Psych 301 10 8 3 Mental Disorders II Amusing but serious note When first learning about mental disorders nearly all students think they recognize the various symptoms in their own behavior This is known as Medical Student Syndrome Many symptoms resemble life s normal problems leaning people studying illnesses to start thinking they have those illnesses This can at times become a very powerful and disturbing delusion I actually spent a great deal of my undergraduate years convinced I had one mental disorder or another While the disorders we re discussing do occur in people and it is important to address them when they do please keep in mind that your objectivity is seriously limited when learning about these things and applying them to yourself Schizophrenia A mental disorder with changes in perceptions emotions thoughts and consciousness Split mind derived from disconnection of cognition and emotion NO relation to multiple personality disorder Subtypes of schizophrenia Table 16 3 Two categories of characteristics Positive symptoms Excesses in functioning Include delusions and hallucinations Table 16 4 Negative symptoms Deficits in functioning Include flat affect social withdrawal and reduced speech Loosening of associations A speech pattern among schizophrenics in which thoughts are disorganized and meaningless to the listener Biological factors in schizophrenia Schizophrenia runs in families Figure 16 11 High twin concordance rate and other genetic indicators Rate of schizophrenia is similar across cultures Personality disorders A class of mental disorders marked by inflexible and maladaptive ways of interacting with the world Subtypes Table 16 5 Classified in DSM on Axis II along with mental retardation Because both are expected to last throughout lifetime with no expectation of significant change Borderline personality disorder Clinical features Table 16 6 lack strong sense of self fear of abandonment manipulative emotionally unstable Connected to mood disorders high rates of mood disorders in family both linked to serotonin Often triggered by trauma or abuse Antisocial personality disorder Marked by lack of empathy or remorse Shallow interpersonal relationships Impulsivity and sensation seeking Biological indicators Low general arousal level Deficits in frontal lobe functioning Childhood disorders Separate from adult disorders take into account normal development Table 16 7 Autism Developmental disorder involving deficits in social interaction impaired communication restricted interests Causal factors High twin concordance rate High sibling concordance rate Possible prenatal or neonatal events causing brain dysfunction Low levels of oxytocin Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Characteristics Restless inattentive and impulsive behaviors Require repeated explanations Difficulty processing social cues Causes Genetic component indicated by familial and twin concordance Frontal lobes and limbic system Figure 16 14
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