Psychological Disorders

1. Psychological Disorders Chapter 16

2. Perspectives on Psychological Disorders

3. Defining Psychological Disorders A harmful dysfunction; abnormal behavior Atypical, maladaptive, disturbing and unjustifiable What is abnormal? Standards of acceptability vary by culture Infrequent or unusual Violates a societal or cultural norm Personal suffering-if individual is experiencing distress Maladaptive-distressing or disabling enough to be put at risk for suffering or death Rationally unjustifiable

4. Understanding Psychological Disorders The Medical Perspective Biological factors-physical illnesses, disruptions and/or imbalances in the bodily processes thought to be involved in causing mental disorders Medical model of psychopathy which dates back to Hippocrates and ancient China Gave rise to concept of abnormality as a mental illness Medical model now called the neurobiological model because it explains psychological disorders in terms of particular disturbances in the anatomy and chemistry in the brain and other biological processes.

5. Understanding Psychological Disorders cont. Neurobiologists treat these diseases as if there were an underlying illness that can be diagnosed, treated and cured Biological factors have been proven to play a large role in psychological disorders

6. Understanding Psychological Disorders cont. The Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective All behavior arises from interaction b/t nature and nurture experiences Depression, schizophrenia, anorexia Genetic predisposition and psychological states influence mental disorders Idea that mind and body are inseparable

7. Classifying Psychological Disorders 1952: APA published the DSM-IV What is it and what is it�s purpose? Outside North America, ICD-10 is used To facilitate international communication about and cross-cultural research in psychopathology, DSM-IV compatible with ICD-10

8. Classifying Psychological Disorders cont. DSM-IV describes the abnormal patterns of thinking, emotion and behavior that define various mental disorders Have to meet specific criteria to be diagnosed Can be evaluated on 5 levels, or axes Axis I: Clinical syndromes (ex. Adjustment or anxiety disorders) Axis II: Personality and Mental Retardation Axis III: Medical Conditions Axis IV: Psychosocial and Environmental Problems Axis V: Global Assessment of Functioning http://psychology.about.com/od/psychotherapy/f/faq_dsm.htm

9. Purposes and Problems of Diagnosis Major goal in diagnosing psychological disorders is to determine the nature of people�s problems so an appropriate course of action can be taken Also important for research Can allow researchers a better chance at spotting genetic features, biological abnormalities, cognitive processes, and environmental experiences that people in the same category might share

10. Purposes and Problems of Diagnosis cont. How accurate is the DSM-IV? One way to evaluate it is interrater reliability The degree to which different mental health professionals give the same person the same diagnostic label Appears to be highest when diagnosis based on structured or semi-structured interviews that systematically address various areas of functioning and provide uniform guidelines for interpretation of the answers that people give Do diagnostic labels give accurate information that guides correct inferences about people? Idea of validity; attempted to correct in DSM-V

11. Purposes and Problems of Diagnosis cont. Problems with this diagnostic system: People�s problems do not fit into one category The same symptoms may appear as part of more than one disorder Diagnostic judgment is to a certain extent subjective so personal bias may creep into the system Labeling can be dehumanizing in that each person is unique and labeling takes that uniqueness away

12. Anxiety Disorders

13. Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder