Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal Psychology

Perspectives on Mental Illness • Biological- many biological factors affect mental health • Genetics, chemical imbalance, brain structure, injuries to the brain, certain infections • Research in this area focuses on identifying and treating chemical imbalances • Depression, schizophrenia, and other psychological disorders • Psychodynamic- look an individuals unconscious for the cause of psychological disorders • Talk therapy helps patients explore events and relationships over the course of their lives that may have shaped their attitudes towards others, towards themselves, and towards the world

Perspectives on Mental Illness • Behavioral- stress that life experiences condition us to respond to events or situations in a particular way • Disorders are a result of faulty learning • Children learn maladaptive ways of coping with life stresses • Behavioral therapy helps individuals “unlearn” faulty behaviors • Phobias or fears • Cognitive- psychological disorders arise from faulty thoughts- “no one likes me” • He/she becomes convinced its true that they begin to misinterpret how people react to them and behave defensively and in turn people do respond negatively • May avoid interpersonal contact or develop depression

Perspectives on Mental Illness • Humanistic- each person has within himself/herself the potential for personal fulfillment but environmental forces are in play as well • People find their goals or desires in conflict with those of their families or society • Disorders arise because individuals adopt standards and values that conflict with their true feelings

Classifying Mental Illness • Psychologists assess mental health by considering 5 aspects: • Psychological disorders • Personality disorders and mental retardation • Medical conditions • Social stress in the individual’s environment • An individuals overall level of functioning • Most classify disorder by its symptoms according the the DSM-5

Anxiety Disorders • Anxiety- feeling of apprehension that danger or misfortune is looming, accompanied by physical symptoms • Rapid heart rate • Increased perspiration • Nausea • Dizziness • Anxiety disorders are among the most common disorders affecting nearly 10-15% of US population in any year

Anxiety Disorders • Phobic Disorders- an inappropriate fear of an object or situation • Most people have mild phobias but some can be so overwhelmed that it interferes with their lived • Agoraphobia- fear of public places • Affects about 3-6% • Often linked with panic disorder • Thought to be learned responses to life experiences • Young child bitten by a dog may develop fear of all dogs

Anxiety Disorders • Generalized Anxiety Disorder-person suffers from unfocused, persistent anxiety and physiological symptoms • May worry about a few areas of life or about everything from school to finances to relationships • May seek to reduce anxiety by turning to alcohol or other anxiety reducing drugs • Seems to run in families but it’s not clear whether heredity or family environment and learning plays a role

Anxiety Disorders • Panic Disorders- panic attacks are short but overwhelming bouts of anxiety that occur without warning • May include hear palpitations, dizziness, nausea, fears of dying or going crazy • Quick onset and peak at 10 mins • More people seek help for this than any other • Sufferers may inherit a vulnerability to stress and may tend toward “catastrophic” thinking • Early childhood experiences may also play a part

Anxiety Disorders • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder- a response to a harrowing experience (natural disaster, military combat, rape, etc.) • Flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbness, depression, survivor’s guilt • May lose contact with reality and relive sights and sounds of the traumatic event • May avoid places and people that remind them of the event • Not everyone reacts to events the same- people have biological and psychological predispositions for the disorder

Anxiety Disorders • Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder- • Obsessions are recurring, unwanted thoughts • Compulsions are repetitive, ritualized behaviors • People with OCD have obsessions and compulsions that are so extreme, they disrupt everyday life. Can also include anxiety • May be caused by abnormal brain chemistry that causes sufferers to endlessly repeat activities • Most believe there is a psychological cause-people develop obsessions and compulsions as maladaptive ways to relieve anxiety, guilt or insecurity

Somatoform Disorders • Physical symptoms arise from psychological causes • Suffers from physical symptoms even though he or she has nothing physically wrong

Somatoform Disorders • Conversion Disorder- Not faking symptoms but there is no physical explanation of the symptoms • Paralysis, blindness, loss of feeling or sense of pain, tingling sensations, seizures, loss of speech, lack of concern • Symptoms can mimic real physical disorders • The sufferer “converts” a psychological trauma into a physical one • Usually triggered by a traumatic event but genetics are also involved

Somatoform Disorders • Hypochondriasis- individual has no physical dysfunction but is preoccupied with the state of his/her health • Sufferers tend to focus on normal variations in bodily functions as a sign of serious illness • Headache= brain tumor • Some researchers attribute it to excessive attention a child received when sick • Cognitive psychologists blame the disorder on an extreme fear of disease

Dissociative Disorders • Sufferers escape from painful problems or situations by cutting themselves off from certain parts of themselves • Dissociations may happen suddenly or gradually, may be temporary or long-lasting

Dissociative Disorders • Amnesia- memory disturbance- inability to recall certain events or even one’s identity • Psychological stress may cause • Localized amnesia- can’t recall a traumatic event like rape • Selective amnesia- can’t remember certain details of a traumatic event • Generalized amnesia- can’t recall the details of his/her life • Continuous amnesia- memories stop at a certain event, and can’t recall anything that has happened since • Caused by a traumatic events- developed to repress painful memories

Dissociative Disorders • Dissociative Fugue- person forgets who they are and all details of their lives • Typically the condition doesn’t last long and when it ends the person may not recall what happened during that time period • Psychologists believe fugue occur as a result of serious, unresolved problems

Dissociative Disorders • Dissociative Identity Disorder- sometimes called “multiple personality disorder” • Individual has 2 or more identities or personalities that alternate control of his/her consciousness and behavior and is unable to recall a quantity of personal information • Different personalities actually control the sufferer at different times • May include male and females, adults and children, timid and aggressive, etc. • Some personalities may seem at war with others • Personalities may have different names, memories and histories • Thought to result from severe and chronic child abuse • Child creates another personality to protect himself or herself • More frequently diagnosed in women • Men average 8 personalities, women average 15

Affective Disorders • Also called a mood disorder • Sufferers experience moods so extreme that they interfere with his or her emotional life and daily activities • Moods may be unrelated to the surrounding circumstances

Affective Disorders • Dysthymic Disorder- moderate depression “low spirits” that lasts a long time • General unhappiness, low self-esteem, difficulty concentrating, little energy, loss of interest in usual activities • Not classified as this until symptoms last for at least 2 years • May experience bouts of major depression • Causes by a combination of genetics and psychological stress

Affective Disorders • Major Depression- may not last as long as dysthymic disorder by symptoms can be devastating • Feeling hopeless and worthless, withdraw from all social interactions, experience a pronounced change in eating or sleeping patterns, lack energy to carry out even simple tasks, lose interest in most activities • Can lead to substance abuse, suicide • 10-25% of American women and 5-12% of men will experience it at some point in their lives • Often goes undiagnosed or untreated • Probably has both biological and psychological causes • Stressful life experiences may trigger episodes in people who are already genetically predisposed to depression

Affective Disorders • Bipolar Disorder- sufferer’s mood alternates between depression and mania • In depressive state- symptoms of major depression; in manic state- euphoria and extraordinarily energetic • Unipolar- mania or depression that occurs by itself

Psychotic Disorders • The most debilitating group of psychological disorders • Sufferers lose contact with reality • May experience hallucinations- auditory are most common- or delusions (unshakable beliefs that are obviously not true) • May have coherent periods between episodes

Psychotic Disorders • Schizophrenia- Sufferers can often be out of touch with reality to the extent that they are unable to care for themselves • Symptoms that have bizarre or exaggerated distortions are called positive symptoms • Hallucinations, delusions, language anomalies, extreme agitation and bizarre body posture • Negative symptoms are those that seem to be a diminished reflection of normal life • Flat emotions, general malajustment • May have trouble communicating, stringing together words by sound or association rather than meaning • Thoughts may shift continuously from one thing to another • Seems to have a genetic component but also abnormal brain chemistry or severe family disturbance

Psychotic Disorders • Types of schizophrenia: • Disorganized- most severe form- causes the sufferer’s thought process and language to be disturbed and incoherent • Might act in bizarre and obscene ways • Catatonic- involves disturbances of movement- may pace nervously or remain frozen in odd positions for hours • Paranoid- involves having delusions or persecution- may think people are trying to kill them or that they are victims of vast conspiracies • May also have delusions that they are famous or historical figures • Undifferentiated- symptoms are mixed and don’t clearly fall into one of the other categories

Psychotic Disorders • Delusional Disorder- having strongly held beliefs that are not true • Not bizarre like those of schizophrenics • Center around things that could actually happen • Spied on, loved from afar, etc. • Don’t usually have hallucinations but if they do they are related to the theme of the delusion • Some sufferers are able to function relatively well in jobs and social lives, while others can’t • Little known of the cause, some psychologists believe its cause by childhood experiences

Personality Disorders • Describe long-standing, maladaptive personality traits that are usually more disturbing to other people than to the individual • May involve extreme self-centeredness or antisocial, highly dramatic, reclusive, dependent, or perfectionist behavior

Personality Disorders • Antisocial Personality Disorder- identified in 1837 and described as “moral insanity” • Sometimes called psychopath or sociopath- harm others and shows no remorse • 7 telltale traits: lack of emotions, lack of conscience, ability to charm, no strong motive for committing acts, inability to learn from experience, inability to retain relationships, indifference to punishment • Genetic and physiological factors may help bring on the disorder but family relationships and early learning experiences play important part • Alcoholism, abuse or neglect

Personality Disorders • Borderline Personality Disorder- can be difficult to recognize because it shares traits with other disorders • Emotionally needy and may harm him-or herself or threaten suicide to manipulate people • Must have at least 5 of these symptoms: • Intense fear of abandonment • Unstable and intense interpersonal relationships • Unstable self image • Self damaging emotional behavior • Self damaging physical behavior • Fits of uncontrollable anger • Dissociative symptoms • Chronic feelings of emptiness • Seems to run in the family- either genetic or learned behavior

Disorders of Childhood • Psychologists classify psychological disorders that appear in childhood separately from those that start in adulthood because of the emotional, cognitive and developmental differences between children and adults

Disorders of Childhood • Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-marked by inattention, physical hyperactivity, and impulsiveness • Easily distracted and hop from activity to activity • Little self control and can be disruptive • Symptoms must be extreme enough to interfere with some aspects of life • Seems to have a genetic basis but may also be related to brain chemistry, the nervous system, or difficulties in pregnancy or delivery

Disorders of Childhood • Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abnormal Psychology