Psychological Disorders:An Introduction

Defining Disorder

Psychological Disorder

• Behavior patterns or mental processes that cause serious personal suffering or interfere with a person’s ability to cope with everyday life.

It Takes 4 Things for a Behavior to be Considered a Disorder:

• Typicality

• Maladaptivity

• Emotional Discomfort

• Socially Unacceptable Behavior

Typicality

• Is the behavior typical of most people?

Maladaptive

• Impairs the person’s ability to function in everyday life.

• An exaggeration of normal, acceptable behaviors

• Destructive to oneself or others

Emotional Discomfort

• A behavior which is troublesome to the person themselves or those around them.

Socially Unacceptable Behavior

• A behavior so different from other people’s behavior that it violates a norm

• Norms vary from culture to culture

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

The Medical Model

• Diseases 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.

Bio-Psycho-Social Model

• Perspective of mental illness which assumes that biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors combine and interact to produce psychological disorders

Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective

Classifying Disorders

Diagnosis

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)—describes specific symptoms and diagnostic guidelines for psychological disorders– Provides a common language to label mental

disorders

– Comprehensive guidelines to help diagnose mental disorders

DSM-IV-TR

• Divides mental disorders into 17 major categories

• Includes the symptoms but not the causes or treatment of each disease

• Lists and describes 250 specific psychological disorders

Labeling Stigmas

• Studies show a clear bias against people diagnosed with mental disorders.

• Rosenhan Study – “normal” people pretended to hear voices and checked into a mental health facility then acted normally. Their normal actions taken to be abnormal once they were labeled schizophrenic.

Prevalence• Approximately 48% of adults experienced

symptoms at least once in their lives• Approximately 80% who experienced symptoms

in the last year did NOT seek treatment– Many people who could benefit from mental

health treatment do not seek it. – Most people seem to deal with symptoms without

complete debilitation

• Women have higher prevalence of depression and anxiety

• Men have higher prevalence of substance abuse and antisocial personality disorder

Prevalence of Mental Disorders Worldwide

Gender Differences for Disorders

Are People with a Mental Illness as Violent as the Media

Portrays Them? • People with mental disorders are often depicted on

TV as helpless victims or evil villains who are unpredictable, dangerous, and violent.

• One study indicated that, overall, former mental patients did not have a higher rate of violence than a matched comparison group.

• People with severe mental disorders who are experiencing bizarre delusional ideas and hallucinated voices do have a slightly higher level of violent and illegal behavior than do “normal” people.