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Understanding Mental Disorders and Abnormal Behavior

Explore the differences between abnormal behavior and psychological disorders, including ADHD, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and personality disorders with an overview of diagnostic terms and prevalence rates.

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Understanding Mental Disorders and Abnormal Behavior

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  1. Chapter 17 Abnormal Psychology

  2. Abnormal Behavior versus Psychological Disorders • Abnormal behavior is defined by culture. • Psychological disorders are defined by psychologists and psychiatrists (in Western culture).

  3. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) • Characterized by inattention, overactivity, and impulsivity • Diagnosed in school-aged children, mostly male • 15 percent of school-aged population in the United States have been diagnosed • Increasing numbers of children diagnosed with ADHD may be a reflection of changing social expectations, rather than an increase in the frequency of this neurological condition

  4. Prevalence of Mental Disorders • One in every five people living in the United States • If chemical dependencies are included, the figure increases to about 1 out of 3

  5. The Medical versus the Psychological Model • Medical model • Disordered thoughts and behavior are the result of a diseased or otherwise malfunctioning brain • Psychological model • An individual's past and present life experiences cause and maintain a psychological disorder

  6. Organic versus Functional Disorders • Organic mental disorders • Mental disorders that are caused by brain dysfunction • Example: general paresis • Freud's "psychosis” • Functional mental disorders • The brain appears to be normal • Example: depression • Freud's "neurosis”

  7. Standardizationof Diagnostic Terms • Psychiatrists and psychologists created the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders • Published by the American Psychiatric Association • Revised version DSM-IV published in 1994 • Recognizes over 200 different forms of mental disorder • Arranged in 17 categories

  8. The Five Axes of the DSM-IV

  9. The Frequency of Major Mental Disorders in the United States • As a group, anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness in the United States. • Depression is the most common single disorder.

  10. Four Types of Anxiety Disorders • Phobic disorder - an anxiety disorder characterized by a persistent, inappropriate fear of an object or situation • Generalized anxiety disorder - a mental disorder that is characterized by a persistent, inappropriate anxiety for which there is no apparent cause • Panic disorder - a disorder characterized by recurring rushes of paralyzing anxiety that may last for several minutes • Obsessive-compulsive disorder - a disorder characterized by obsessions and compulsions

  11. The Prevalence of Phobias • The most common simple phobias are a paralyzing fear of snakes, insects, and other small, moving life forms • Many people also have social phobias and agoraphobia

  12. The Prevalence of Phobias

  13. Common Obsessive Thoughtsand Compulsions • OCD is characterized by obsessions (persistent, uncontrollable thoughts) and compulsions (ritualized behaviors) • Individuals with OCD typically have more than one obsession and follow multiple rituals

  14. Somatoform Disorders • Hypochondriasis • Somatization disorders • Conversion disorders

  15. Glove Anesthesia

  16. Subtypes of Dissociative Disorders • Dissociative fugue • Dissociative amnesia • Depersonalization disorder • Dissociative identity disorder

  17. Distinguishing Featuresof Clinical Depression • There are five ways in which clinical depression differs from lesser forms • Twice as many women as men are diagnosed with this disorder

  18. Ten Facts About Suicide

  19. The Adaptiveness of Mood Disorders • Some people may be genetically predisposed to mental illness • Sadness and depression may be adaptive in signaling the need for change

  20. Symptoms of Schizophrenia • Incoherent thinking • Delusions • Hallucinations • A deterioration of adaptive behavior • Disturbance of affect

  21. Types of Schizophrenia • Disorganized type • characterized by incoherent thought patterns • Paranoid type • characterized by thoughts of persecution or grandiose thinking • Catatonic type • characterized by muscular rigidity accompanied by lack of responsiveness

  22. Causes of Schizophrenia • Genetic factors • If one identical twin is schizophrenic, the other has a 50 percent chance of developing this disorder • Physiological factors • The dopamine hypothesis is based on the fact that schizophrenic symptoms diminish with drugs that block certain dopamine receptors, and that amphetamine stimulates dopamine receptors, producing schizophrenia-like symptoms • Environmental factors • Certain environmental factors seem to trigger schizophrenic symptoms, as predicted by the diathesis-stress model • EE studies indicate that schizophrenic patients returning home from an institution have higher relapse rates than others when family members express negativity toward them

  23. Categories of Personality Disorders

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