1. Psychological Disorders”

2. Abnormal Psychology A.K.A. Psychological Disorders
A “harmful dysfunction” in which behavior is judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive and unjustifiable.

3. Early Theories Abnormal behavior was evil spirits trying to get out.
Trephining was often used.

4. Normal v. Abnormal Criteria
Deviation from normality (what most people do)
Adjustment – Do not adjust physically, emotionally, or socially as others do
Psychological health

5. Normal v. Abnormal Context of Behavior: Persistence of Behavior:
Some behaviors are clearly bizarre in a given situation
Watering your lawn in a rainstorm
Persistence of Behavior:
We all have crazy moments.
Dancing all the time for no reason at all.
Social Deviance:
Radically violating norms daily – visuals hallucinations
Subjective Distress:
Suffering causes daily activities to be a problem
Ex: not riding on an elevator or taking the stairs

6. Classifying Mental Illness
DSM-IV
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Sets forth specific diagnostic criteria for disorders and helps differentiate between disorders
Labels a person – can have negative influence on person’s future
Impacts how others regard/view person

7. Two Major Classifications in the DSM
Neurotic Disorders
Psychotic Disorders
Distressing but one can still function in society and act rationally.
Person loses contact with reality, experiences distorted perceptions.
John Wayne Gacy

8. Major Disorders – Axis I – DSM-IV
DSM-IV classifies symptoms into categories
Schizophrenia
Mood Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Somatoform Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Eating Disorders
Sleep Disorders

9. Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety – general state of dread or uneasiness in response to imagined danger
Most common type of mental illness in US
Affects 40 million Americans annually
Generalized Anxiety Disorder – continuous or generalized anxiety
Phobic Disorder
Specific phobia – almost anything
Social phobia – speaking in public
Agoraphobia – fear of public place

10. Generalized Anxiety Disorder GAD
An anxiety disorder in which a person is continuously tense, apprehensive and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.
The patient is constantly tense and worried, feels inadequate, is oversensitive, can’t concentrate and suffers from insomnia.

11. Anxiety Disorders Phobia Panic Disorder OCD
Compulsions – repeating behaviors
Obsessions – uncontrollable thoughts
PTSD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Can be caused by any traumatic event (not just war)

12. Panic Disorder
An anxiety disorder marked by a minutes-long episode of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking and other frightening sensations.

13. Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Persistent unwanted thoughts (obsessions) cause someone to feel the need (compulsion) to engage in a particular action.
Obsession about dirt and germs may lead to compulsive hand washing.

14. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder a.k.a. PTSD
Flashbacks or nightmares following a person’s involvement in or observation of an extremely stressful event.
Memories of the even cause anxiety.

15. Phobias A person experiences sudden episodes of intense dread.
Must be an irrational fear.