Psychological Disorders

What are Psychological Disorders?

A pattern of behaviour causes distress and dysfunction

Distinguishing Abnormal from Normal

  • Standards used by psychologists to differentiate between abnormal and normal

    • Infrequency

      • Useful but imperfect

    • Deviation from social norms

      • Must understand and consider cultural context

    • Personal distress

      • A stronger hallmark in some disorders

    • Impairment in daily functioning

    • Distress, Dysfunction, Deviance, Danger

Anxiety Disorders

  • DSM-5

    • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

    • Describes over 400 mental disorders

    • Describe symptoms that must be represented for diagnosing each disorder

      • only describes and does not give treatment recommendations

  • FEAR VS. ANXIETY

  • Fear:

    • reaction to threat

    • breathing goes up, muscle tension, perspiration

    • adaptive

    • fight or flight

  • Anxiety:

    • Vague sense of danger

    • breathing goes up, muscle tension, sweat

    • inappropriate

    • disorders

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

  • Characteristics

    • Excessive anxiety

    • worry about anything all the time

    • “free-floating” anxiety

    • No danger

  • Symptoms

    • Restlessness

    • easy fatigue

    • irritability

    • muscle tension

    • sleep disturbance

      • last at least 6 months

Panic Disorder

  • Extreme anxiety > No threat

  • Periodic, sudden, peak & pass

  • People fear

    • going crazy

    • will die

    • lose control

  • Symptoms:

  • Recurring & Unexpected

  • anticipatory anxiety

  • behaviour change

  • last at least 1 month

Phobias

  • All have fears at some point, but normal common experience

    • How do phobias differ from those “normal” experiences

      • more intense fear greater desire to avoid the feared object or situation

      • distress that interferes with functioning

      • persistent & unreasonable

      • at least 6 months

Explaining Anxiety Disorders

Psychological → faulty cognitions

→ maladaptive learning

Biological

  1. Evolutionary predispositions

  2. Genetic predispositions

  3. Biochemical disturbances

Socioculture - cultural pressures

Mood Disorders

Definition: Extreme disturbances in emotional states.

Two sides:

Depression————————Normal——————————Mania

2 week —————————————————————

Bipolar disorder: Bounce from pole to pole, mania for 1-2 weeks to depression for months

Two major types:

  • Major Depressive Disorder

  • Bipolar Disorder

    Depression

  • Emotions: I feel sad, worthless

  • Thoughts: Nothing I do is ever right

  • Behaviors: Withdrawing less active

  • Physical Symptoms: Fatigue, headaches

  • Motivation: Nothing interests me

    Bipolar (when manic)

  • Emotions: I feel so energetic

  • Thoughts: I can do anything

  • Behaviours: Reckless

  • Physical Symptoms: Lots of energy, no sleep

  • Motivation: I want to do so much

Explaining Mood Disorders

  • Biological Factors

    • Structural brain changes

    • neurotransmitter imbalances

    • genetics

    • generally adaptive response (evolutionary perspective, context)

  • Psychological Factors

    • Learned helplessness

    • Attribution (internal, stable & Global)

      • Internal: “I’m such a loser, it’s all my fault”

      • Stable: “I am never going to find anyone again”

      • Global: “I always screw everything up”

  • Sociocultural Factors:

    • Environmental stressors

    • Relationship disturbances

    • Thought disturbances