Overview of Psychological Disorders and Their Models

Psychological disorders

Characterized by rare or unusual behavior, faulty perceptions or interpretations of reality, severe personal distress, and self-defeating, dangerous, and socially unacceptable behaviors.

Diathesis-stress model

Assumes a biological difference between individuals that would explain why some develop certain disorders under stress.

Biopsychosocial model

Combination of biological vulnerabilities, psychological factors such as exposure to stress, and sociocultural factors.

Prevalence of psychological disorders

About 50 percent of people will experience a psychological disorder at some point in time, most often starting in childhood or adolescence.

Annual prevalence of psychological disorders

Slightly more than 25 percent will experience a psychological disorder in any given year.

Specific phobia

Persistent fear of a specific object or situation.

Generalized anxiety disorder

Feelings of dread and foreboding and sympathetic arousal for at least six months in duration, with symptoms including irritability, insomnia, and racing heart.

Claustrophobia

Fear of tight, small places.

Acrophobia

Fear of high places.

Agoraphobia

Fear of open, crowded places, affecting 3% to 4% of the population.

Social anxiety disorder

An irrational, excessive fear of public scrutiny, also known as social phobia.

Panic disorder

Recurrent experiencing of attacks of extreme anxiety in the absence of external stimuli that usually elicit anxiety.

Biological issues

Most psychological disorders can be attributed to biological issues.

Historical beliefs about psychological disorders

In the 17th and 18th centuries, many believed psychological disorders were caused by demons, and syphilis could distort the workings of the mind.

Phobias

Conditioned fears acquired through observational learning.

Biological view of anxiety

Anxiety can be caused due to genetic factors reflecting natural selection.

Biopsychosocial view

Cause of anxiety is the interaction of biological, social, and psychological factors.

Symptoms of panic or anxiety

Signs may include a racing heart, irritability, insomnia, or other symptoms.

Panic disorder diagnosis

Reserved for those who undergo multiple attacks or live in fear of attacks.

Panic attacks

Seem to come from nowhere and can lead to fear of having an attack in public.

Panic disorder with agoraphobia

Diagnosis for individuals who avoid public spaces due to fear of panic attacks.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Characterized by recurrent, anxiety-provoking thoughts or images that seem irrational.

Compulsions

Urges to engage in thoughts or specific acts that tend to reduce anxiety.

Hoarding Disorder

Overpowering need to accumulate certain possessions and difficulty discarding them.

Body dysmorphic disorder

Preoccupation with exaggerated or imagined physical defects.

Continuous hair pulling

A symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder involving compulsive skin-picking.

Genetic factors in OCD

Involved in OCD as in anxiety disorders, but individuals can be treated, not necessarily cured.

International OCD Foundation Genetics Collaborative

Research group that discovered parts of genetic material involved in OCD.

Poll statement on OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorders are genetic and therefore incurable. (False)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Caused by a traumatic event, revisits the person in the form of intrusive memories, recurrent dreams, and flashbacks.

Vulnerability to PTSD

Related to perceived threat to one's life, childhood history of sexual abuse, lack of coping responses, lack of social support, and genetic factors.

Acute stress disorder

Occurs within a month of the event and lasts from two days to four weeks.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

Two or more identities, each with distinct traits, occupy the same person; formerly known as multiple personality disorder.

Dissociative amnesia

Sudden inability to recall important personal information, not due to organic problems.

Depersonalization-derealization disorder

People feel detached from themselves or that the world is unreal.

Learning theorists and cognitive psychologists view on dissociative disorders

Dissociative disorders help people keep disturbing memories or impulses out of mind.

Discussion on PTSD susceptibility

Studies indicate women are more vulnerable to PTSD than men due to factors like testosterone boosting self-confidence and physical strength.

Somatoform disorders

People complain of physical problems with no evidence of a physical abnormality.

Illness anxiety disorder

Insistence of serious physical illness, even if there is no medical evidence; may seek multiple doctors to find cause of sensations.

Conversion disorder

Major change in, or loss of, physical functioning with no medical findings to explain function loss; behavior is not intentionally produced.

La belle indifférence

A term associated with conversion disorder, indicating a lack of concern about the significant loss of functioning.

Biopsychosocial perspective

Form of self-hypnosis where people focus intently on an imaginary physical problem, excluding conflicting information.

Mood disorders

Characterized by severe or prolonged disturbance in an individual's feeling states, impairing their ability to function.

Extreme mood swings

Fluctuations between elated or manic phases and depressive behaviors.

Elated or manic phase

Characterized by argumentative behavior, poor judgments, pressured speech, and rapid flight of ideas.

Depressive behaviors

Include lethargy, insomnia, and agitation.

Major depressive disorder

Serious to severe depressive disorder in which a person may show poor appetite, serious weight loss, and agitation or psychomotor retardation.

Psychomotor retardation

Slowness in motor activity and thought.

Psychotic behavior in depression

Includes delusions of unworthiness, guilt for imagined wrongdoings, or the notion that one is rotting from disease.

Difference between illness anxiety disorder and conversion disorder

Those suffering from illness anxiety disorder often have no evidence of illness, while those with conversion disorder show a loss of physical functioning without medical explanation.

Psychological view

A perspective that includes learning theorists who believe people lack reinforcement and have an external locus of control, linking depression to learned helplessness.

Cognitive factors

Elements such as perfectionism, unrealistic expectations, and attributional styles that contribute to depression.

Biological view

A perspective that suggests underutilization of neurotransmitter serotonin is linked to depression.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Medications that may treat depression by heightening the action of serotonin.

Biopsychosocial view

A perspective that considers biological predisposition, self-efficacy expectations, and attitudes as key roles in depression.

Suicide

The second leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds.

Risk factors for suicide

Include feelings of depression and hopelessness, adolescent psychological problems, stressful life events, and familial experience with psychological disorders and/or suicide.

Sociocultural factors in suicide

Suicide is more common among college students than those of the same age who do not attend college.

Older people and suicide

Older unmarried or divorced people have a suicide rate that is double that of older married people.

Suicide rates across ethnic groups

One in six Native Americans, one in eight Latin Americans, eight percent of European Americans, and African Americans are least likely to attempt suicide.

Gender differences in suicide rates

Three times as many females as males attempt suicide, but five times as many males succeed in suicide.

Suicidal thinking

Not necessarily a sign of anxiety disorders, loss of touch with reality, or personality disorder; may occur when individuals feel they have run out of options.

Attributional styles

The ways individuals explain the causes of their failures, which can increase or decrease their likelihood of depression.

Internal attribution

Involves self-blame, such as saying 'I really messed it up.'

External attribution

Places the blame elsewhere, for example, 'Some couples just don't take to each other.'

Stable attribution

Suggests a problem that cannot be changed, like saying 'It's my personality.'

Unstable attribution

Suggests a temporary condition, such as 'It was because I had a head cold.'

Global attribution

Indicates that the problem is quite large, for example, 'I have no idea what to do when I'm with other people.'

Schizophrenia

Severe psychological disorder characterized by disturbances in thought and language, perception and attention, motor activity and mood, leading to withdrawal and absorption in fantasy.

Thought disorder

Another term for schizophrenia, highlighting problems in thinking and communication abilities.

Delusions of grandeur

A type of delusion where an individual believes they have exceptional abilities, wealth, or fame.

Delusions of persecution

A type of delusion where an individual believes they are being targeted or harassed by others.

Delusions of reference

A type of delusion where an individual believes that common elements of the environment are directly related to them.

Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Presence of inappropriate behaviors such as agitated behavior, hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, and nonsensical speech.

Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Absence of appropriate behaviors, including flat, emotionless voices, blank faces, rigid, motionless bodies, and mutism.

Hallucinations

Sensory experiences without external stimuli; auditory hallucinations are the most common in schizophrenia.

Motor activity in Schizophrenia

Motor activity may become wild or slowed, leading to conditions such as stupor, catatonia, and waxy flexibility.

Emotional responses in Schizophrenia

Emotional responses may be flat, blunted, or completely inappropriate.

Withdrawal from social contacts

A common symptom of schizophrenia where individuals isolate themselves from social interactions.

Psychological view of Schizophrenia

Suggests that people engage in schizophrenic behavior when it is more likely to be reinforced than normal behavior.

Sociocultural view of Schizophrenia

Proposes that social and cultural factors, such as poverty, poor parenting, discrimination, and overcrowding, may contribute to the cause of schizophrenia.

Biopsychosocial view of Schizophrenia

Indicates that genetic factors create predisposition or vulnerability toward schizophrenia, interacting with other factors to give rise to the disorder.

Biological view of Schizophrenia

Attributes schizophrenia to differences in brain structures, heredity, complications during pregnancy and birth, poor maternal nutrition, birth during winter, and overutilization of dopamine.

Schizophrenic behavior

Behavior that is more likely to be reinforced than normal behavior according to the psychological view.

Sociocultural view

A perspective that suggests social and cultural factors may contribute to the cause of schizophrenia.

Biopsychosocial view

A perspective that indicates genetic factors create predisposition or vulnerability toward schizophrenia.

Genetic vulnerability

An interaction of genetic factors with other influences that gives rise to schizophrenia.

Personality Disorders

Characterized by enduring patterns of behavior that are maladaptive and inflexible, impairing personal or social functioning.

Narcissistic personality disorder

Characterized by an inflated self-image, extreme need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others.

Antisocial personality disorder

Characterized by impulsivity and a careless lifestyle; more common in men.

Borderline personality disorder

Characterized by instability in relationships, self-image, and mood, with a lack of control over impulses.

Paranoid personality disorder

Characterized by persistent suspiciousness without the disorganization of paranoid schizophrenia.

Histrionic personality disorder

Characterized by overly dramatic and emotional behavior, demanding to be the center of attention.

Schizoid personality disorder

Characterized by social aloofness and shallow or blunted emotions.

Schizotypal personality disorder

Characterized by persistent difficulty forming close social relationships and odd or peculiar beliefs and behaviors.

Avoidant personality disorder

Characterized by a chronic pattern of avoiding social relationships due to fears of rejection.

Dependent personality disorder

Characterized by excessive dependence on others, clinging, and difficulty making independent decisions.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

Characterized by excessive needs for orderliness and perfectionism, with rigid ways of relating to others.

Biological factors

Factors that include genetic influences on personality traits and brain structure, such as less gray matter in the prefrontal cortex for antisocial personalities.

Psychological factors

Factors that suggest maladaptive behaviors are attributed to childhood experiences.