Psychological Disorders

Psychological Disorders Unit 4

What are psychological disorders? Section I

What Are Psychological Disorders? • A man living in the Ozark Mountains has a vision in which God speaks to him. He begins preaching to his relatives and neighbors, and soon he has the whole town in a state of religious fervor. People say he has a “calling.” His reputation as a prophet and healer spreads, and in time he is drawing large audiences everywhere he goes. However, when he ventures into St. Louis and attempts to hold a prayer meeting, blocking traffic on a main street at rush hour, he is arrested. He tells the policemen about his conversations with God, and they hurry him off to the nearest mental hospital.

Defining & Identifying Psychological Disorders • What is normal? (Who defines that?) • Poll Question • Does different mean mental illness? • Certainly a teenager who uses drugs to “fit in” with his friends has problems, right? • How then do we define abnormality?

Deviation From Normality • One approach is to say whatever most people do is normal • Abnormality then becomes deviation from the average or from the majority • It’s normal to shower every day, express grief at thedeath of a loved one, and wear warm clothes whengoing outside in the cold • It then would be abnormal to take 10 showers per day, laugh at the death of a loved one, and wear your bathing suit in the snow • Cultural context of behavior must be considered

Adjustment • Normal people are able to get along in the world • Physically • Emotionally • Socially • Abnormal people then are those who fail to adjust

Psychological Health • “Mental illness or “mental health” imply that psychological disturbance or abnormality is like a physical sickness – such as the flu or tuberculosis • Idea is that there is some “ideal” way for people to function psychologically • Self-Actualization (Maslow & Jung) • These people are at least striving toward ideal functioning • Full acceptance and expression of one’s own individuality and humanness • How can you tell if a person is actualizing themselves? • Abnormal people are mentally ill

Psychological Health • Since definitions of abnormality are somewhat arbitrary, some theorists have concluded that labeling a person as mentally ill simply because his or her behavior is odd is a mistake as well as cruel and irresponsible. • What areas does someone have to adjust to be considered normal? • Physical • Emotional • Social • All of the above

Psychological Health • Thomas Szasz: Mentally ill are not ill at all • They have “problems living” • Szasz says that psychiatrists label patients as sick and sent them off to hospitals with societies norms remaining unchallenged • Argues that patients are the ones that lose by being labeled abnormal and deprived of responsibility for their behavior and dignity as human beings • Szasz is in the minority • Just because it is difficult to define abnormal doesn’t mean it does not exist – what it means is that we have to be careful when judging a person as mentally ill because a person might behave in a way we might not understand

Problem of Classification • People assume that abnormal behavior can be described much like any physical illness • This is difficult • In 1952 the American Psychiatric Association agreed upon a system for classifying abnormal symptoms, which it published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM. • DSM (1952) • DSM II (1968) • DSM III (1987) • DSM IV (1994) • DSM V (2013)

Problem of Classification • New ways of categorizing mental illness: • Essential Features: characteristics that define the disorder • Associated Features: additional features that are usually present • Differential Diagnosis: how to distinguish this disorder from other disorders which it might be confused • Diagnostic Criteria: a list of symptoms taken from the list of essential and associated features, that must be present for the patient to be given a particular diagnostic label

Problem of Classification • 5 major dimensions, or axes, describe a persons mental functioning: • Axis I—used to classify current symptoms into explicitly defined categories. • Axis II—used to describe developmental disorders and long-standing personality disorders or maladaptive traits. • Axis III—used to describe physical disorders or general medical conditions that are potentially relevant to understanding or caring for the person. • Axis IV—used to measure the current stress level at which the person is functioning. • Axis V—used to describe the highest level of adaptive functioning present within the past year.

Adaptive Functioning • Three major areas of adaptive functioning: • Social relations • Occupational functioning • Use of leisure time

Psychological Disorders