Introduction to

Psychological
Disorders
Defining Disorder
 Psychological Disorder
• A “harmful dysfunction” in which
behaviors are maladaptive, unjustifiable,
disturbing, and atypical
 Maladaptive
• An exaggeration of normal, acceptable
behaviors
• Destructive to oneself or others
 Unjustifiable
• A behavior which does not have a
rational basis
 Disturbing
• A behavior which is troublesome to
other people
 Atypical
• A behavior so different from other
people’s behavior that it violates a norm
• Norms vary from culture to culture
 MUDA
• A mnemonic device used to remember
the four attributes of a psychological
disorder
– Maladaptive
– Unjustifiable
– Disturbing
– Atypical
Understanding
Disorders
 Early Views of Mental Illness
• In ancient times, mental illness was
usually explained through a supernatural
model; the person was possessed or a
sinner
• During the Middle Ages treatment
methods were inhumane and cruel
 Philippe Pinel (1745-1826)
• French physician who worked to reform the
treatment of people with mental disorders
• Encouraged more humane treatment
 Understanding
Disorders:
The Medical Model
 The Medical Model
• Concept that mental illnesses have
physical causes that can be diagnosed,
treated, and in most cases, cured.
• Psychological disorders can be
diagnosed based on their symptoms and
treated or cured through therapy.
• Psychological disorders are similar to a
physical illness.
 Understanding
Disorders:
The
Bio-Psycho-Social
Model
 Bio-Psycho-Social Model
• Contemporary perspective that assumes
biological, psychological, and
sociocultural factors combine and
interact to produce psychological
disorders
Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective
Classifying Disorders
 DSM-IV-TR
• Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders –
Fourth Edition
• The text of the DSM-
IV was recently
revised, hence “TR” at
the end
 DSM-IV-TR
Published by the
American Psychiatric
Association
• Lists and describes all
the currently accepted
categories of mental
disorders
 DSM-IV-TR
• Divides mental disorders into 17 major
categories
• Includes the symptoms but not the
causes of each disease
• Has changed significantly since the first
edition
Childhood Disorders
 General Overview
• These disorders are developed in the childhood period of
ones life.
• Learning disorders [such as ADD/ADHD], substance
abuse, autism, depression, and suicide are common
disorders in the young population.
• Childhood disorders can be caused by a combination of
many factors.
• Being aware and seeking treatment for these conditions
is critical because if treated effectively, they can live a
good, healthy adulthood.
 ADD/ADHD
• ADD- Attention Deficit Disorder
• ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Technically, ADD is more common, it is possible to have
just ADD, but it isn’t possible to just have ADHD
 ADD/ ADHD Symptoms
• ADHD is common in
children and teens, but
adults also can have ADHD
• The two main symptoms
of ADHD include inattention
and/or hyperactivity.
Inattention
• difficulty paying attention to details and tendency to
make careless mistakes; easily distracted
• difficulty finishing tasks, good deal of procrastination
Hyperactivity
• fidgeting, squirming when seated
• getting up frequently to walk or run around; has
difficult staying quite and still
 Effects of ADD/ADHD
Physical (due to emotional stress, leads to):
• headaches
• stomach/back aches
• pains in the hands/ legs

Psychological:
• aggressive or violent behavior
• withdrawal, anxiety and depression
• low self-esteem
 Autism
• Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder
that typically lasts throughout a person's
lifetime
• 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with
autism, making it more common than
pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS
combined
• It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social
groups and is four times more likely to strike
boys than girls
 Symptoms of Autism
Three Common Symptoms are:
• Social interactions and relationships
– Significant problems developing nonverbal
communication skills, such as eye-to-eye gazing,
facial expressions, and body posture.
• Verbal and nonverbal communication
– Delay in, or lack of, learning to talk. As many as 40%
of people with autism never speak
• Limited interests in activities or play
– An unusual focus on pieces or parts on something
 Effects of Autism
Physical:
• appear physically normal and have good muscle
control
• odd repetitive motions
– cause a stressful surrounding environment

Psychological:
• inherent emotional differences in autistic people,
way think of things. love of patterns and
predictability, decreased need for interaction
• differences due to lack of social communication of
emotions
Anxiety and Mood
Disorders
 Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety: Vague feeling of
apprehension or
nervousness
• Anxiety disorder: where
anxiety begins to take
control and dominate a
person’s life
 Types of Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety disorders are divided into:
– Generalized Anxiety Disorder
– Panic Disorder
– Phobia
– Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
– Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Disorders:
Generalized Anxiety
Disorder and Panic
Disorder
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• An anxiety disorder characterized by
disruptive levels of persistent,
unexplained feelings of apprehension
and tenseness
Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety
• Must have at least three of the following:
– Restlessness
– Feeling on edge
– Difficulty concentrating/mind going
blank
– Irritability
– Muscle Tension
– Sleep Disturbance
 Panic Disorder
• An anxiety disorder characterized by
sudden bouts of intense, unexplained
anxiety
• Often associated with physical
symptoms like choking sensations or
shortness of breath
• Panic attacks may happen several times
a day
Anxiety Disorders:
Phobia
 Phobia
• An anxiety disorder characterized by
disruptive, irrational fears of specific
objects or situations
• The fear must be both irrational and
disruptive.
 Social Phobia
• Phobias which produce fear in social
situations
• Fear of speaking in public
 Agoraphobia
• Fear of situations the person views as
difficult to escape from
• Fear of leaving one’s home or room in
the house
 Anxiety Disorders:
Obsessive-
Compulsive Disorder
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• An anxiety disorder characterized by
unwanted, repetitive thoughts and
actions
• Obsessions – repetitive thoughts
• Compulsions – repetitive actions
• The obsessions/compulsions begin to
take control of the person’s life.
Anxiety Disorders:
Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder
 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• An anxiety disorder characterized by
reliving a severely upsetting event in
unwanted recurring memories
(flashbacks) and dreams
Anxiety Disorders:
Causes of Anxiety
Disorders
 Biological Factors
• Hereditary factors may result in a
predisposition for developing anxiety
disorders
• Brain functions appear to be different in
an anxiety disorder patient
• Evolutionary factors may lead to anxiety
disorders.
 Learning Factors
• Through classical conditioning people
may associate fear with an object.
• Observational learning--watching
another experiencing fearfulness--may
result in developing fear.
• Fear of an object may be reinforced
when by avoiding the feared objects.
Mood Disorders
 Mood Disorders
• Classification of disorders where there
is a disturbance in the person’s emotions
• Major types of mood disorders include:
– Major Depressive Disorder
– Bipolar Disorder
– Dysthymic Disorder
Mood Disorders
 Mania
• Period of abnormally high emotion and
activity
 Depression
• Extended period of feeling sad, listless,
and drained of energy
Mood Disorders:
Major Depressive
Disorder
 Major Depressive Disorder
• A mood disorder in which a person, for
no apparent reason, experiences at least
two weeks of
– depressed moods,
– diminished interest in activities, and
– other symptoms, such as feelings of
worthlessness
Mood Disorders:
Bipolar Disorder
 Bipolar Disorder
• A mood disorder in which the person
alternates between the hopelessness of
depression and the overexcited and
unreasonably optimistic state of mania
• Formerly called manic-depressive
disorder
• Many times will follow a cyclical
pattern
Mood Disorders:
Causes of Mood
Disorders
 Biological Factors
• Mood disorders have a hereditary nature
to them.
• Depressed individuals tend to have
depressed brains.
– PET scans indicate less activity during
periods of depression.
 Social-Cognitive Factors
• Depression may be a variation of
learned helplessness.
• Depressed individuals attribute events
using the following characteristics:
– Stable: the bad situation will last for a
long time
– Internal: they are at fault
– Global: all of life is bad
 Dissociative,
Schizophrenia, and
Personality Disorders
Dissociative
Disorders
 Dissociative Disorders
• Disorders in which the sense of self has
become separated (dissociated) from
previous memories, thoughts, or feelings
 Types of Dissociative Disorders
• Three main types:
– Dissociative Amnesia
– Dissociative Fugue
– Dissociative Identity Disorder
 Dissociative
Disorders:
Dissociative Amnesia
 Dissociative Amnesia
• A dissociative disorder characterized by
loss of memory in reaction to a
traumatic event
• Example: soldiers in combat
 Dissociative
Disorders:
Dissociative Fugue
 Dissociative Fugue
• A dissociative disorder characterized by
loss of identity and travel to a new
location
• The person may develop a new identity
and begin a new life.
 Dissociative
Disorders:
Dissociative Identity
Disorder
 Dissociative Identity Disorder
• Rare and controversial dissociative
disorder in which an individual
experiences two or more distinct and
alternating personalities
• Formerly called multiple personalities
 Dissociative Identity Disorder
• Personalities can be different ages, sex,
and self perception of characteristics
• Three Faces of Eve
• Sybil
Schizophrenia
Disorders
 Schizophrenia
• Group of severe disorders characterized by
disorganized and delusional thinking,
disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate
emotions and actions
• Is not one disorder but a family of disorders
• Is not “split personality”
• Occurs in about 1% of the population
Schizophrenia
Disorders:
Symptoms of
Schizophrenia
 Symptoms of Schizophrenia
• Symptoms of schizophrenia include:
– Delusions (false beliefs)
– Hallucinations (false perceptions)
– Inappropriate emotions or behaviors
 Delusions
• False beliefs that are symptoms of schizophrenia
and other serious psychological disorders
• Four major types of delusions:
– Grandeur
– Persecution
– Sin or guilt
– Influence
 Delusions of Grandeur
• False beliefs that a person is more
important than they really are
• Patients may believe they are a famous
person (e.g. Napoleon)
 Delusions of Persecution
• False beliefs that people are out to get
the person
• Believe they are being followed, the
phone is wiretapped, etc.
 Delusions of Sin or Guilt
• False beliefs that the person is
responsible for some misfortune
 Delusions of Influence
• False beliefs of being controlled by
outside forces
 Hallucinations
• False perceptions that are symptoms of
schizophrenia or other serious psychological
disorders
• Types of hallucinations:
– Auditory (hearing voices)
– Visual (seeing things)
– Tactile (feeling skin sensations)
• Can also have distorted smell and taste
Inappropriate Emotions/Behaviors
• Flat affect – showing little or no
emotional response
• Word salad – nonsense talk
• Waxy flexibility – the person’s arms and
legs will remain in place after being
moved there
Schizophrenia
Disorders:
Types of
Schizophrenia
Types of Schizophrenia
 Paranoid Schizophrenia
• Characterized by
delusions, especially
grandeur and
persecution. Auditory
and other
hallucinations support
the delusions.
A Beautiful Mind
 Catatonic Schizophrenia
• Characterized by variations in voluntary
movement
• Catatonic excitement – rapid movements
with delusions and hallucinations
• Catatonic stupor – little or no activity,
movement, or speech (waxy flexibility)
 Disorganized Schizophrenia
• Characterized by bizarre behavior,
delusions, and hallucinations.
• Very disturbed thought and language
(word salad)
 Undifferentiated Schizophrenia
• Symptoms that don’t clearly fit into one
of the other types of schizophrenia but
still show clear symptoms of
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Disorders:
Causes
 Biological Factors - Genetics
• Schizophrenia tends to run in families.
• Genetics appears to produce a
predisposition (increased likelihood) to
develop schizophrenia.

Genain Quadruplets
Biological Factors – Brain Structure
• Brain structure of those with
schizophrenia is different than the
normal brain
• Those with schizophrenia have smaller
amounts of brain tissue and larger fluid
filled spaces.
• The thalamus is smaller in those with
schizophrenia.
Biological Factors – Brain Function
• The brain of those with schizophrenia
operates differently than the normal
brain.
• The frontal lobes show less activity.
• Those with schizophrenia have a larger
number of receptor sites for the
neurotransmitter dopamine.
Biological Factors – Prenatal Viruses
• A viral infection during the middle of
pregnancy may increase schizophrenia
risk.
 Psychological Factors
• Two main areas:
– Stress
– Disturbed family

– It’s unclear whether these are causes

or consequences of schizophrenia.
Personality Disorders
 Personality Disorders
• Psychological disorders characterized
by rigid and lasting behavior patterns
that disrupt social functioning
• Divided into three clusters:
– Related to anxiety
– With odd and eccentric behaviors
– With dramatic or impulsive behaviors
Personality Disorders
Related to Anxiety
 Avoidant Personality Disorder
• So sensitive about being rejected that
personal relationships become difficult
 Dependent Personality Disorder
• Behave in clingy, submissive ways and
displays a strong need to have others
take care of them
Personality Disorders
with Odd or Eccentric
Behaviors
 Paranoid Personality Disorder
• Shows deep distrust of other people,
which gets in the way of personal
relationships
• Different than paranoid schizophrenia
 Schizoid Personality Disorder
• Is detached from social relationships
• Are true hermits, preferring life alone
and avoiding intimate interactions at all
costs
Personality Disorders
with Dramatic or
Impulsive Behaviors
 Borderline Personality Disorder
• Exhibit instability of emotions, self-
image, behavior, and relationships
 Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Personality disorder in which the person
shows a lack of conscience for
wrongdoing
• Shows no respects for the rights others
• Usually male
• Also known as psychopathic or
sociopathic personality disorder
Psychological
Therapies
 Psychotherapy
• Emotionally charged, confiding
interaction between a trained therapist
and someone who suffers from
psychological difficulties
• There are over 250 different types of
therapy.
 Four Types of Psychotherapy
• Most therapies can be divided into:
– Psychoanalytic
– Humanistic
– Behavioral
– Cognitive
 Eclectic Approach
• Approach to psychotherapy that,
depending on the person’s problems,
uses techniques from various forms of
therapy
• Uses whichever therapy works best for
the problem the person has
Psychoanalysis
 Free Association
• Freudian technique of discovering the
unconscious mind--where the patient
relaxes and says whatever comes to
mind, no matter how trivial or
embarrassing
 Resistance
• In psychoanalysis, the blocking from
consciousness of anxiety-laden material
 Interpretation
• In psychoanalysis, the analyst’s noting
of ideas of the meaning behind dreams,
resistances, and other significant
behaviors to promote insight
• The analyst’s ideas of the meaning
behind the patient’s dreams, resistance,
and other behaviors
 Transference
• In psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer
of strong emotions linked with other
relationships to the analyst
• The patient projects feeling from the
past to the therapist.
 Psychoanalysis:
The Psychodynamic
Perspective
 Psychoanalytic Influence
• Few therapists follow strict Freudian
therapy.
• Heavily influenced other types of
therapy (interpersonal therapy)
• Modern approach is the psychodynamic
perspective
 Psychodynamic Approach
• A more modern view that retains some
aspects of Freudian theory but rejects
other aspects
• Retains the importance of the
unconscious mind
• Less emphasis on unresolved childhood
conflicts
Humanistic Therapies
 Nondirective Therapy
• Therapist listens without interpreting
and does not direct the client (patient) to
any particular insight.
 Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
• Humanistic psychologist who developed
client-centered therapy
 Client-Centered Therapy
• Humanist therapy, in which the therapist uses
techniques such as active listening within a
genuine, accepting, empathic environment to
facilitate the client’s growth. The therapy
stresses:
– Empathy
– Acceptance
– Genuineness
• Developed by Carl Rogers
Behavior Therapies
 Behavior Therapy
• Therapy that applies learning principles
to the elimination of unwanted
behaviors
• Uses both classical and operant
conditioning
• Primary concern is to eliminate the
disorder’s behavior, not find the cause
of the disorder
Behavior Therapies:
Classical
Conditioning
Techniques
 Systematic Desensitization
• A type of counterconditioning that
associates a pleasant, relaxed state with
gradually increasing, anxiety-triggering
stimuli
• Usually used to treat phobias
Systematic Desensitization Process
• Establish a hierarchy of the anxiety-
triggering stimuli
• Learning relaxation methods
(progressive relaxation)
• Slowly think through the hierarchy,
working to relax whenever anxiety is
felt
Systematic Desensitization Variations
• Virtual reality- systematic
desensitization by way of
computerized, anxiety-
triggering 3-D stimuli
• Combined with models
by having the subjects
watch someone perform
the anxiety-causing
behavior
 Aversive Conditioning
• Type of counterconditioning that associates
an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an
unwanted behavior (such as alcohol)
• The person is replacing a positive but
harmful response with a negative response
• Example with alcoholism: Lace a drink with
a drug that makes the person becomes sick
Behavior Therapies:
Operant Conditioning
Techniques
 Token Economy
• Operant conditioning procedure that
attempts to modify behavior by
rewarding desired behavior with some
small item
• The tokens can be exchanged for
various privileges or treats
• Form of secondary reinforcement
Cognitive Therapies
 Cognitive Therapy
• Teaches people new, more adaptive
ways of thinking and acting
• Based on the assumption that thoughts
intervene between events and our
emotional reactions
 Self-Serving Bias
• Tendency to judge oneself favorably
• Severely depressed patients tend to not
have a self-serving bias and tend to
blame themselves for problems and
credit the environment for successes
 Cognitive-Behavior Therapy
• Integrated therapy that combines
changing self-defeating thinking with
changing inappropriate behaviors
Family and Group
Therapies
 Group Therapy
• Having a therapist work with a number
of patients at one time
• Groups usually consist of 6 to 10 people
• Cognitive, behavior, and humanistic
therapists all can lead group therapies.
 Advantage of Group Therapy
• Therapists can help more than one
person at a time.
• Overall session cost is lower.
• Patients interact with others having the
same problems as they have.
• Builds a sense of community
 Family Therapy
• Therapy that treats the family as a system
• Views the patient’s problems as
influenced by or directed at family
members
• Attempts to guide the family toward
positive relationships and improved
communication
Types of Therapist
Biomedical Therapies
 Biomedical Therapies
• Treatment of psychological disorders
that involve changing the brain’s
functioning by using prescribed drugs,
electroconvulsive therapy, or surgery
Drug Therapies
 Pre-Drug Therapy
• Prior to the discovery of
psychological drugs,
hospitals had few
options with which to
treat patients
• Most early treatment
techniques are today
considered archaic and
sometimes cruel
 Post-Drug Therapy
• With the discovery of effective drug
treatments, patients were able to leave
the institutions (deinstitutionalization).
 Deinstitutionalization
• Release of patients from mental
hospitals into the community
• The development of drug therapies led
to an 80% decline in the number of
hospitalized mental patients from 1950
to 2000.
• Many of the former patients became part
of the homeless population.
Drug Therapy
 Drug Therapies:
Antipsychotic Drugs
 Antipsychotic Drugs
• Category of medications used primarily
to treat schizophrenia
• Reduces the levels of hallucinations and
delusions and distorted thinking
• Drugs work by blocking the activity of
dopamine
 Thorazine
• One of the first antipsychotic drugs
• Side effects include: dry mouth, blurred
vision, constipation, and tardive
dyskinesia
• Tardive dyskinesia – a permanent
condition of muscle tremors
 Clozaril
• Clozaril: less side effects than thorazine
but can cause damage to white blood
cells therefore patients need to be tested
• Is very expensive.
 Drug Therapies:
Antianxiety Drugs
 Antianxiety Drugs
• Category of medication used to treat
people undergoing significant stress
• Used with anxiety disorders
• Work by boosting levels of the
neurotransmitter GABA
• Can produce dependency
• Include: Valium, Librium, and Xanax
• Can cause death if mixed with alcohol
 Drug Therapies:
Antidepressant Drugs
 Antidepressant Drugs
• Category of medications used primarily
used to boost serotonin levels in the
brain
• Used primarily to treat major depression
• Many take about a month before they
become fully effective
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

• Classification of antidepressants which

work by blocking the reuptake of
serotonin after it has been released
• Includes: Prozac, Zolof, and Paxil
Prozac and the Brain
 Lithium
• Medication used primarily to treat
bipolar disorder
• Not known how or why lithium works
but a large number of bipolar patients
report improvement with the drug
Electroconvulsive
Therapy
 Insulin Therapy
• Depressed patients are given an
overdose of insulin to cause a
convulsion.
• Difficulties in determining the proper
dosage of insulin led to a decline in use
of this therapy.
• Was replaced by Electroconvulsive
Therapy (ECT)
 Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
• A therapy for major depression in which
a brief electrical current is sent through
the brain of an anesthetized patient
• The current causes a convulsion.
• Was preceded by insulin therapy.
• Sometimes called “shock therapy.”
 ECT Facts
• Used when antidepressants fail
• Most (80%) patients report improvement
• Side effect is memory loss
• How and why the process works is unknown
ECT
Psychosurgery
 Lobotomy
• A form of psychosurgery where the nerves
connecting the frontal lobes of the brain to
the deeper emotional centers are cut
• Used to try to calm uncontrollably
emotional or violent patients
• Regularly done before the advent of
antipsychotic drugs
• Rarely used today
Lobotomy