Continuing and Distance EducationIntroductory Psychology 1023Lecture 6: Abnormal Psychology

Reading: Chapter 14

Salem witch trial

Abnormality

• Behavior is – Statistically unusual– Maladaptive or harmful behavior– Labeled “abnormal” because of a violation of

cultural standards– Mental disorder as suffering, personal distress

• Historical examples of abnormal behavior:– psychosis: demon possession, syphillis– mentally retarded individuals & midgets were

“court-jesters”– Salem witch trials: girls may have ingested ergot,

LSD derivative

Diagnosis: DSM-IV

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th Ed. (APA, 1994)

• Axis I: Clinical syndromes/ Mental disorders

• Axis II: Personality and Disorders• Axis III: General Medical Conditions• Axis IV: Psychosocial and Environmental

Problems • Axis V: GAF Scale (1:low to 100:high)

Problems with DSM

• Overdiagnosis• Power of diagnostic labels, e.g., person

“becomes the disorder”• Mental disorder vs. “everyday problems”,

e.g., bad spellers?• Illusion of objectivity• But diagnosis leads to treatment, categories

lead to empirical verification, and there is cross-cultural evidence of various mental health problems such as psychosis and depression

Kinds of Disorders

Specific kinds of anxiety disorders

• Phobias: Simple, social, and agoraphobia

• Panic Disorder: Bouts of intense and uncontrollable anxiety

• Generalized anxiety disorder: Chronic• Stress Disorder: PTSD• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

– obsession: unwanted impulses or thoughts– compulsion: uncontrolled repetitive act

Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociative amnesia: Memory loss for specific events or people

• Fugue: Total memory loss after stress, relocation and starting a new life

• Dissociative Identity Disorder (MPD)– two or more identities that coexist– associated with child trauma such as abuse– abused children sometimes “leave their

bodies”

Mood Disorders

• Unipolar depression• 10-20% depressed

at some point in life• multiple causes• low self-esteem,

loss of motivation, pessimism

• women > men• Maladaptive

cognitions

• Bipolar disorder• 1% of population• genetically

mediated• depressive and

manic symptoms• mania related to

high energy and shifts of attention

Schizophrenia

• Negative symptoms: Behavior deficits– blunting of emotions– language deficits– apathy and social avoidance

• Active symptoms: Behaviors present– delusions: disordered thinking– hallucination: unusual sensory experience– disorganised incoherent speech– other bizarre behavior

Personality Disorders

• Stable & extreme personality features that affect happiness or adjustment

• Examples:– Paranoid: suspicious of others– Borderline: Mood and self-image unstable– Narcissistic: Self-centred, no empathy – Histrionic: Dramatic, manipulative, shallow – Antisocial: Break law, cheat & lie, no concern

for others, lack empathy, impulsive, brain involvement

Models of abnormality

• Environmental– Conditioning: Reinforcement/Punishment– Snake bite leads to snake phobia– Cultural factors

• Cognitive: Distorted thinking– Negative thoughts and depression– Maladaptive attributions

• Medical: Physiological imbalance– Neurotransmitters, genetics