PSYCH CHAPTER 15 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS History of Psychological Disorders Human skulls with holes cut into them trephining have been found The holes were cut when the person was still alive and the person survived the procedure as there is evidence of healing Cut holes to release the demon thought to possess the victim Demonic possession was thought to be the reason for mental illness Hippocrates claims mental illnesses were the result of imbalances in the body s humors vital fluids In middle ages mental ill were called witches and put to death Present day abnormalities are viewed from a medical model Statistical or Social Norm Deviance Frequently occurring behavior is normal Rare or infrequent behavior is abnormal Measured by how much behavior differs from what is considered the social norm in society Situational context social or environmental setting of a person s behavior Subjective discomfort emotional distress when engaging in a behavior or thought process Maladaptive thinking or behaviors person finds it hard to adapt to the demands of day to day living Can help a person cope but has harmful effects Abnormality classifies as having two of these five criteria Thinking or unusual behavior Thinking or behavior that goes against social norms Behavior or psychological function cause subjective discomfort Is the thought process or behavior maladaptive and result in the inability to function Thought process or behavior causes the person to be dangerous to self or others Psychological disorder pattern of behavior or psychological functioning that causes people significant distress harm themselves or others or harms their ability to function in daily life Insanity legal term used to argue a mentally ill person should not be held responsible for crime because they don t understand difference between right and wrong at time of the offense argument called insanity defense Models of Abnormality The biological model medical causes for psych disorders Proposes psych disorders have a medical cause Faulty neurotransmitter systems genetic problems and brain damage Not all diseases can be cured but can be controlled Psychological models Psychodynamic view Based on freud s work Explains disoriented thinking and behavior as the result of repressing thoughts memories and concerns in the unconscious mind When these thoughts try to resurface and disordered functioning develops to keep the thoughts repressed Behaviorism Learning Problems States disordered behavior is learned Cognitive perspective thinking problems The sociocultural perspective Cognitive psychologists study the way people think remember and mentally organize info They see maladaptive functioning as a result of illogical thinking patterns Abnormal thinking or behavior is the product of behavioral shaping within the context of family influences the social group to which one belongs and the culture in which they exist Cultural relativity the need to consider unique characteristics of the culture in which a person with a disorder was nurtured to be able to correctly diagnose and treat the disorder Culture bound syndromes disorders unique to specific cultures Cultural syndromes illness within a culture recognized as a distinct set of symptoms or characteristics of distress Cultural idioms of distress terms used to describe suffering in a given cultural context Cultural explanations perceived cause culturally defined ways of explaining the source or cause of symptoms and illness Biopsychosocial Perspective Biological psychological and social causes of abnormality interact with each other Biopsychosocial model how accepting a culture is of a specific disorder and the affect it has on the exact degree and form the disorder might take Diagnosing and Classifying Disorders DSM resource that helps psychological professional diagnose psychological disorders DSM5 includes a change in organization of disorders modification of terminology used to describe disorders and their symptoms and discusses possible dimensional assessments for some disorders in future versions Describes 250 disorders Describes disorders by symptoms path disorder takes as it progresses and a check list of criteria for that disorder Uses a single axis rather than 5 used previously with provisions for noting facts about the individual How Common are Psychological Disorders Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in U S and Canada Common to suffer from more than one mental disorder at a time Pros and Cons of Labels DSM 5 helps diagnose with labels to explain condition Labels can be helpful as they make up a common language in the health community Establish distinct diagnostic categories that professionals recognize and understand Labels can be prejudicial and can stick even when symptoms disappear Affect how other people see mental patients and how they see themselves Disorders Anxiety Stress Trauma Anxiety disorders most dominant symptom is excessive or unrealistic anxiety Free floating anxiety anxiety unrelated to any realistic or specific known factor Phobic Disorders Phobia anxiety disorder irrational persistent fear May fear an object person or social situation Social anxiety disorder social phobia disorder fear of interacting with others or being in a social situation Afraid of being evaluated in a negative way by others Avoid situations that could be embarrassing Very self conscious Stage fright fear of public speaking fear of urinating in a public bathroom Specific phobias Irrational fear of an object or situation Claustrophobia fear of being in small enclosed spaces Acrophobia fear of heights Agoraphobia Fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is impossible if something were to go wrong Cannot avoid their phobia because it involves being outside in the real world Panic Disorder Sudden onset of extreme panic with various physical symptoms Racing heart rapid breathing feeling out of body dulled hearing and vision dry mouth and sweating Occurs suddenly without warning Common in adolescent girls and young women Panic disorder when panic attacks occur more than once and become frequent cause persistent worry or changes in behavior Generalized Anxiety Disorder Excessive anxiety and worries occur frequently for 6 months Source of feelings cannot be pinpointed Person cannot control feelings Worry over everything feel tense tired have trouble concentrating are irritable have muscle aches and sleeping problems Obsessive Compulsive Disorder A
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