1. Psychological Disorders
Dr. Bahreini

2. Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
Societal
Does the behavior conform to existing social norms?
Individual
Personal sense of well-being
Mental-health professional
Personality characteristics
Personal discomfort
Life functioning
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3. Historical Views of Psychological Disorders
Supernatural view, where mysterious behavior was attributed to supernatural powers, likely dominated early societies
Mental hospitals and asylums were used more like prisons to keep the afflicted away from society
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4. Models of the Causes of Psychological Disorders
Biological model
Physiological or biochemical basis
Psychoanalytic model
Disorders are the result of unconscious conflicts
Cognitive-Behavioral model
Disorders are the result of learning maladaptive ways of behaving and thinking
Diathesis-Stress model
Biological predisposition to disorder which is triggered by stress
Systems theory (biopsychosocial model)
Model in which biological, psychological, and social risk factors combine to produce psychological disorders
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5. Classifying Psychological Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)
Focuses on significant behavioral patterns
Lists symptoms
Criticisms
Disorders classified as diseases
Many of the symptoms have nothing to do with mental illness
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6. The Prevalence of Psychological Disorders
In a 2001 survey, 14.9% of respondents reported experiencing some type of clinically significant mental disorder
Six percent were suffering from substance abuse
Most common disorders were anxiety, phobias, and mood disorders
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7. Anxiety Disorders
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8. Anxiety Disorders
Any disorder in which anxiety is a characteristic feature or avoidance of anxiety motivates abnormal behavior
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9. Causes of Anxiety Disorders
Conditioning
For example, phobias can be learned through classical conditioning
Feelings of not being in control can lead to anxiety
Predisposition to anxiety disorders may be inherited
Displacement or repression of unacceptable thoughts or impulses can lead to anxiety
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10. Specific Phobias Intense fear of specific situations or objects
Common phobias include animals, heights, closed places, needles
Social phobias
Excessive fear of social situations
Agoraphobia
Intense fear of crowds and public places or other situations that require separation from source of security, such as the home
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11. Panic Disorder
Recurrent panic attacks in which the person experiences intense terror without cause
Person is often left with fear of having another panic attack
Can lead to agoraphobia
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12. Other Anxiety Disorders
Generalized anxiety disorder
Prolonged vague but intense fears not attached to any particular object or circumstance
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Driven to disturbing thoughts (obsessions) and/or performing senseless rituals (compulsions)
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13. Mood Disorders
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14. Depression Symptoms Major depressive disorder Dysthymia
Overwhelming feelings of sadness
Lack of interest in activities
Excessive guilt or feelings of worthlessness
Major depressive disorder
Intense symptoms that may last for several months
Dysthymia
Less intense, but may last for periods of two years or more
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15. Mania Not as common as depression Symptoms
Feelings of euphoria
Extreme physical activity
Excessive talkativeness
Grandiosity
Mania rarely appears alone, but usually as part of bipolar disorder
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16. Bipolar Disorder
Characterized by alternating between depression and mania
Periods of normal mood may come between bouts of depression and mania
Much less common than depression
Stronger biological component than depression
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17. Causes of Mood Disorders
Biological factors
Twin studies demonstrate that genetic factors play a role in development of depression
Mood disorders may be linked to chemical imbalances in the brain
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18. Causes of Mood Disorders
Psychological factors
Cognitive distortions
Maladaptive response to early negative life events that leads to feelings of incompetence and unworthiness
These responses are reactivated whenever a new situation arises that resembles the original events
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19. Causes of Mood Disorders
Social factors
Depression is linked to troubled close relationships
May explain greater incidence of depression in women, who tend to be more relationship-oriented
Depressed people can evoke anxiety and hostility in others, who then withdraw, which in turn can intensify feelings of depression
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20. Suicide
19,000 people commit suicide in the U.S. every year, the 11th leading cause of death
More women than men attempt suicide, but more men succeed
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21. Schizophrenic Disorders
Severe disorders characterized by disturbances of thought, communication, and emotions
Hallucinations
Sensory experiences without external stimulation
Delusions
False beliefs about reality
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22. Causes of Schizophrenia
Biological predisposition to schizophrenia may be inherited
Twin studies show genetic link
Excessive levels of dopamine lead to psychotic symptoms
Abnormalities of brain structures
Abnormal patterns of connections between brain cells
May involve family relationships and social class
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23. Types of Schizophrenic Disorders
Disorganized schizophrenia
Bizarre and childlike behavior
May engage in incoherent conversations
Catatonic schizophrenia
Can alternate between a catatonic state (mute and immobile) and an overly active state (overly excited and shouting)
Paranoid schizophrenia
Marked by extreme suspiciousness and complex delusions
Undifferentiated schizophrenia
Clear symptoms of schizophrenia that do not meet criteria for other subtypes
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24. Psychosomatic and Somatoform Disorders

25. Psychosomatic Disorders
Real physical illness with psychological causes such as stress or anxiety
Tension headaches, for example
Research indicates that most, if not all, illnesses may have a psychosomatic component
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26. Somatoform Disorders Physical symptoms without any physical cause
Person experiences symptoms as real
Somatization disorder
Vague, recurrent physical complaints without physical cause
Conversion disorder
Dramatic, specific disability without physical cause
Hypochondriasis
Minor symptoms are interpreted as sign of serious illness
Body dysmorphic disorder
Person becomes preoccupied with imagined ugliness and cannot function normally
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27. Causes of Somatoform Disorders
Freud
Symptoms related to traumatic experience in the past
Cognitive behavioral
Examines ways in which the behavior is being rewarded
Biological perspective
May be real physical illnesses that are misdiagnosed or overlooked
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28. Dissociative Disorders
Disorders in which some part of the personality seems separated from the rest
Often involves memory loss and change in identity
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29. Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative amnesia
Loss of memory without a physical cause
Dissociative fugue
Involves flight from home and adoption of a new identity and amnesia for past events
Dissociative identity disorder
Person has several distinct personalities that emerge at different times
Previously called multiple personality disorder
Depersonalization disorder
Person suddenly feels strangely changed or different
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30. Causes of Dissociative Disorders
Seems to involve unconscious processes
Memory impairments may also include biological factors such as normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease
Dissociation is common with use of some drugs such as LSD
Trauma may also be involved
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31. Sexual Disorders

32. Sexual Dysfunction Erectile disorder Female sexual arousal disorder
Inability of a man to achieve or maintain an erection
Female sexual arousal disorder
Inability of a woman to become sexually aroused or reach orgasm
Sexual desire disorders
Lack of sexual interest or active distaste for sex
Orgasmic disorders
Inability to reach orgasm in a person who has sexual desire and can maintain arousal
Premature ejaculation
Male’s inability to inhibit orgasm as long as desired
Vaginismus
Involuntary muscle spasms in the outer part of the vagina making intercourse impossible
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33. Sexual Dysfunction
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34. Paraphilias
Sexual disorders in which unconventional objects or situations cause sexual arousal
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35. Paraphilias Fetishism Voyeurism Exhibitionism Frotteurism
Non-human object is preferred method of sexual excitement
Voyeurism
Desire to watch others having sex or undressing
Exhibitionism
Compulsion to expose one’s genitals to achieve sexual arousal
Frotteurism
Touching or rubbing against a non-consenting person in public
Transvestic fetishism
Wearing clothing of the opposite sex to achieve sexual arousal
Sexual sadism
Obtain sexual gratification by humiliating or physically harming a sex partner
Sexual masochism
Inability to enjoy sex without physical or emotional pain
Pedophilia
Preferred desire to have sex with children
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36. Gender-Identity Disorders
Involves a desire to become, or insistence that one really is, a member of the other sex
Usually begins in childhood
Most develop normal gender identity in adulthood
Sex reassignment surgery is an option for adults who have this disorder
Causes are not known
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37. Personality Disorders

38. Personality Disorders
Disorders in which inflexible thinking and maladaptive ways of thinking and behaving learned early in life cause distress in the person and/or conflicts with others
Approximately 3% of men and 1% of women have a personality disorder
Rate among prisoners is close to 50%
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39. Personality Disorders
Schizoid
Withdrawn and lacks feelings for others
Paranoid
Very suspicious of others
Dependent
Inability to make decisions or act independently and cannot tolerate being alone
Avoidant
Social anxiety leading to isolation
Narcissistic
Grandiose sense of self-importance
Borderline
Instability in self-image, mood, and interpersonal relationships
Antisocial
Pattern of violent, criminal, or unethical behavior with no sense of remorse
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40. Causes of Antisocial Personality Disorder
Combination of biological predisposition, adverse psychological experiences, and an unhealthy social environment
Also possible link to damaged frontal lobe during infancy
Emotional deprivation during childhood may lead to antisocial tendencies
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41. Childhood Disorders Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD)
Characterized by inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity
Causes not fully understood
Psychostimulants
Drugs that increase the ability of children with AD/HD to focus
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42. Childhood Disorders Autistic Disorder
Characterized by lack of social instincts and strange motor behavior
Fail to form normal attachments to parents
May withdraw into their own world
Causes are not known
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43. Gender and Cultural Differences in Psychological Disorders

44. Gender Differences
More women are in treatment for psychological disorders
Men who are divorced or separated, or who never married, have a higher rate of mental disorders
Married women have higher rates than married men
Women have higher rates of anxiety disorders and depression
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45. Cultural Differences
Many disorders occur only in particular cultural groups
Prevalence of some disorders among males/females/children differs markedly by culture
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46. Mental Illness and the Law
Insanity
Legal term for mentally disturbed people who are not considered responsible for their criminal actions
Those found insane often spend more time in mental institutions than they would have in prison
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