As a group, consider the four following behaviors, and then decide whether you think they are evidence of a psychological disorder. How did you come to your conclusion?

A man walks up to a window carrying a chair. He puts down the chair, opens the window, takes off his clothes, and seats himself on the chair. Why? He says he feels the need for an “air bath.”

Every morning, a woman who lives in a Boston suburb asks her husband to bring in the morning newspaper, which the carrier throws just inside their fence. She does this because she is terribly afraid of encountering a poisonous snake. Her husband, concerned about her behavior, repeatedly tells her that there are no poisonous snakes living in their town. Nevertheless, she is afraid to leave the house.

A teenaged boy packs a blanket and a bottle of water. Ignoring near- freezing temperatures, he climbs a nearby mountain, spreads the blanket on the ground, sits cross-legged on it, closes his eyes, and remains there throughout the night. In the morning, he runs home and tells his father he has seen a vision.

A teenaged girl misses school for three days. She periodically breaks into tears. She finds it nearly impossible to get out of bed in the morning, though she cannot sleep for more than an hour or two at a time. She has no appetite and becomes nauseated if her family urges her to eat.

 Psychological disorder  Psychological disorder – a “harmful dysfunction” in which behaviors are judged maladaptive, unjustifiable, disturbing, and atypical.  4 attributes of a psych disorder: ◦ M ◦ Maladaptive ◦ U ◦ Unjustifiable ◦ D ◦ Disturbing ◦ A ◦ Atypical

 destructive to oneself or others  exaggeration of normal, acceptable behaviors

 does not have a rational basis  scenarios that meet this criteria: ◦ woman with fear of snakes

 troublesome to other people  Mass-murderers  Aurora Co  Sandy Hook  Dahmer

 so different from other people’s behavior that it violates a norm (accepted behavior)  norms vary from culture to culture

 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition  published by the American Psychiatric Association  lists and describes all the currently accepted categories of mental disorders

 divides mental disorders into 17 major categories  includes the symptoms but not the causes of each disease  Neurosis – disorder that is distressing but allows one to think rationally and function socially  Psychosis – disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas an distorted perceptions

 Read pages 525 – 528  Make a 2-column list of the drawbacks and advantages of labeling psychological disorders  Keep this information in mind as you are completing your project essay: Evaluate the perception the media and our U.S. culture poses regarding mental health and what you discover about mental disorders.

MUDA 1. Create a poster - list and describe each of the four criteria used to diagnose psychological disorders (MUDA). Draw a picture to represent each of the four elements. On the back of your poster: 2. For each of the four scenarios we read about earlier, list the criteria each WOULD meet. 3. Based on the scenarios, which people WOULD be diagnosed with a psychological disorder?