Abnormal Psychology

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Abnormal Psychology
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What is abnormal?
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Abnormal Psychology

• The area of psychological investigation concerned
  with understanding the nature of individual
  pathologies of mind, mood, behavior

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Abnormal Psychology

• Determining if someone has a disorder is
  typically based on an evaluation of the
  individuals behavioral functioning
• by people with some special/professional
  authority

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Abnormal Psychology

• What helps psychologists to determine a disorder
  is a classification scheme called
• DSM-IV-TR classifies, defines, describes 200
  mental disorders ? emphasizes the description of
  patterns/symptoms (changed and updated by
  committees of psychologists often)

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Abnormal Psychology

• Criteria Used to label behavior as abnormal
• 1. Distress or Disability-
• experiences personal
• distress or disabled
• functioning ? produces
• risk of psychological deterioration or loss of
  freedom (ie. agoraphobia)

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Abnormal Psychology

• 2. Maladaptiveness- acts in ways that hinder
  goals, doesnt contribute to personal well-being,
  interferes with goals of others (ie. drinking
  heavily ? cant hold a job

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Abnormal Psychology

• 3. Irrationality- acts/talks in ways that are
  irrational or incomprehensible to others (ie.
  responding to voices that others cannot hear)

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Abnormal Psychology

• 4. Unpredictability- behaves unpredictably or
  erratically (ie. smashing a window for no reason)

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Abnormal Psychology

• 5. Unconventionality and Statistical Rarity-
  individual behaves in ways that are statistically
  rare does not necessarily lead to abnormality
  (ie. low intelligence- rare undesirable a
  genius- rare, but desirable)

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Abnormal Psychology

• 6. Observer discomfort- a person creates
  discomfort in others by making them feel
  threatened, or distressed in some way (ie. woman
  walking in the middle of the street talking to
  herself)

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Abnormal Psychology

• 7. Violation of Moral Ideal Standards-
  individual violates expectations of how one ought
  to behave with respect to societal norms

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Abnormal Psychology

• The more extreme prevalent the indicators are,
  the more confident we can be that they point to
  an abnormal condition
• None of these are a necessary condition shared by
  all cases of abnormality

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Abnormal Psychology

• No single criterion by itself is a sufficient
  condition that distinguishes all cases of
  abnormal behavior from normal variations in
  behavior
• The distinction between normal abnormal is a
  matter of degree to which a persons actions
  resemble a set of agreed-upon criteria of
  abnormality

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Problem of Objectivity

• To declare/decide someone has a psychiatric
  disorder is a judgment about behavior
• GOAL to make these judgments objectively- w/o
  bias
• Some disorder judgments are more easily made w/o
  bias (depression schizophrenia)

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Problem of Objectivity

• Once an individual has obtained an abnormal
  label people are inclined to interpret later
  behavior to confirm that judgment

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Problem of Objectivity

• Ex- Rosenhans experiment- several people faked
  hallucinations to get placed into a psych
  hospital ? once there they acted in a sane manner
  ? kept there for 3 weeks, not one was
  identified as sane ? finally released with help
  from spouses/colleagues

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History of Mentally Ill

• 1. For most of history, humans feared the
  mentally ill associated them with evil they
  were in some cases imprisoned or killed

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History of Mentally Ill

• 2. 1700s- idea emerges ? those suffering from
  psychological problems are sick and suffering
  from illness rather than being possessed or
  immoral.
• - Reforms evolved in the way the ill were cared
  for/classified/diagnosed (Pinel Kraepelin)

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History of Psychopathology

• 2. Psychological- various approaches perceive
  personal experiences, trauma, conflicts, and
  environmental factors, as the root of disorders
• - 3 Psychological Models of Abnormality

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History of Mentally Ill

• 3. Late 1700s-Early 1800s- emergence of
  psychological reasons for mental illness, b/c
  people began to use techniques like hypnosis that
  seemed to cure people of hysteria

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History of Mentally Ill

• 4. Modern versions combine aspects of both
  medical and psychological models of mental illness

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Etiology of Psychopathology

• Biological- psychological disturbances are
  directly attributable to biological factors
  (structural abnormalities in the brain,
  bio-chemical process, and genetic influences)
• - Ex.- neurotransmitters, brain injury,
  infection

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Etiology of Psychopathology

• A. Psychodynamic- cause of psychopathology is
  located inside the person symptoms have their
  roots in the unconscious conflict thoughts
• - if the unconscious is conflicted tension
  filled ? person will be plagued by anxiety
• - conflict comes from struggle between Id, Ego,
  Superego

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Etiology of Psychopathology

• B. Behavioral- abnormal behaviors acquired thru
  learning reinforcement
• - focus on current behavior conditions or
  reinforcements that sustain the behavior NOT
  internal psychological phenomena or early
  childhood
• - symptoms arise b/c person learned ineffective
  ways of behaving

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Etiology of Psychopathology

• C. Cognitive- agree w/ behaviorists, but w/ a
  twist what matters is the way people
  perceive/think about themselves about their
  relations w/ people the environment
• - suggests psych. problems are result of
  distortions in perceptions of reality of a
  situation, faulty reasoning, or poor problem
  solving

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Etiology of Psychopathology

• D. Sociocultural- emphasizes role culture plays
• - particular cultural circumstances in which
  people live, may define an environment that helps
  bring about distinctive types or subtypes of
  psychopathology

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Non-Psychotic Psychotic Disorders
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Anxiety Disorders
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Anxiety Disorders

• Causes
• Biological- phobias are evolutionary (shared
  across cultures) ability of certain drugs to
  relieve anxiety shows a possible biological
  cause genetic basis- (twin study) for
  predisposition of 4 to 5 disorders

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Anxiety Disorders

• 2. Psychodynamic- symptoms of anxiety come from
  unconscious conflicts/fear symptoms are trying
  to protect the individual from pain
• - panic attacks ? result of unconscious
  conflicts bursting into consciousness
• - Panic Attacks

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Anxiety Disorders

• 3. Behavioral- focus on the way symptoms are
  reinforced/conditioned
• - phobias- classically conditioned fears ?
  previously neutral stimuli become a frightening
  experience
• - OCD compulsive behaviors tend to reduce
  anxious thoughts ? reinforcing the compulsive
  behavior

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Anxiety Disorders

• 4. Cognition- person may overestimate
  nature/reality of threat or underestimate ability
  to cope w/ threat
• - people w/ anxiety may interpret their own
  distress as a sign of impending disaster ?
  vicious cycle

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Mood Disorders
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SWBAT

• Examine a video of psych patients at Bellevue
  Hospital
• Analyze and discuss the patients according to
  their symptoms

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Video

• After viewing the video of patients at Bellevue
  Hospital, write a ½ page reaction, which will be
  discussed at the beginning of tomorrows class

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SWBAT

• Discuss Bellevue video reactions
• Identify multiple perspectives of the causes of
  mood disorders
• Analyze the difference between depression and
  bipolar disorder

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Mood Disorders

• Major Depressive Disorder- feeling of
  sadness/despair usually appears before age 40
  loss of previous source of pleasure lasts avg.
  of 5 mos
• Bipolar Disorder- episodes of severe depression
  and manic episodes onset age 20-29

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Mood Disorders

• Causes
• Biological- levels of serotonin
  norepinephrine ? depression levels
  ? mania
• - evidence of genetic factors (twin studies)
  influencing mood
• - some evidence that depressed people have small
  hippocampus

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Mood Disorders

• 2. Psychodynamic-
• - hostile feelings unconscious conflicts
  originated in childhood
• - depression is anger turned inward toward the
  self anger tied to intense dependent childhood
  relationship where needs were not met

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Mood Disorders

• 3. Behavioral- an effect of the amount of
  positive reinforcement punishment ? depression
  (not enough positive too much punishment)
• - also a connection between lack of social
  skills depression

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Mood Disorders

• 4. Cognitive
• a) - negative view of self
• - negative view of ongoing experience
• - negative view of future
• can lead to paralysis of will no motivation
  to pursue goals

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Mood Disorders

• b) - explanatory style depressed people cant
  control future outcomes that are important to
  them
• - pessimistic view
• - learned helplessness ? expectancy that nothing
  they can do matters
• Manic Depressive/Bipolar Disorder

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Mood Disorders

• Gender Differences in Depression
• - women- 2x more affected, esp. in adolescence
  due to puberty
• - why? more thoughtful response style
  tendency to focus obsessively on problems
• - men- actively distract themselves from
  feeling depressed by focusing on something else

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Mood Disorders

• Suicide
• - most depressed people dont commit suicide
  50-80 of suicides are attempted by depressed
  people
• - women attempt suicide 3xs more than men ? men
  are more successful b/c of methods used

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Mood Disorders

• - since 1960, youth suicide white males
  are the highest
• - most youth suicides have given signs

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Knowledge Check!

• Answer the T/F and Application questions on your
  own
• When finished, hand in your sheet, and Ill tell
  you what the answers were ?
• Were your answers correct?

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Personality Dissociative Disorders
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SWBAT

• Explain the 5 types of personality disorders
• Identify the causes of personality disorders
• Analyze the Dissociateive Identity Disorder (DID)
  in Inside Karens Crowded Mind

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Personality Disorders

• Read, Inside Karens Crowded Mind and be
  prepared to discuss

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Personality Disorders

• Chronic, inflexible, maladaptive pattern of
  perceiving, thinking, or behaving
• Personality traits are excessive in degree
  rigid
• Usually recognized by adolescence or early
  adulthood
• Difficult to diagnose b/c of overlap between
  disorders

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Personality Disorders

• 5 Examples of Personality Disorders
• 1. Paranoid- distrust/suspicious suspect others
  are trying to harm them often jealous but unable
  to accept criticism themselves

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Personality Disorders

• 2. Histrionic- excessive emotionally attention
  seeking flamboyant, dramatic, seductive,
  manipulative 2x-3x greater in women

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Personality Disorders

• 3. Narcissistic- grandiose sense of self
  importance, need for admiration problems in
  interpersonal relationships tend to exploit
  others have difficulty recognizing
  experiencing how others feel

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Personality Disorders

• 4. Antisocial- pattern of irresponsible, unlawful
  behavior (starts early) that violates social
  norms dont experience shame/remorse disrupting
  class, getting into fights, running away from
  home involved in crime (but not always)

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Personality Disorders

• - indifference to the rights of others
• - impulsive, manipulative, aggressive
• - more apparent in males (3-6x)
• - lack of conscience by age 15
• - aka sociopath/psychopath

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Personality Disorders

• 5. Borderline- 126 criteria, very complicated to
  diagnose treat out of control emotions
  clingy, hypersensitive to abandonment history
  of hurting self mood instability unstable
  personal relationships more in women

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Personality Disorders

• CAUSES
• - genetic component, 67 of identical twins
  share the same disorder
• - research also points to environmental
  circumstances
• a) dysfunctional/physically abusive/neglectf
  ul families
• b) neurological damage prenatally

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Dissociative Disorders

• Disturbance in the integration of identity,
  memory, or consciousness
• Dissociate/disown part of themselves
• Dissociative amnesia- selective memory loss due
  to psychological reasons (major trauma)

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Dissociative Disorders

• DID/Multiple Personality Disorder
• - 2 distinct personalities
• exist w/in same individual
• - one personality is dominant
• - personalities often contrast
• w/ original self

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Dissociative Disorders

• - developed b/c they tried to escape from their
  life ? many have history of on-going sexual
  physical abuse
• - very controversial ? some believe it doesnt
  exist, patients make it up therapists
  coach/help them

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Schizophrenia
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Schizophrenia

• Means split mind
• Most serious type of disorder
• Personality disintegrates ? thoughts
  perceptions are distorted emotions are
  dulled/flat
• Thinking becomes illogical disorganized

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Schizophrenia

• Hallucinations occur
• Delusions false beliefs
• Incoherent language ? word salad
• Sometimes neglect personal hygiene
• Difference between mood disorders schizophrenia
  disturbed thinking

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Schizophrenia

• 2 Phases
• - Positive symptoms (aka acute/active)- symptoms
  very apparent (hallucinations, delusions, bizarre
  behavior, wild ideas)
• - Negative symptoms- flattened emotions,
  withdrawal, apathy, impaired attention

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Schizophrenia

• 4 Types of Schizophrenia
• 1. Disorganized- incoherent patterns of thinking
  language, bizarre behavior, emotions are flat
  or inappropriate to the situation delusions,
  aimless, babbling giggling

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Schizophrenia

• 2. Catatonic- (not very common) disruption of
  motor activity, seem frozen, or motionless or
  at other times ? excessive motor activity

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Schizophrenia

• 3. Paranoid- often comes
• later in life, hallucinations
• - delusions focus around
• a) being persecuted
• b) delusions of grandeur (God, millionaire)
• c) jealousy- mate is unfaithful

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Schizophrenia

• 4. Undifferentiated- (fairly common) mixture of
  symptoms, disorganized thinking
• 5. Residual- suffered from schizophrenia in the
  past, but its now dormant or in remission

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Schizophrenia

• CAUSES
• - seem to have high levels of dopamine (Dopamine
  Hypothesis)
• - tends to run in families genetic factors put
  people at risk, but environmental factors also
  must present themselves ? diathesis-stress
  hypothesis

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Schizophrenia

• - family interaction can be an environmental
  stressor
• - research shows that reducing criticism,
  hostility, and intrusiveness can help reduce
  reoccurrence of symptoms
• - often family behavior may not stop disorder,
  but can help manage it

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Schizophrenia

• - Brain functions/structure might be different ?
  scans during hallucinations show increased
  activity in amygdala lower activity in the
  frontal lobe

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Schizophrenia

• Neuro-developmental hypothesis- prenatal exposure
  delivery complication increase vulnerability ?
  low birth weight oxygen deprivation
• Maternal virus during pregnancy (esp. the flu)
  can increase probability

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Schizophrenia

• Most believe its the high level of dopamine or
  genetic

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Schizophrenia

• TREATMENT
• - medication works to either block dopamine
  receptors OR prevent the release of dopamine
• - risks/side effects- tremors, seizures, slow
  mental functioning, drowsiness

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Schizophrenia

• - Generally appears in adolescence or early
  adulthood
• - Patient falls into 3 Types
• 1. treated successfully ? recover
• 2. partial recovery, but w/ frequent relapse
• 3. endure chronic illness generally
  permanently hospitalized

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Schizophrenia

• Janny's World
• Janny's Interns
• Janny's Ranch