Psychological Disorders

Psychopathology= the study of abnormal behavior and psychological dysfunction

Historical explanations

Trephination: holes cut in skull to release demons

Exorcism: casting out of demons in a religious ritual

Imbalance of humors

Modern Perspective

Medical model

Diagnosis, symptoms, treatment Abnormality

Situational context = the social or environmental setting of a person’s behavior

Subjective discomfort = emotional distress or pain

Maladaptive thinking/behavior = anything that does not allow a person to function or adapt

Abnormality1.Unusual2.Contrary to social norms3.Significant subjective discomfort4.Maladaptive5.Dangerous to self or others

Anxiety disorders = disorders in which the main symptom is excessive or unrealistic worry and fearfulness

Free-floating anxiety = anxiety unrelated to any realistic, known source

Phobia= irrational, persistent fear of an object, situation, or social activity

Specific phobia: fear of objects or specific situations or events

Claustrophobia: fear of being in a small, enclosed space

Acrophobia: fear of heights

Social phobia (social anxiety disorder): fear of interacting with others or being in social situations that might lead to a negative evaluation

Agoraphobia: fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or impossible

Panic disorder: panic attacks occur frequently enough to cause the person difficulty in adjusting to daily life

Panic attack = sudden onset of intense panic in which multiple physical symptoms of stress occur, often with feelings that one is dying

Generalized anxiety disorder: excessive anxieties and worries occur more days than not for at least 6 months

Mood disorders = disorders in which mood is severely disturbed

Affect= emotion or mood

Depressive Disorders

Major depressive disorder: severely depressed mood that comes on suddenly and has no external cause

Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia): a form of depression that is not severe enough to be diagnosed as major depressive disorder

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Bipolar Disorders

Manic episode = a period of excessive excitement, energy, and elation or irritability

Bipolar I: mood ranges from normal to manic

Bipolar II: mood ranges from depression to hypomania

Schizophrenia Spectrum

Schizophrenia: long-lasting psychotic disorder

Positive symptoms: excesses of behavior or occur in addition to normal behavior

Psychotic: the break away from an ability to perceive what is real and what is fantasy

Negative symptoms: less-than-normal behavior or an absence of normal behavior

Hallucinations= false sensory perceptions, such as hearing voices that do not really exist

Delusions= false beliefs held by a person who refuses to accept evidence of their falseness

Flat affect = a lack of emotional responsiveness

Avolition= a lack of motivation and a seeming absence of interest or an inability to persist in routine activities

Alogia= a significant reduction in the amount of speech