1. Marion Weeks Jenks High School

2.  Psychological Disorders are often referred to as Abnormal Behavior.  No one absolute definition of psychological disorders.  Continuum between mental health on one hand and pathology(the medical specialty concerned with the study of the nature and causes of diseases) on the other.

4.  Proposed definitions include:  A pattern of behavioral or psychological symptoms that causes significant personal stress and impairs the ability to function in one or more important areas of life, or both. (APA, 1994)  A psychological disorder may exist when behavior is atypical, disturbing, maladaptive (types of behaviors that inhibit a person’s ability to adjust to particular situations.) and unjustifiable. (Myers, 1998)

5.  Example of maladaptive behavior Someone might avoid crowds because of social phobia, but in the end, it is not necessarily a technique that will help them overcome this problem.  Maladaptive behavior can often be considered as a sign of a mental disorder (i.e. a sign of a medically determinable impairment).

6.  Emotional withdrawal  Bed wetting  Eating disturbance  Sleep disturbance  Impulsivity  Poor concentration and attention  Temper tantrums  Negativity and defiance  Lying, cheating, stealing  Physical aggression  Running away  Self-injurious behavior  Destruction of another’s property Examples of Maladaptive Behaviors

7.  A psychological abnormality involves the presence of at least two of the following: Distress Maladaptiveness Irrationality Unpredictability Unconventional and statistical rarity Observer discomfort  Sanity and insanity are legal rather than psychological terms.  Insanity The ability of the defendant to distinguish right from wrong.

8.  The ancient world  Greece  Hippocrates (460-377 BC) believed mental illness was the result of natural, as opposed to supernatural, causes.  Galen (130-200 AD) divided the causes of mental disorders into physical and psychological explanations.  In China (200 AD) Chung Ching stated that both organ pathologies and stressful psychological situations were causes of mental disorders.

9.  The Middle Ages (500-1500 AD)  In Europe, abnormal behavior viewed as demonic possession. Treatment involved prayer, laying on of hands, and exorcism by a clergy member.  Islamic countries Humane mental hospitals were established (Baghdad 792 AD) Persian physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980-1037) established principals for testing the effectiveness of new drugs. Still form the basis modern clinical drug trials.

10.  The Renaissance  Led to re-emergence of the scientific approach in Europe. Spanish nun Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) established the conceptual framework that the mind can be sick. Weyer (1515-1588) of Germany and Scot (1538-1599) of England used scientific skepticism to refute the concept of demonic possession.  Humanitarian reforms of the 18 th and 19 th century. In the U.S., Benjamin Rush(1745-1813), the founder of American psychiatry, encouraged human treatment of mentally ill and the establishment of hospitals for their care.

11.  Scientific advances of the 20 th century.  Developments in technology such as MRI and PET scans have added to our knowledge of biological bases of psychological disorders.  Development of psychopharmacology have provided effective treatments for many psychological disorders.

12.  The biopsychological model  Emphasizes that mental illness needs to be diagnosed on the basis of its symptoms  Cured only through therapy based on medical intervention.  Recent discoveries genetically influenced abnormalities in brain structure and biochemistry contribute to wide range of disorders. Schizophrenia Depression Anxiety disorders Medications influence many disorders and symptoms Schizophrenia, depression and anxiety disorders are often successfully treated medically.

13.  The psychoanalytic model  Inspired by Freud Emphasizes the role of unconscious conflicts over aggressive and sexual impulses. Psychoanalytic therapy (the “talking cure”) dominated mid-20 th century approaches. Currently practiced to a lesser extent.  The behavioral model  Emphasizes that psychological disorders have learning as their basis. Ex. Inappropriate behaviors might have been reinforced and the punishment or extinction of appropriate behaviors may have occurred.  Therapy relies on learning principles to change maladaptive behaviors.

14.  The Cognitive model  Grew out of dissatisfaction with behaviorism’s limits.  Emphasizes that irrational or maladaptive thought processes are the cause of psychological disorders.  The greatest number of practitioners in psychology today use this model.  The Biopsychosocial model  Eclectic contemporary model.  Assumes that biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors interact to produce or exacerbate psychological disorders.  Therapists who subscribe to this view may recommend drugs as well as behavioral and cognitive therapies.

15.  Published by the American Psychological Association, (APA), the DSM-IV, as it is known, is a widely used diagnostic classification system.  Provides a set of criteria which allows diagnosticians to make assessments.  System based on five axes used by clinicians to provide a complete diagnosis.

16. 16 Are Psychosocial or Environmental Problems (school or housing issues) also present? Axis IV What is the Global Assessment of the person’s functioning? Axis V Is a General Medical Condition (diabetes, hypertension or arthritis etc) also present? Axis III Is a Personality Disorder or Mental Retardation present? Axis II Is a Clinical Syndrome (cognitive, anxiety, mood disorders [16 syndromes]) present? Axis I

17.  Axis 1  16 major categories of adult psychological disorders. Mood disorders Schizophrenic disorders  Axis 2  Includes personality disorders and developmental disorders  Axis 3  Includes medical conditions that might affect or interact with the client’s psychological disorder Hypothyroidism Headaches

18.  Axis 4  A rating of recent social and environmental sources of stress, Death in the family Chronic unemployment  Axis 5  Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) made on a scale that ranges from 1 to 100, where 100 represents unimpaired function and 1 represents severe dysfunction.

19. Example of therapists multiaxial diagnosis: Axis 1: alcohol dependence Axis 2: dependent personality disorder Axis 3: diabetes Axis 4: death of spouse; unemployment GAF= 60 (moderate symptoms, e.g., occasional panic attacks or moderate difficulty in social, occupational, or school functioning)

20.  System relies heavily on the medical perspective.  Reliability in diagnosis remains a problem; psychological disorders have “fuzzy borders.”  Different disorders share certain characteristics.  Example A person might exhibit some, but not all, characteristics of a particular disorder.  Controversy exists regarding the existence of some disorders:  Dissociative identity disorder  Premenstrual syndrome