A List of Psychological Disorders

List and Descriptions of the Categories of Psychological Disorders

By Kendra Cherry, About.com Guide

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Psychological Disorders Psychology of Attention Cognitive Psychology Mental Health Psychology Psychology Psychotherapy Psychological disorders, also known as mental disorders, are patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact multiple areas of life. These disorders create distress for the person experiencing these symptoms. The following list of psychological disorders includes some of the major categories of psychological disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as well as several examples of each type of psychological disorder. Adjustment Disorders This classification of mental disorders is related to an identifiable source of stress that causes significant emotional and behavioral symptoms. The diagnostic criteria listed by the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria included:

(1) Distress that is marked and excessive for what would be expected from the stressor and (2) Creates significant impairment in school, work or social environments. In addition to these requirements, the symptoms must occur within three months of exposure to the stressor, the symptoms must not meet the criteria for an Axis I or Axis II disorder, the symptoms must not be related to bereavement and the symptoms must not last for longer than six months after exposure to the stressor. The DSM-V (released in May of 2013) moved adjustment disorder to a newly created section of stress-related syndromes. Ads 3 Herbs that Beat Anxietywww.a2xanxiety.comScientists Reveal 1 Weird Compound to Calm Anxiety that May Shock You. Cheap Domestic FlightsMusafir.com/Instant_OffFlat Rs 600 off on Domestic Flights Use code INSTAOFF. Hurry, Save Now! Free Masters Edu @Germanywww.gecsindia.comExplore top colleges in Germany Get professional guidance for admission Anxiety Disorders Anxiety disorders are those that are characterized by excessive and abnormal fear, worry and anxiety. In one recent survey published in the Archives of General Psychology1, it was estimated that as many as 18% of American adults suffer from at least one anxiety disorder. Types of anxiety disorders include:

Generalized anxiety disorder Agoraphobia Social anxiety disorder Phobias

Panic disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder Separation anxiety Dissociative Disorders Dissociative disorders are psychological disorders that involve a dissociation or interruption in aspects of consciousness, including identity and memory. Dissociative disorders include:

Dissociative disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder Dissociative fugue Dissociative identity disorder Depersonalization/derealization disorder Eating Disorders Eating disorders are characterized by obsessive concerns with weight and disruptive eating patterns that negatively impact physical and mental health. Types of eating disorders include:

Anorexia nervosa Bulimia nervosa Rumination disorder Factitious Disorders These psychological disorders are those in which an individual acts as if he or she has an illness, often be deliberately faking or exaggerating symptoms or even self-inflicting damage to the body. Types of factitious disorders include:

Munchausen syndrome Munchausen syndrome by proxy Ganser syndrome Impulse-Control Disorders Impulse-control disorders are those that involve an inability to control impulses, resulting in harm to oneself or others. Types of impulse-control disorders include:

Kleptomania (stealing) Pyromania (fire-starting) Trichotillomania (hair-pulling) Pathological gambling Intermittent explosive disorder Dermatillomania (skin-picking) Mental Disorders Due to a General Medical Condition This type of psychological disorder is caused by an underlying medical condition. Medical conditions can cause psychological symptoms such as catatonia and personality changes. Examples of mental disorders due to a general medical condition include:

Psychotic disorder due to epilepsy Depression caused by diabetes AIDS related psychosis Personality changes due to brain damage Neurocognitive Disorders

These psychological disorders are those that involve cognitive abilities such as memory, problem solving and perception. Some anxiety disorder, mood disorders and psychotic disorders are classified as cognitive disorders. Types of cognitive disorders include:

Alzheimer's disease Delirium Dementia Amnesia Ads 5 Signs of Alzheimer'swww.newsmax.comDoctor: 5 Warning Signs You're About to Get Alzheimer's Disease Relief From Depressionwww.healthmailer.info/TreatmentGet Help From Experts To Conquer Depression Symptoms. Contact Us! Mood Disorders Mood disorder is a term given to a group of mental disorders that are all characterized by changes in mood. Examples of mood disorders include:

Bipolar disorder Major depressive disorder Cyclothymic disorder Neurodevelopmental Disorders Developmental disorders, also referred to as childhood disorders, are those that are typically diagnosed during infancy, childhood, or adolescence. These psychological disorders include:

Intellectual Disability (or Intellectual Developmental Disorder), formerly referred to as mental retardation Learning disabilities Communication disorders Autism Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder Conduct disorder Oppositional defiant disorder Personality Disorders Personality disorders create a maladaptive pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that can cause serious detriments to relationships and other life areas. Types of personality disorders include:

Antisocial personality disorder Avoidant personality disorder Borderline personality disorder Dependent personality disorder Histrionic personality disorder Narcissistic personality disorder Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder Paranoid personality disorder Schizoid personality disorder Schizotypal personality disorder Ads 3 Herbs that Beat Anxietywww.a2xanxiety.comScientists Reveal 1 Weird Compound to Calm Anxiety that May Shock You.

Best Skin Treatmentwww.drBatras.com/SkinVisit Dr. Batra's For Homeopathic Skin Treatment. Book Now. Tips for Beautiful SkinKayaClinic.comGet the right beauty tips for your skin from the Experts. Apply Now! Psychotic Disorders Psychotic disorders are those that involve a loss of contact with reality. People experiencing psychotic disorders may experience hallucinations and often display disorganized thinking. Delusional beliefs are another common characteristic of this class of psychological disorders. Types of psychotic disorders include:

Schizophrenia Delusional disorder Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Sexual disorders are those that impact sexual functioning, while gender identity disorders are those that involve a discontentment with the biological sex a person was born with. Examples of sexual disorders:

Erectile dysfunction Sexual pain disorders Paraphilias Sleep Disorders Sleep disorders involve an interruption in sleep patterns. These disorders can have a negative impact on both physical and mental health. Examples of sleep disorders include:

Narcolepsy Sleep terror disorder Sleepwalking disorder Primary insomnia Somatoform Disorders Somatoform disorder is a class of psychological disorder that involves physical symptoms that do not have a physical cause. These symptoms usually mimic real diseases or injuries. It is important to note somatoform disorders differ from factitious disorders; people suffering from somatoform disorders are not faking their symptoms.

Conversion disorder Somatization disorder Hypochondriasis Body dysmorphic disorder Pain disorder Substance Related Disorders Substance-related disorders are those that involve the use and abuse of different substance, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates and alcohol. These disorders can include dependence, abuse, psychosis, anxiety, intoxication, delirium and withdrawal that results from the use of various substances. Examples of substance-related psychological disorders include:

Alcohol abuse Caffeine-induced anxiety disorder Cocaine withdrawal Inhalant abuse

The Psychological Disorders

In these notes I discuss the psychological disorders: their classification and reclassification, behavioral "symptoms," and, in selected cases where something is known about it, heritability and underlying physiological changes. Classification of the Psychological Disorders In medicine, classification of the various medical disorders typically is based on the particular combinations of symptoms that patients present to the physician; the physician then renders a diagnosis based on those symptoms. Thus, if a patient comes into the doctor's office complaining about chills and fever, muscular aches and pains, nausia, and so, the physician might conclude from

these symptoms that the patient has the flu. The idea here is that patients who present the same symptoms are probably suffering from the same underlying disorder, a common cause for which there will be a specific treatment. Psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and other mental health workers confonted with a variety of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional "symptoms" of their clients likewise began to identify combinations of these symptoms that seemed to hang together, forming a particular "syndrome" that differentiated these particular cases from others. Category lables were developed for the different syndromes and it was hoped that those falling into the same category might turn out to be suffering from the same set of underlying causes of their condition. Thus was born labels such as "schizophrenia," "hysteria," and "manic-depressive psychosis. Such labels can be very helpful to practitioners. They make it relatively easy to communicate the major features of a person's disorder to other practioners, as everyone in the field knows what sorts of abnormalities a person diagnosed, for example, as "schizophrenic" is likely to display. And once a person has been identified as having a particular disorder, this immediately suggests which treatments are likely to be the most beneficial to the client. On the negative side, however, it is too easy to label someone as "a schizoprenic" and forget that one is dealing with an individual human being and not merely a collection of symptoms. Furthermore, nonspecialists soon learned that to be labeled a schizophrenic, manic-depressive, or psychpathic personality was not exactly an honor, and as the general public became more familiar with the typical symptoms of the various disorders, they tended to use them as stereotypes, as if everyone with the label "schizophrenic" exhibited the entire set of symptoms in their most extreme forms. Developing category labels for these disorders may have been necessary, but it did not always have positive consequences for those who were being pinned with the label. The initial system of categories developed slowly over decades and in some ways proved unsatisfactory in practice. Eventually the American Psychiatric Association conviened a committe to develop a new classification system that would reorganize some of the major categories and provide additional ones based on the latest information. The result of the committee's deliberations was a publication called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or DSM. Over the years this has been revised several times, the current revision is the DSM IV. The old classification system included two main types of psychological disorder which differ in severity and characteristic problem: Neurosis and Psychosis. Although these are no longer considered current, I'll start with these two types, as I

believe that they still offer a way to differentiate certain of the classes of disorder now included in the new scheme as presented in the DSM:

Neurosis o characterized by anxiety, often as a result of inner conflict. The outward signs of anxiety may be hidden, however, as the person uses ego defenses to keep the anxiety under control. o person remains in good contact with reality (no irrational thought, dilusions, or hallucinations). Psychosis o characterized by a loss of contact with reality. The person may be delusional, have irrational beliefs that conflict with common sense, or suffer hallucinations. o although anxiety may be present (or not), it is not a characteristic of the disorder.

The major category of neurosis has been replaced by several more specific categories in the current scheme of classification. I'll take up those milder disorders that would have fallen under "neurosis" first, beginning with the "anxiety disorders." The Anxiety Disorders

Specific Phobia -- The term "phobia" means "fear." A specific phobia is an irrational fear of some specific thing or situation. The fear is "irrational" in the sense that it is all out of proportion to the actual danger presented. For example, some people are terrified when they see a spider, even though it is on a wall 20 feet away and could not possibly do the person any harm from that distance. A common phobia isagoraphobia (literally, "fear of the marketplace"), in which a person develops a fear of being amongst crowds of people. Panic Disorder -- This is a disorder characterized by unforewarned attacks of extreme dread, as if some terrible thing is about to befall the person, generally lasting only a couple of minutes and leaving the person physically exhausted because of the extreme activation of the physiological mechanisms aroused by terror. These attacks do not appear to be caused by any particular situation or thing, but if they occur several times within a given context, the person may develop agoraphobia as a secondary effect. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder -- In World War I, soldiers who came down with this were said to be "shell shocked," the idea being that the symptoms must have resulted from being exposed to too many concussions from exploting artillary shells. Actually, the disorder arises when people are

exposed to servely stressful, life-threatening situations in which they perceive that they have no control over the outcome. Those affected have flashbacks about the situation in which they were helpless, nightmares, difficulty sleeping, and and find it impossible to put the situation behind them and get on with their lives. Situations inducing the disorder include military combat, natural disasters (e.g., being caught in an earthquake), accidents (e.g., a plane crash or train wreck) and being taken hostage, among others. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder -- The name comes from two related symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are thoughts, usually of a distressing nature, that constantly intrude into awareness, over and over again. Compulsions are ritualistic behaviors the person feels to perform over and over again, because not to perform them means experiencing rapidly increasing levels of anxiety. Certain drugs and behavior modification techniques have been used to treat the disorder. Generalized Anxiety Disorder -- This gets its name from the theoretical notion that what started as specific phobias has spread though generalization to almost all situations. The person suffering from this disorder experiences continuous, high levels of "free-floating" anxiety that does not seem to have been triggered by any specific thing or situation. The symptoms of anxiety are often treated by prescribing minor tranquilizers as an initial step; this is followed by psychological therapy aimed and uncovering and eliminating the source of the anxiety.

The Somatoform Disorders "Soma" means "body," so these are disorders with some obvious connection to the state of the body. Included are the following two diagnoses:

Hypochondriasis -- You are probably more familiar with the label for the person: "hypochondriac." This is someone who is perpetually convinced that he or she has some dread disease which, if not treated promptly, is going to lead to their demise. If their own diagnosis is not confirmed by the doctor, hypochontriacs are likely to ask for a second opinion or to decide that, well, if it's not THIS, then surely it must be THAT. The disorder may be maintained by a strong fear of death, although being the center of attention and concern of physicians, friends, and others can provide its own source of motivation. Conversion Disorder (old name: Hysteria) -- The old name comes from the Greek for "womb," suggesting that it is a disorder restricted to females. For reasons unknown it is much more common in women, but men have occasionally been known to develop it. The person with this diagnosis has

suffered a loss of sensory experience (sight, hearing, feelings in some part of the body) or a paralysis of some part (e.g., arms, legs), but medical examination reveals no abnormalities. Another symptom is that the person appears to be surprisingly unconcerned about developing the problem and does not wish to seek help to get it cured (indifference toward the disorder). Sigmund Freud suggested that the symptoms appear because they allow the person unconsciously to resolve a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" conflict. The Dissociative Disorders This category includes those psychological disorders that involve a "walling off" of some part of the mind from consciousness. (The walled off parts are said to become "dissociated." At one time conversion disorder was included here, but evidently it was needed above so that somatoform disorders would include more than just hypochondriasis!

Dissociative Amnesia -- Loss of memory due to psychological factors as opposed to physical trauma to the brain. Dissociative Fugue -- The person disappears, forgets their true identity and past, replaceing them with an imaginary identity and past, and begins a new life in some other place, but is not conscious of having done these things. Dissociative Identity Disorder (old name: "Multiple Personality) -- the person develops several alternate personalities, each of which seems like a normal person. The currently "active" personality may or may not have any awareness of what was happening when other personalities were active.

This completes my review of disorders that fell under the older category of "neurosis." Next I cover two more severe disorders, involving a loss of contact with reality and other extreme symptoms, that fall under the old category of "psychosis." Schizophrenia Although the term "schizophrenia means "split mind," it does not refer to the splitting of the personality into several functioning personality subtypes as in dissociative identity disorder. Rather, the term was intended to convey a splitting of the normally integrated cognitive/behavioral/emotional functioning of the brain. For example, a person may suddenly become emotionally agitated even though there is no apparent objective reason for this change.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia Schizophrenia includes a variety of symptoms, not all of which will necessarily be present at any one time.

Hallucinations -- a hallmark of Schizophrenia. Usually, these take the form of hearing voices. These voices may be critical of the person, and in some cases may tell the person to do certain things. Visual Hallucinations are less common, but do occur in some cases. Disordered Thought -- Thinking is irrational and disorganized. Attentional Difficulties -- The person is easily distracted and has a difficult time focusing attention on one line of thought for long. "Word Salad" -- In severe cases, the individual may exhibit such disordered thinking that sentences are almost completely disconnected, except perhaps by a chain of loose associations. Occasionally the person uses stange words ("neologisms") which seem to have a private meaning for the person and yet the person seems to believe that others know their meaning. Delusions -- false beliefs that are firmly held regardless of evidence to the contrary. Paranoid delusions involve (a) delusions of grandeur -- an irrational belief that one is someone of elevated position or abilities, e.g., Christ; and (b) delusions of persecution -- an irrational belief that "they" are out to get you. Catatonia -- the person "freezes" into a position of "waxy flexibility": you can reposition their arms etc. as if the person were a doll, and they will hold the new position (even a very uncomfortable one) for long periods of time. The person seems to be in a trance-like state, but upon emerging from the catatonia can report what had been happening.

Classification of Schizophrenia Schizophrenia may be broken into two classes according to the rapidity of its development:

Reactive Schizophrenia o Symptoms develop over a period of days or weeks, usually in adulthood. o Good prognosis: the person is likely to recover from the disorder. Process Schizophrenia o Symptoms develop gradually, over a period of months and years, usually beginning in the teens or early twenties. o Poor prognosis: the person is unlikely to recover from the disorder.

Causes of Schizophrenia The causes of schizophrenia are unknown. Genetic factors may somewhat dispose one to develop the disorder, but even among identical twins, if one develops schizophrenia, the other has only about a 50-50 chance of developing it also, so there must be other precipitating factors. It is now known that there is some degree of brain deterioration associated with the disorder, at least in those diagnosed with "process" schizophrenia. A biochemical imbalance involving the neurotransmitter dopamine is implicated in the disorder, as drugs the have proven effective in reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia tend to be those that reduce activity in the brain's dopamine systems. Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depressive Disorder) Bipolar Disorder gets its name from the fact that the person alternates between two "poles" along a continuoum of emotion running from mania at one extreme to severe depression at the other. In most cases, the person cycles between these two extremes over a period of days, weeks, or months, with periods of apparent normality in between. During the manic phase the person exhibits agitation, an emotional high where everything seems possible, high energy with little apparent need for sleep, a flood of ideas coming one right after the other, and irrationalty. During the depressive phase the opposite is evident: little energy, difficulty in initiating activity, slowed thought processes, serious depression. Irrationality is again present -- the person may believe that he or she has done some horrible thing for which they are being punished, for example. As with schizophrenia, there is some evidence that genetics is a factor in that relatives of someone with the disorder are somewhat more likley than nonrelatives also to develop it, but the actual causes remain unknown. The disorder appears to relate to a problem in the regulation of synaptic sensitivities in a certain class of neurotransmitters; one of the effective drug treatments, lithium chloride, may act to stabilize this sensitivity and thereby stop the cycling.