Abnormal Psych

The Nature of Mental Disorders

• A. Definition of Abnormal Behavior– 1. The person suffers from discomfort more or

less continuously

– 2. The person is behaving in a bizarre fashion

– 3. People who need help can be very inefficient

• ***Any one of the above symptoms or a combination can indicate trouble

• B. A severe disorder may refer to psychosis, when a person is out of touch with reality. Mild disorders would refer to nonpsychotic disorders.

Classifying Disorders - DSM V

•A. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – used by health workers to determine what classification a particular person belongs in.

•B. People don’t usually fit into one category perfectly, and symptoms overlap with one another.

Anxiety Disorders

• A. Definition - Disorder whose major symptom is anxiety. Most common type of disorder other than substance abuse.

• B. Panic Disorder– 1. A type of anxiety disorder in which one cannot

relax and is plagued by frequent and overwhelming attacks of anxiety

– 2. Sometimes it develops in the person’s psyche, probably developed from years of feeling insecure and helpless.

– 3. Often develops because something is physically or chemically wrong. However, once it occurs learned associations creates a likelihood of it reoccurring and being attached to other associations.

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Anxiety Disorders

• A. Phobic Disorder• 1. A type of anxiety in which a person becomes

overwhelmed by fear in the presence of certain objects or events.

• 2. Simple Phobias – centers on particular objects or situations

• 3. The most common explanation for phobias today is that they result from associations or learning, although there may be some genetic tendencies.

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Anxiety Disorders

• B. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

• 1. Obsession – An endless preoccupation with an urge or thought

• 2. Compulsion - A symbolic, ritualized behavior that a person must keep acting out in order to avoid anxiety.

• 3. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – Having continuous thoughts(obsessions) about performing a certain act over and over(compulsion). Seems to result from faulty attempts to resolve guilt, anxiety, or insecurity.

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Somatoform

• A. Definition-Condition in which psychological issues are expressed in bodily symptoms in the absence of any real physical problem– B. Conversion Disorder – Disorder in which a

serious psychological trauma is changed into a symbolic physical dysfunction (ex. hysterical blindness or hysterical paralysis). Conversion disorders are quite rare

– C. Hypochondrias – Disorders characterized by feeling excessive concern about one’s health and exaggerating the seriousness of minor physical complaints. For example, they see a slight headache as brain cancer or a case of the sniffles as pneumonia.

Dissociative Disorder

•A. Definition – Disorders in which a part of one’s life becomes disconnected from other parts: amnesia, fugue, and multiple personalities are examples

•B. Psychogenic Amnesia – A dissociative disorder in which traumatic events disappear from Memory

•C. Selective forgetting – forgetting only things that are very traumatic

Dissociative Disorder

•A. Psychogenic Fugue – The condition of having amnesia for one’s current life and starting a new one somewhere else

•B. Multiple Personality Disorder – Condition in which a person divides himself or herself into two or more separate personalities that can act independently

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Mood Disorders

• A. Definition- A category of mental disorder characterized by one’s emotional state; includes depression and mania

• B. Dysthymic Disorder – A moderate depression. In any given year between four and twelve percent of the population will be affected by it. Typical symptoms include lack of energy, unhappiness, loss of interest in activities and people, loss of sense of humor, sadness, and rock bottom feelings of self-worth.

• C. Major Depression – An extremely low emotional state, severe depression; involves loss of appetite, lack of energy, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts. People in this category have trouble carrying out simple daily tasks. Some may even lie motionless in a rolled up fetal position for hours at a time. The depression may last from a couple of weeks to a matter of months

Mood Disorder

• D. Mania – A mood disorder involving extreme agitation, restlessness, rapid speech, and trouble concentrating. The speech problem is the most notable part of behavior. This problem is called flight of ideas. It is a confused state in which thoughts and speech go in all directions with no unifying concept.

• E. Bipolar disorders – A disorder with up and down swings from high to low. The highs and lows of this illness can last for several days to several months.

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Psychosis

• A. – Severe mental disorders involving major problems with emotional responses, disorganized thought process, and distorted perceptions of the world. There is a lost of contact with and difficulty in recognizing reality. Thus, it is a very serious mental disturbance.– 1. Symptoms of psychosis

» a. Distortion of mental process» b. Hallucinations - seeing or

hearing things that are not there» c. Delusions – grossly

inaccurate beliefs, such as thinking of themselves as avenging angels

» d. Trouble with emotional responses ex. Laughing at tragic events

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Schizophrenia

• A. The most serious mental disturbance that involves loss of contact with reality, thought disorder, hallucinations, and delusions. It effects about 1% of the population. Obvious symptoms are disorganized thoughts garbled speech, as well as hallucinations and delusions.– 1. Probably not a single disorder. (Rule of

thirds)– 2. It is suspected that schizophrenia results

mostly from some physical or chemical problem because it appears in late adolescence or early adulthood, almost never earlier. This fact would tend to rule out the suggestion that it is mostly psychological, because psychological causes should result in problems appearing at almost any age.

Schizophrenia

•B. Word Salad – Speech in which words are mixed together incoherently. Like the ingredients of a tossed salad.

•C. Clang Association – Psychotic speech in which words are rhymed.

•D. Types of Schizophrenia– 1. Catatonic Schizophrenia – Type of

schizophrenia characterized by disturbances of movement

– 2. Paranoid Schizophrenia – Schizophrenia marked by strong feelings of suspiciousness and persecution

– 3. Psychotic Schizophrenia - Schizophrenia that lacks any distinguishing symptoms

•E. Psychotic Episodes – Periods of psychotic behavior that can alternate with periods of relative coherence and calm.

• A. Environmental Factors of Schizophrenia – – 1. The odds of a person becoming schizophrenic

are moderately high if that person’s close family members have schizophrenia

– 2. For 90% of schizophrenics, there are no other schizophrenics in the immediate family. (Environment may play a small part in the disorder)

• B. Chemical Factors in Schizophrenia– 1. Dopamine – The brain chemical present in

excess in schizophrenics, which causes nerve cells to fire rapidly and leads to thought and speech confusion

– 2. Amphetamines seem to raise one’s dopamine level.

– 3. There is still much research going on in this area! It is possible the schizophrenics have a normal dopamine level, but too many dopamine receptors in the brain.

Personality Disorders

• – A disorder in which the person has formed a peculiar or unpleasant personality. They are not out of touch with reality, so they are not psychotic, and they do not show guilt and anxiety so common in other disorders. For example, some are very secretive, some very self-centered and selfish, some suspicious all the time.

•A. Antisocial Personality Disorder – A personality disorder in which the person is in constant conflict with the law and seems to have no conscience

•B. Sociopath – Same as the anti social personality disorder.

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•C. Borderline Personality Disorder – Personality disorder marked by unstable emotions and relationship, dependency, and manipulative self-destructive behavior.

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Childhood Disorders

• A. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)– 1. Characterized by inattention, distractibility,

impulsiveness, and/or excessive activity, and restlessness– 2. Affects 3-5% of children– 3. We do not know the exact causes of ADHD– 4. Ritalin – Most common prescription, is a stimulant

• B. Autism– 1. Characterized by a failure to develop social patterns

of communication, social interaction, and emotional responses– 2. Autistic children have a difficult time forming

attachments and have a powerful need to maintain sameness– 3. Echolalia – An autistic symptom in which the

person echoes, or repeats, what has just been said