Psychological Disorders:

Abnormality

Psychopathology: Scientific study of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders; abnormal or maladaptive behavior.

Maladaptive Behavior: Behaviour arising from dysfunction which makes it difficult to function & adapt to the environment.

Insanity: Inability to manage one’s affairs or foresee the consequences of actions.

Types of Abnormality

Statistical Abnormality: Having extreme scores on some dimension, such as intelligence, anxiety, or depression.

Social Nonconformity: Disobeying societal standards for normal and acceptable conduct.

Situational Context: Social situation, behavioral setting, or general circumstances in which an action takes place.

Cultural Relativity: Judgments are made relative to the values of one’s culture.

Subjective Discomfort: Private feelings of pain, unhappiness, or emotional distress.

Types of Symptoms (Abnormality)

Mental illness is diagnosed by establishing the presence or absence of a number of symptoms, assessing duration of symptoms and extent to which it interfere with life.

Positive Symptoms: Symptoms in excess, or exaggerations.

Negative Symptoms: Deficiencies or absences compared to normal behaviour.

Comorbidities: Presence of more than 1 disorder at the same time.

General Risk Factors (Abnormality)

Risk factors are classified into the biopsychosocial model by George Engel.

Biological factors: Organic vs. Environmental.

Psychological factors: Self-esteem, personality, stress level, emotional regulation skills.

Social factors: Family system/functionality, work/school conditions, peers, loneliness.

Neurodevelopmental vs Neurocognitive Disorders

Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Nervous system damage that arise prior to adulthood.

Neurocognitive Disorders: Problems not arising until adulthood.

Neurocognitive disorders are often serious mental impairments in old age caused by deterioration of the brain.

Psychotic Disorders

Psychosis: Loss of contact with shared views of reality.

Hallucinations: Imaginary sensations. Seeing, hearing, or smelling things.

Delusions: False beliefs that individuals insist are true.

Risk Factors (Psychotic Disorders)

Individuals may inherit a potential for developing disorders.

Biochemical Abnormality: Disturbance in brain chemicals or neurotransmitters. Ex: Dopamine.

Early Psychological Trauma: Psychological injury or shock, caused by violence, abuse.

Disturbed Family Environment: Stressful or unhealthy family relationships, communication patterns.

Deviant Communication Patterns: Cause guilt, anxiety, anger and confusion. Ex: double bind communication.

Mood Disorder

Characterised by major disturbances in emotions.

Depressive disorders:

Sadness and despondency are exaggerated, prolonged, or unreasonable.

Low mood, irritability, lack interest.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Major depressive disorder with seasonal patterns.

Bipolar disorders:

Mania: Period of abnormally excessive energy and elation.

Loud, energetic, hyperactive.

Bipolar Disorder Type 1 & 2: Both episodes of depression and mania.

Cyclothymia Disorder: Relatively moderate, but longer lasting form of bipolar disorder.

Suicide

A diagnosable mental health issue tend to underlie all suicides.

Risk factors: Situational, Personal, Gender, Marital status.

Anxiety

Feelings of apprehension, dread, uneasiness, worry, or fear.

Types:

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic disorder, Social Anxiety, Specific Phobias.

GAD

At least 6 months

Psychological: Excessive & constant worry.

Physical: Restlessness, fatigue, sleep disturbance, muscle tension.

Panic Disorder

Presence of panic.

Psychological: Recurrent panic attacks, anxiousness directed towards next panic attack, sense of impending doom.

Physical: Trembling, shaking, fear of dying, chest pain, palpitations, nausea.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Fear or anxiety towards social situations, fear of negative evaluation, avoidance of social situations.

Specific Phobias

Intense irrational fears focused on particular objects or activities.

Personality Disorder

Long-standing, inflexible ways of behaving that create a variety of problems.

Types: Histrionic Personality Disorders, Borderline Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Histrionic Personality Disorders

Constant attention seeking behaviour, through dramatizing their emotions and actions.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Pattern of instability in personal relationships, intense emotions, violent mood swings.

May go to great lengths to avoid being abandoned.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Pattern of disregarding or violating the rights of others.

May not conform to social norms, may repeatedly lie or deceive others, or may act impulsively.