UNIT 7

PSYCHOLOGICALDISORDERS

AND

TREATMENT TECHNIQUES

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 1
 Chapter Overview
• Mental illness, also called mental health disorders,
refers to a wide range of mental health disorders
that affect your mood, thinking and behavior.
• Examples of mental illness include depression,
anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders
and addictive behaviors.
• Many people have mental health concerns from
time to time. But, a mental health concern becomes
a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms
cause frequent stress and affect your ability to
function.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 2
 Learning outcomes
At the end of this unit, you are expected to:
• Describe how psychological disorders are
defined, as well as the inherent difficulties in
doing so.
• Identify the nature of Psychological disorders.
• Explain the causes of psychological disorders.
• Identify the different types, characteristic
features of psychological disorders.
• Explain different theories to explain the nature
of abnormality.
• Discuss the treatment techniques.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 3
 I. Nature of Psychological
Disorders
Brainstorming question
what are the criteria used for determining that
person has a psychological problem /disorder?
• We generally have three main criteria:
 abnormality,
 maladaptiveness, and
 personal distress.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 4
 1. Abnormality
• Abnormal behavior is a behavior that deviates from
the behavior of the typical‘ person; the norm. A
society‘s norm can be qualitative and quantitative.

• When someone behaves in culturally unacceptable

ways and the behaviors he/she exhibit violates the
norm, standards, rules and regulations of the
society, this person is most likely to have a
psychological problem.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 5
2. Maladaptiveness
• Maladaptive behavior in one way or another
creates a social, personal and occupational problem
on those who exhibit the behaviors.

• These behaviors seriously disrupt the day-to-day

activities of individuals that can increase the
problem more.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 6
 3. Personal Distress
• Our subjective feelings of anxiety, stress, tension
and other unpleasant emotions determine whether
we have a psychological disorder. These negative
emotional states arise either by the problem itself or
by events happen that on us.
• But, the criterion of personal distress, just like other
criteria, is not sufficient for the presence of
psychological disorder.
• This is because of some people like feeling
distressed by their own behavior.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 7
II. Causes of Psychological
disorders (Based on Perspectives)
The Biological Perspective
Current researchers believe that abnormalities in the
working of chemicals in the brain, called
neurotransmitters, may contribute to many
psychological disorders.
Psychological Perspectives
we will examine three psychological perspectives: the
psychoanalytic perspective, the learning, and the
cognitive behavioral perspectives

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 8
A. Psychoanalytic perspective
• Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychoanalytic
approach, believed that the human mind consists of
three interacting forces: the id (a pool of biological
urges), the ego (which mediates between the id and
reality), and the superego (which represent society‘s
moral standards).
• Abnormal behavior, in Freud's view, is caused by the
egos inability to manage the conflict between the
opposing demands of the id and the superego.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 9
B. Learning perspective

• Most mental and emotional disorders, in contrast

to the psychoanalytic perspective, arise from
inadequate or inappropriate learning.

• People acquire abnormal behaviors through the

various kinds of learning.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 10
C. Cognitive perspective
• The main theme of this perspective is that self-
defeating thoughts lead to the development of negative
emotions and self-destructive behaviors.

• Most of the time our thinking patterns in one way or

another affects our emotional and behavioral wellbeing
in either positive or negative ways.

• Hence, if there is a disturbance in on our thinking, it

may manifest in our display of emotions and behaviors
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 11
 III. Types of Psychological Disorders

• A psychological disorder is a condition

characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors. Psychopathology is the study of
psychological disorders, including their symptoms,
etiology (i.e., their causes), and treatment.
• There are many types of psychological disorders,
we will try to see only types of mood disorder,
anxiety disorder and personality disorder.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 12
 1. Mood Disorders
• Mood disorders are characterized by a serious change in
mood from depressed to elevated feelings causing
disruption to life activities.
• Depressive disorder is characterized by overall feelings
of desperation and inactivity.
• Elevated moods are characterized by mania or
hypomania.
• The disorders include:- Major Depression, Dysthymic
Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Cyclothymia.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 13
a. Major Depression
 Major Depression (also known as depression or
clinical depression) is characterized by depressed
mood, diminished interest in activities previously
enjoyed, weight disturbance, sleep disturbance,
loss of energy, difficulty concentrating, and often
includes feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of
suicide.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 14
 b. Dysthymia
• Dysthymia is often considered a lesser, but more
persistent form of depression.

• Many of the symptoms are similar except to a

lesser degree. Also, dysthymia, as opposed to Major
Depression is steadier rather than periods of
normal feelings and extreme lows.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 15
c. Bipolar Disorder
• Bipolar Disorder (previously known as Manic-
Depression) is characterized by periods of extreme
highs (called mania) and extreme lows as in Major
Depression.

• Bipolar Disorder is subtyped either I (extreme or

hyper manic episodes) or II (moderate or
hypomanic episodes).

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 16
d. Cyclothymia

• Cyclothymia: Like Dysthymia and Major

Depression, Cyclothymia is considered a lesser

form of Bipolar Disorder.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 17
 2. Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can be
beneficial in some situations. It can alert us to dangers
and help us prepare and pay attention.
• Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of
nervousness or anxiousness, and involve excessive fear
or anxiety.
• Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental
disorders and affect nearly 30 percent of adults at some
point in their lives.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 18
The disorders in this category include :-

i) Panic Disorder is characterized by a series of

panic attacks. A panic attack is an inappropriate
intense feeling of fear or discomfort including many
of the following symptoms: heart palpitations,
trembling, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 19
 Cont’d
ii) Agoraphobia literally means fear of the
marketplace.

• It refers to a series of symptoms where the person

fears, and often avoids, situations where escape or
help might not be available, such as shopping
centers, grocery stores, or other public place.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 20
 Cont’d
iii) Specific or Simple Phobia and Social
Phobia represent an intense fear and often an
avoidance of a specific situation, person, place, or
thing.

• To be diagnosed with a phobia, the person must

have suffered significant negative consequences
because of this fear and it must be disruptive to
their everyday life.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 21
Cont’d
iv) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is
characterized by obsessions (thoughts which seem
uncontrollable) and compulsions (behaviors which act
to reduce the obsession).
• Most people think of compulsive hand washers or
people with an intense fear of dirt or of being
infected.
• These obsessions and compulsions are disruptive to
the person's everyday life, with sometimes hours
being spent each day repeating things, which were
completed successfully already such as checking,
counting, cleaning, or bathing.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 22
 Cont’d
v)Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs
only after a person is exposed to a traumatic event
where their life or someone else's life is threatened.

The most common examples are war, natural

disasters, major accidents, and severe child abuse.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 23
Cont’d
vi) Generalized Anxiety Disorder is diagnosed
when a person has extreme anxiety in nearly every part
of their life.
It is not associated with just open places (as in
agoraphobia), specific situations (as in specific
phobia), or a traumatic event (as in PTSD).
The anxiety must be significant enough to disrupt the
person's everyday life for a diagnosis to be made.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 24
 3. Personality Disorders
o A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in
which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of
thinking, functioning and behaving.
o A person with a personality disorder has trouble
perceiving and relating to situations and people.
o Thus, Personality Disorders are characterized by an
enduring pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving
which is significantly different from the person's culture
and results in negative consequences.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 25
There are around nine types of
personality disorders :-
1) Paranoid (includes a pattern of distrust and
suspiciousness).
2) Schizoid (pattern of detachment from social
norms and a restriction of emotions).
3) Schizotypal (pattern of discomfort in close
relationships and eccentric thoughts and behaviors).
4) Antisocial (pattern of disregard for the rights of
others, including violation of these rights and the
failure to feel empathy).

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 26
Cont’d
5) Borderline (pattern of instability in personal
relationships, including frequent bouts of clinginess
and affection and anger and resentment, often
cycling between these two extremes rapidly).

6) Histrionic (pattern of excessive emotional

behavior and attention seeking).

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 27
 Cont’d
7) Narcissistic (pattern of grandiosity, exaggerated
self-worth, and need for admiration).

8) Avoidant (pattern of feelings of social

inadequacies, low self-esteem, and hypersensitivity to
criticism).

9) Obsessive-Compulsive (pattern of obsessive

cleanliness, perfection, and control).

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 28
 IV. Treatment Techniques
Treatment of mental illnesses can take various forms.
They can include medication, talk-therapy, a
combination of both, and can last only one session or
take many years to complete.

Many different types of treatment are available, but

most agree that the core components of
psychotherapy remain the same.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 29
Psychotherapy consists of the following:
1. A positive, healthy relationship between a client or

patient and a trained psychotherapist

2.Recognizable mental health issues, whether

diagnosable or not

3. Agreement on the basic goals of treatment

4. Working together as a team to achieve these goals

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 30
The different types of psychotherapy, including
treatment approaches and modalities:-

Treatment Approaches

• Providing psychological treatment to individuals with

some kind of psychological problems is psychotherapy.

• When providing psychotherapy, there are several issues

to be considered.

• First and foremost is empathy.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 31
 Cont’d
• It is a requirement for a successful practitioner to
be able to understand his or her client's feelings,
thoughts, and behaviors.
• Second, being non-judgmental is vital if the
relationship and treatment are going to work.
Everybody makes mistakes, everybody does stuff
they aren't proud of.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 32
 Treatment Modalities
• Therapy is most often thought of as a one-on-one
relationship between a client or patient and a therapist.
• This is probably the most common example, but
therapy can also take different forms. Often time‘s
group therapy is utilized, where individuals suffering
from similar illnesses or having similar issues meet
together with one or two therapists. Group sizes differ,
ranging from three or four to upwards of 15 or 20, but
the goals remain the same.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 33
Cont’d
• Therapy can also take place in smaller groups
consisting of a couple or a family. In this type of
treatment, the issues to be worked on are centered
around the relationship.
• There is often an educational component, like other
forms of therapy, such as communication training,
and couples and families are encouraged to work
together as a team rather than against each other.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 34
 Cont’d
• Sometimes therapy can include more than one
treatment modality. A good example of this is the
individual who suffers from depression, social
anxiety, and low self-esteem. For this person,
individual therapy may be used to reduce
depressive symptoms, work some on self-esteem
and therefore reduce fears about social situations.
• Once successfully completed, this person may be
transferred to a group therapy setting where he or
she can practice social skills, feel a part of a
supportive group, therefore improving self-esteem
and further reducing depression.
12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 35
 Cont’d
• The treatment approach and modality are always
considered, along with many other factors, in order
to provide the best possible treatment for any
particular person.

• Sometimes more than one is used, sometimes a

combination of many of them, but together the goal
remains to improve the life of the client.

12/9/2019 Ambachew M. 36