Chapter 14: Overview of Psychological Disorders

Ancient Greece

Categories like mania, melancholia, and phrenitis based on imbalance of bodily fluids.

Middle Ages Europe

Madness was seen as demonic possession.

Modern Era

Disorders now categorized based on symptoms that occur together, integrating nature and nurture.

Philippe Pinel

Introduced moral treatment — close contact and careful observation of patients.

Dorothea Dix

Transformed asylums into treatment centers, applying the medical model of sickness.

Maladaptive Behavior

Interferes with appropriate situational responses.

Self-Destructive Behavior

Harms oneself.

Threatening Behavior

Threatens others.

Non-Normative Behavior

Outside of cultural norms.

Psychopathology

Sickness or disorder of the mind.

DSM-5

Categorical approach: You either fit a disorder or you don't.

Major Depressive Disorder

Requires 4+ symptoms for 2+ weeks.

Dimensional Approach

Disorders are placed on a spectrum of severity.

Beck Depression Inventory

Scores from 1 to 40.

Comorbidity

People often meet criteria for multiple disorders, but DSM treats them as separate.

Diathesis-Stress Model

Disorders arise from the interaction of a biological predisposition (diathesis) and environmental stress.

Anxiety Disorders

Fear or anxiety in the absence of real danger.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Constant, free-floating anxiety with no specific trigger.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Fear of being negatively evaluated, especially in public settings.

Specific Phobia

Intense fear triggered by specific stimuli (e.g., spiders, snakes).

Agoraphobia

Fear of being unable to escape (e.g., public transit), can lead to never leaving home.

Panic Attacks

Sudden episodes of intense fear, lasting several minutes, with symptoms like sweating, trembling, racing heart, dry mouth, shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

4+ symptoms for more than 2 weeks, including extreme sadness, loss of interest, and hopelessness.

Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia)

Long-term, low-level depression lasting years.

Bipolar Disorders

Extreme mood swings between mania and depression.

Bipolar I

Severe manic episodes, sometimes with depression.

Bipolar II

Hypomania (milder mania) with at least one depressive episode.

Schizophrenia

A psychotic disorder involving disconnection from reality (psychosis).