5.3 Explaining and Classifying Psychological Disorders

Psychological disorder

a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior

To be a disorder, must be MUDA

Maladaptive, unjustifiable, disturbing, abnormal

DSM-5

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistic Manual to classify mental disorders

Updated regularly

ICD

the international classification of mental disorders, developed by the world health organization to also classify mental disorders

Updated regularly

Eclectic approach

using more than one psychological perspective

psychologists use this when diagnosing and treating(therapy) clients

Behavioral perspective of psych disorders

disorders are maladaptive learned associations between or among responses to stimuli

Psychodynamic perspective

disorders come from unconscious thoughts and experiences, often developed during childhood

Humanistic perspective

disorders are a lack of social support and being unable to fulfill one’s potential

Cognitive perspective

disorders are maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or emotions

Evolutionary perspective

disorders are behavior and mental processes that reduce the likelihood of survival

Sociocultural perspective

maladaptive social and cultural relationships and dynamics

ex cultural would be susto in Latin American which is fear of black magic and taijin kyofusho in Japan, which is social anxiety about appearance combined with a readiness to blush and a fear of eye contact, eating disorders in Western culture

Biological perspective

disorders are physiological or genetic issues

Interaction models

biopsychosocial model and Diathesis-stress model

Biopsychosocial model

Any psychological problem involves a combination of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

mind and body and inseparable

negative emotions can contribute to physical illness, and physical abnormalties can likewise contribute to negative emotions

gave rise to the diathesis stress model AKA stress vulnerability model

Diathesis-stress model

Genetic vulnerability(diathesis) + stress = psychological disorder

supported by epigenetics(environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change) research