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Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal Psychology. Defining Abnormal Behavior. What is abnormal behavior? statistical infrequency e.g. mental retardation personal distress e. g. depression violation of social norms e.g., alcoholism Abnormal behavior is behavior that causes:

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Abnormal Psychology

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  1. Abnormal Psychology

  2. Defining Abnormal Behavior • What is abnormal behavior? • statistical infrequency • e.g. mental retardation • personal distress • e. g. depression • violation of social norms • e.g., alcoholism • Abnormal behavior is behavior that causes: • significant impairment in social or occupational functioning • Significant distress in self or others

  3. Causes of Abnormal Behavior • Biological factors • e.g., neurotransmitters • Psychological factors • e.g. traumatic stressors • Sociocultural factors • e.g. “downward” social drift • An interactive approach: Biopsychosocial

  4. Classifying Abnormal Behavior • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) • Multiaxial system • I: Primary classification • II: Personality disorders • III: General medical conditions • IV: Psychosocial stressors • V: Current level of functioning

  5. Categories of Mental Disorders • Anxiety disorders • Psychological disorders that include the following main features: • Excessive fear (out of proportion to the feared stimulus) • Phsical symptoms (e.g. racing heart, sweatiness) • Apprehensive expectations and thoughts

  6. Anxiety Disorders • Generalized anxiety disorder • Consists of persistent anxiety for at least a month • Individual is unable to specify the reasons for the anxiety • Panic disorder • Panic attacks coupled with at least one month of worry about having another panic attack

  7. Anxiety Disorders • Agoraphobia • Individuals often lead very restricted lives- not leaving the house at all. • characterized by an intense fear of: • Having a panic attack and being humiliated or unable to find help

  8. Anxiety Disorders • Phobic disorder • Individual has irrational, overwhelming, persistent fear of a particular object or situation • Social phobia • Intense fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in social situations

  9. Anxiety Disorders • Obsessive-compulsive disorder • Individual has recurrent unwanted thoughts that will not go away (obsession) and/or urges to perform repetitive, ritualistic behaviors (compulsion) • Common themes are contamination or doubting

  10. Anxiety Disorders • Post-traumatic stress disorder • Develops through exposure to an extremely traumatic event • Anxiety symptoms may immediately follow the trauma or be delayed for many years

  11. Dissociative Disorders • Dissociative disorders • Involve a sudden loss of memory or change in identity • Dissociative amnesia • Memory loss caused by extensive psychological stress

  12. Dissociative Disorders • Dissociative fugue • Individual not only develops amnesia, but also unexpectedly travels away from home and assumes a new identity • Dissociative identity disorder • Formerly called multiple personality disorder • Individuals have two or more distinct personalities or selves

  13. Mood Disorders • Major depressive disorder • Individual experiences depressed characteristics for at least two weeks • Symptoms are: • Cognitive • Emotional • somatic • Dysthymic disorder • More chronic than major depressive disorders and has fewer symptoms.

  14. Mood Disorders • Bipolar disorder • A mood disorder characterized by extreme mood swings that include one or more episodes of mania • Euphoria • Excitability and hyperactivity • Person may experience depression and mania

  15. Causes of Mood Disorders • Biological causes • Heredity and brain processes • Psychological causes • Learned helplessness • occurs when individuals are exposed to aversive stimulation, such as prolonged stress or pain, over which they have no control

  16. Schizophrenia • Schizophrenia • A severe psychological disorder characterized by: • Disturbances in affect • e.g. flat or inappropriate • Disturbances in speech and behavior • e.g. formal thought disorder • Distortions in cognition • e.g., delusions and hallucinations

  17. Types of Schizophrenia • Disorganized schizophrenia • Individual has delusions and hallucinations that have little or no recognizable meaning • Catatonic schizophrenia • Most prominent characteristic is disturbances in motor behavior • e.g. catatonic rigidity

  18. Types of Schizophrenia • Paranoid schizophrenia • Characterized by delusions of reference, grandeur, and persecution • Undifferentiated schizophrenia • Characterized by disorganized behavior, hallucinations, delusions, and incoherence

  19. Causes of Schizophrenia • Biological factors • Heredity and neurobiological factors • The dopamine hypothesis • Psychosocial factors • Diathesis-stress view • A combination of biogenetic disposition and stress causes schizophrenia

  20. Personality Disorders • Personality disorders • Chronic, maladaptive cognitive-behavioral patterns that are thoroughly integrated into the individual’s personality

  21. Odd/Eccentric Cluster • Paranoid • Schizoid • Schizotypal

  22. Dramatic/Emotionally Problematic Cluster • Histrionic • Narcissistic • Antisocial • Borderline

  23. Chronic Fearfulness/Avoidant Cluster • Avoidant • Dependent • Obsessive-compulsive • Passive-aggressive

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