Psychological Disorders Notes

Psychological Disorders

• Definition: No universal definition, varies with culture.
• Characteristics:
  • Abnormal thoughts, feelings, behaviors.
  • Distressful, dysfunctional, and sometimes dangerous.
  • APA Definition:
  • Significant disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
  • Reflect biological, psychological, or developmental dysfunction.
  • Cause significant distress/disability in life.
  • Not expected/culturally approved responses, e.g., extreme sadness after a family member's death.

DSM-5

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Ed., APA)
  • Used widely in research.
  • Provides explicit diagnostic criteria.

Biopsychosocial Framework

• Emphasizes the role of biological, psychological, and social factors.
• Promotes seeing individuals as “having” a disorder instead of “being disordered.”
• Diathesis-Stress Model:
  • Predisposition (diathesis) + Environmental factors (stress).

Anxiety Disorders

• Fear vs. Anxiety:
  • Fear: Immediate reaction to imminent threat.
  • Anxiety: Apprehensive about potential danger.
• Symptoms include excessive, persistent fear and anxiety leading to behavioral disturbances.
• Prevalence: Affects 25%-30% of the U.S. population, more common in women.

Specific Phobia

• Excessive and persistent fear/anxiety about specific objects/situations.
• Common Phobias:
  • Acrophobia: Heights.
  • Aerophobia: Flying.
  • Arachnophobia: Spiders.
  • Claustrophobia: Enclosed spaces.
• Agoraphobia: Fear of situations where escape may be difficult, e.g., public transport, crowds.

Social Anxiety Disorder

• Extreme fear/anxiety about being evaluated negatively in social situations.
• Leads to lower educational attainment and employment issues.
• Safety Behaviors include avoiding eye contact, rehearsing sentences.

Panic Disorder

• Characterized by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks and persistent concern about future attacks.
• Panic Attack: Extreme fear or discomfort, peaks within 10 minutes, can be expected or unexpected.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

• Continuous excessive worry & apprehension not attributable to other disorders; symptoms for more than 6 months.
• Symptoms include restlessness, fatigue, irritability, etc.
• Prevalence: 5.7% of U.S. population; twice as likely in females.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

• Obsessions: Intrusive, unwanted thoughts.
• Compulsions: Repetitive behaviors to alleviate distress from obsessions.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

• Preoccupation with perceived physical flaws, resulting in significant distress and repetitive behaviors (e.g., mirror checking).

Hoarding Disorder

• Difficulty discarding possessions, leading to clutter that severely impacts living spaces.

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)

• Result of exposure to traumatic events, with symptoms lasting over a month including flashbacks and emotional withdrawal.

Mood Disorders

• Massive disruptions in mood affecting life functioning.
• Depressive Disorders: Intense sadness.
• Bipolar Disorders: Fluctuations between depression and mania.

Major Depressive Disorder

• Criteria include depressed mood and loss of interest, symptoms causing distress or impairment for at least two weeks.

Bipolar Disorder

• Mood states between depression and mania.
• Mania Symptoms: Excessive talkativeness, irritability, grandiosity, impulsivity.

Cognitive Distortions

• Irrational thoughts that influence emotions; can lead to extreme debilitation.

Schizophrenia

• Symptoms:
  • Hallucinations (often auditory), Delusions (paranoid, grandiose), Disorganized thinking.
  • Negative Symptoms: Avolition, Alogia, Asociality, Anhedonia.

Personality Disorders

• Marked by inflexible personality styles differing from cultural expectations, typically beginning in adolescence/early adulthood.
• Clusters:
  • Cluster A: Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal.
  • Cluster B: Antisocial, Histrionic, Narcissistic, Borderline.
  • Cluster C: Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive.

Borderline Personality Disorder

• Instability in relationships and self-image, impulsivity, fear of abandonment.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

• Lack of regard for others’ rights; symptoms include impulsivity, lying, legal issues.

ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)

• Characterized by inattention and hyperactive behavior impacting functioning.
• Symptoms include disorganization, excessive movement, impulsivity.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

• Symptoms: Deficits in social interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors.
• Prevalence: Approx. 1 in 88 children; higher in boys.

Mental Health Treatment

• No treatment mentioned in detail but implicit understanding of therapy’s role in managing symptoms.

Exam Preparation Reminders

• Upcoming topics and dates for review sessions and exams.