Psychological Disorders

AP Psychology
Mr. Holland
Defining Disorders
 There is no “normal” person per se
 Psychological Disorders are defined as
“Harmful dysfunctions.” They need to be
judged atypical, maladaptive, disturbing and
unjustifiable.
 The medical model is a way of
understanding disorders that includes the
notion that disorders are diagnosable and
“curable” through therapy.
Defining Disorders

 The Bio-Psycho-Social model – The

current understanding of behavior and
disorders that states that they are a
combination of both nature (genetics) and
nurture (environment or past experiences).
Specifically, biology, psychology, and socio-
cultural factors combine to produce disorders
Defining Disorders

 DSM-IV – the official guidebook of

diagnosing disorders, important for
psychologists and important financially for
insurance companies
Neurotic disorders – disorder that still allows
rational thinking and social interaction
Psychotic disorders – disorder where person
loses contact with reality
Anxiety Disorders

 Generalized Anxiety Disorder – A disorder

where a person is constantly tense,
apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic
arousal.
 Panic Disorder – an anxiety disorder
marked by minutes long episodes of intense
dread, chest pain, choking, or other scary
sensations.
Phobias

 Phobias focus anxiety on a specific object,

activity or situation. For example,
Arachnophobia is the irrational fear of
spiders.
 Phobias are marked not only by fear but by
physical symptoms, sweating, tension,
diarrhea, etc.
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD)

 Anxiety disorder marked by unwanted

repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and or
actions (compulsions).
Explaining Anxiety

 Fear Conditioning and Stimulus

Generalization
 Reinforcement – compulsive acts reducing
tension
 Observational Learning
 Natural Selection
 Genes/Physiology
Mood Disorders

Major Depressive Disorder – occurs when

signs of depression (lethargy, feeling
worthless, loss of interest in family, friends,
and activities) last over two weeks without
any notable cause
Bipolar Disorder – A disorder where a person
alternates between depression and mania or
an overexcited state.
Mood Disorders

 Biological aspects – Many mood disorders

can be linked to physiology mostly having to
do with neurotransmitters.
 Norepinephrine – is a neurotransmitter that
uplifts mood and causes arousal. It is over
abundant in manic episodes and scarce
during depression.
 Serotonin is also scare in depression
Mood Disorders

 Most modern drugs that help depression

work by blocking the reuptake or breakdown
of serotonin (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil).
 Most people who suffer depression are
smokers, nicotine is known to help release
norepinephrine the mood booster
Social Cognitive Perspective

 This perspective focuses on the fact that

depression can often feed itself. For
example thinking negative thoughts can
cause depressive moods, and depressive
moods also feed negative thoughts. Either of
these can cause cognitive and behavioral
changes that can reinforce the behavior all
over again
Schizophrenia

 Schizophrenia literally means “split mind.”

 Symptoms include – disorganized thinking, a
breakdown in selective attention, delusions
(often of persecution or grandeur),
hallucinations (usually auditory),
inappropriate emotional responses
Schizophrenia

 Negative symptoms – people have flat

emotional responses or are catatonic
 Positive symptoms – people who act out
their delusions or speak of their
hallucinations etc.
Schizophrenia Subtypes

 Paranoid – Persecution with delusions or

hallucinations
 Disorganized – disorganized speech or
behavior
 Undifferentiated – many varied symptoms
 Residual – withdraw, after hallucinations and
delusions have disappeared
Understanding Schizophrenia

 Dopamine overactivity – Most Schizophrenia

patients have at least a 6 fold increase over
normal amounts of dopamine receptors this
probably underlies people overreacting to
irrelevant external stimuli.
 Many theories think that a prenatal virus
might affect one’s chances of having
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia

 Genetic factors – twin and adoption studies

indicate that there is a genetic connection
Personality Disorders

 Disorders that are marked by inflexible and

enduring behavior patterns that impair social
functioning.
 Avoidant Personality Disorder – withdrawn
behavior due to fear of rejection
 Schizoid Personality Disorder – Social
disengagement, inability to show or feel
emotion toward people
Personality Disorder
 Histrionic Personality Disorder - characterized by
a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention
seeking, including an excessive need for approval
and inappropriate seductiveness, usually beginning
in early adulthood.
 Narcissistic Personality Disorder – Person greatly
exaggerates their own importance, aided by success
fantasies. Can’t take criticism often reacting with
great shame or rage.
Personality Disorder
 Borderline Personality Disorder – Person is
completely unstable, unstable relationships, unstable
identity, unstable emotions.
 Antisocial Personality Disorder – (psychopath)
Typically a male with a total lack of conscious. They
lie, cheat, steal, fight, display unrestrained sexual
behavior. Most criminals do not fit this disorder
because they do care about someone, family, friends
etc.