Psychological Disorders: Abnormality, Diagnosis, and Anxiety Disorders
1. Behavior is often judged abnormal when it is:
A. Deviant: Does not fit societal expectations.
B. Maladaptive: Everyday functioning is substantially impaired.
C. Personal distress: The behavior causes great personal discomfort.
"When behavior is deviant, dysfunctional, and distressful, psychiatrists and psychologists label it disordered" (Myers, 2007).
2. Defining abnormality involves value judgments.
3. Important: Abnormality rests on a continuum. There are degrees of abnormality and normality.
4. The rise of the medical model of mental illness.
Trephination
in 5500 year-old skull from Europe. The person survived.
5. Contemporary classification of disorders
A. DSM--Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
B. Multiple dimensions of a diagnosis--each called an "axis". Axis I (Clinical syndromes) is where most disorders are grouped. Axis II involves long-term personality disorders or mental retardation.
C. There are over 200 classified disorders.
D. Lifetime prevalence of identifiable DSM disorders in the U.S. population:
E. Important: Do not fall prey to the psychology version of the "medical student syndrome."
6. Anxiety disorders are marked by excessive and chronic episodes of apprehension. It is important to realize that anxiety is an appropriate response to an actual threat. Disorders are more extreme.
7. General anxiety disorder: Chronic, free-floating anxiety about most areas of life. Constant worry about future decisions and past actions.
8. Phobic disorder: Persistent fear about a specific object or situation.
9. Panic disorder: Recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that occur unexpectedly. After many such attacks, a person sometimes becomes extremely fearful in being in public places, called agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is now considered to be a complication of panic attacks rather than a specific phobia.
10. Obsessive-compulsive disorder
A. Obsessions: Recurrent, troubling thoughts or images that disrupt daily functioning.
B. Compulsions: Repetitive behaviors intended to rid oneself of the troubling thought or image.
C. Remember--obsessions give rise to compulsions.
11. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Enduring psychological disturbance due to experiencing a severe event.
A. Seen most often in natural disaster and accident victims, combat veterans, victims of personal violence. First responders are also susceptible.
B. Symptoms include nightmares and flashbacks, elevated arousal, increased sense of vulnerability, emotional numbing
C. Symptoms sometimes do not appear for many months following the trauma.
D. Some researchers have found evidence of personal growth if PTSD can be worked through successfully.
12. Origins of anxiety disorders
A. Biological factors(1) Rates higher for identical twins than for fraternal twins.
(2) Some individuals may be more prone to anxiety because of sensitivity to internal physical symptoms. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin and GABA may be out of balance.B. Learning
(1) Classical conditioning and fears
(2) Negative reinforcement maintains phobias, compulsions, etc.
C. Cognitions: People who develop anxiety disorders tend to see potential stressors and harmless situations as a threat.
D. It is important to realize that virtually anyone can be overwhelmed at least temporarily by stress.
