Psychological Disorders

1. Beware of “psychology student’s disease” Psychological Disorders

2. Anxiety Disorders • Anxiety – vague feelings of apprehension and nervous Specific Anxiety Disorders: • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)– persistent, unexplained feelings of apprehension and tenseness (must experience at least 3 symptoms of anxiety – pg. 535) • Panic Disorder – sudden episodes of intense, unexplained panic • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – unwanted, repetitive thoughts and actions (obsessions – thoughts; compulsions – actions) – chart page 539

3. Specific Anxiety Disorders (cont.) • Phobia– disruptive, irrational fears • Agoraphobia – fear of having a panic attack in the wrong place or fear of open spaces (usually stay home) • Social phobia– fear of being scrutinized by others, avoid speaking up, eating out, going to parties • Other phobias – triskaidekaphobia (number 13), uxoriphobia (one’s wife), Santa Clautrophobia (getting stuck in chimneys), panaphobia (everything), phobophobia (fear of fear), anthophobia (flowers), trichophobia (hair), numerophobia (numbers); page 537 • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – triggered by stress; reliving a severely upsetting event in unwanted recurring memories and dreams; symptoms include: haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, depression

4. Explanation for Anxiety Disorders • Behaviorism: • Conditioning- can learn to associate certain things w/ anxiety-causing events from past (ex. Baby Albert) • Observational Learning – children can learn fears just from watching their parents • Reinforcement – people gain release from anxiety by avoiding the situation/thing (reinforces that behavior)

5. Explanation for Anxiety Disorders • Biological Factors: • Heredity– predispositions for disorders (identical twins raised in different families have similar phobias) • Brain Function – higher degree of activity in frontal lobes (planning, attention, processing emotion) of people w/ OCD; amygdala (emotions) different in people w/ phobias • Neurotransmitters – OCD linked to low serotonin levels Amygdala

6. Mood Disorders • Major Depressive Disorder – experience at least 2 weeks of depressed moods (pg. 543) & diminished interest in activities for no apparent reason; lack of energy; sleep disturbances; possible suicide risk • Bipolar Disorder – alternate between major depression and mania (unrealistically optimistic, wildly hyper, agitated) Vincent van Gogh Mark Twain

7. Explanations for Mood Disorders • Social-Cognitive Factors: • Learned Helplessness – can produce depression (negative thoughts) & self-fulfilling prophesies • Attributions (Explanatory Style) – depressed people are more likely explain bad events as stable (lasting forever), global (affects everything), internal (my fault) – attributions lead to hopelessness & depression • Culture – depression less common in collectivist cultures – social supports available, feel less responsible for bad events

8. Explanations for Mood Disorders • Biological Factors: • Heredity – Major Depressive Disorder: identical twins - if one has, other has 50 % chance of developing it; only 20 % for fraternal twins; Bipolar (identical twins: 70 percent chance) • Brain Function – Major Depressive Disorder: brain is less active during depression (esp. frontal lobes that are active for positive emotions) but more active in manic states • Neurotransmitters – Major Depressive Disorder connected w/ low levels of serotonin, dopamine, & norepinephrine

9. Dissociative Disorders: General Information • dissociate – to separate or divide • Breakdown in a person’s normal conscious experience (loss of memory or identity) • Believed by some to be an attempt to escape from part of self that one fears (reduce anxiety)

10. Dissociative Disorders • Dissociative amnesia – memory loss (including basic knowledge of self) as a reaction to specific, stressful events (basically amnesia with no physical cause) • Dissociative fugue – extended form of dissociative amnesia; loss of one’s identity is accompanied by travel to a new location • Dissociative identity disorder – person is said to exhibit two or more distinct and alternating personalities that take control at different times; usually suffered sever physical, psychological, or sexual abuse as a child; existence is controversial

11. Dissociative Disorders Debate • Evidence for: distinct brain states associated w/ different personalities, changes in eye-muscle balance, eye color, scars, handedness, and vision • Evidence against: virtually nonexistent outside North America

12. Schizophrenia:General Information • Not one disorder • “Schiz” – break from reality (psychosis) • Inappropriate behaviors & emotions • word salad – nonsense talks • Hallucinations(false perception) – most often auditory, can be visual or tactile • Delusions (false beliefs) of: • grandeur – you are more important than you really are • persecution – people are out to get you • sin or guilt – being responsible for some misfortune • influence– being controlled by outside forces “devil”

13. Schizophrenia Disorders • Paranoid schizophrenia – delusions , particularly grandeur & persecution; auditory & other hallucinations often support the delusions • Catatonic schizophrenia – variations in voluntary movement; alternates between two phases: excitement and stupor (flat emotions & waxy flexibility) • Disorganized schizophrenia – bizarre behavior, delusions, and hallucinations; visibly disturbed • Undifferentiated schizophrenia – symptoms that are disturbed but are not clearly consistent with other types

14. Schizophrenia Explanations Biological Factors: • Genetics: • predisposition – higher rates for people w/ sibling or parent (1 in 10) who has it (1 in 100 in general pop); 1 in 2 if identical twin has it • Brain Structure: • small amounts of brain tissue & larger fluid-filled spaces • thalamus (routes sensory memory) is smaller • Brain Function: • less activity in frontal lobes • 6x normal number of receptor sites for dopamine • Prenatal Viruses: • viral infection during middle of pregnancy (pg. 565)

15. Schizophrenia: Biological Explanations

16. Schizophrenia Explanations Psychological Factors: • Stress & disturbed family communications–may contribute to the development of schizophrenia (for those have a predisposition)

17. Personality Disorders:General Information • Lasting, rigid patterns of behavior that seriously impair one’s social functioning • Usually evident by adolescence • The person often does not recognize the problem exists

18. Personality Disorders(related to anxiety) • Avoidant personalitydisorder – sensitive about being rejected; personal relationships difficult • Dependent personality disorder – behave in clingy, submissive ways & display a strong need to have others take care of them

19. Personality Disorders(odd or eccentric behaviors) • Paranoid personality disorder – shows deep distrust of other people; suspiciousness gets in the way of personal relationships • Schizoid personality disorder – detached from social relationships; hermits; avoid intimate interactions with others

20. Personality Disorders(dramatic or impulsive behaviors) • Borderline personality disorder – instability of emotions, self-image, behavior, and relationships • Antisocial personality disorder – (also known as psychopathic or sociopathic) no concern for the rights or feelings of other people; willing to engage in criminal behavior & shows no remorse; occurs more often in males & develops in adolescence ; often charming & clever; difficult to treat