Thinking  •  The  thinking  of  a  person  with  Schizophrenia  is  fragmented  and  bizarre  and  distorted  with  false  beliefs.  

•  Disorganized  thinking  comes  from  a  breakdown  in  selec/ve  a_en/on.-­‐  they  cannot  filter  out  informa/on.  

•  Schizophrenic  Alice  

Delusions  (false  beliefs)  

•  Delusions  of  Persecu1on  

•  Delusions  of  Grandeur  

Disturbed  Percep1ons  

•  hallucina1ons-­‐  sensory  experiences  without  sensory  s/mula/on.    

Inappropriate  Emo1ons  and  Ac1ons  

•  Laugh  at  inappropriate  /mes.  

•  Flat  Effect    •  Senseless,  compulsive  acts.  

•  Catatonia-­‐  mo/onless  Waxy  Flexibility  

Posi4ve  v.  Nega4ve  Symptoms  

Posi1ve  Symptoms  • Presence  of  inappropriate  symptoms  

Nega1ve  Symptoms  • Absence  of  appropriate  ones.  

Types  of  Schizophrenia  

Disorganized  Schizophrenia  •  disorganized  speech  or  

behavior,  or  flat  or  inappropriate  emo/on.  

•  Clang  associa/ons    •  "Imagine  the  worst  

Systema/c,  sympathe/c  Quite  pathe/c,  apologe/c,  paramedic  Your  heart  is  prosthe/c"      

Paranoid  Schizophrenia  

•  preoccupa/on  with  delusions  or  hallucina/ons.    

•  Somebody  is  out  to  get  me!!!!  

Catatonic  Schizophrenia  

•  Flat  effect  •  Waxy  Flexibility  •  parrot  like  repea/ng  of  another’s  speech  and  movements    

Undifferen/ated  Schizophrenia  •  Many  and  varied  Symptoms.  

Other  Disorders  

•  Paraphilias  (pedophilia,  zoophilia,  hybristophilia)  

•  Fe/shism    •  sadist,  masochist  •  Ea/ng  Disorders  •  Substance  use  disorders  •  ADHD  

The  Rosenhan  Study  •  Rosenhan’s  associates  were  Malingering  symptoms  of  hearing  voices.  

•  They  were  ALL  admi_ed  for  schizophrenia.  

•  None  were  exposed  as  imposters.  •  They  all  le>  diagnosed  with  schizophrenia  in  remission.  

•  What  are  some  of  the  ques/ons  raised  by  this  study?