Transcript Psychological Disorders

Psychological Disorders
Psychology 1107
Why study disorders?
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Disorders are pretty pervasive
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Help us understand normal folks
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400 million people worldwide
Schizophrenia and depression are culture free
Maybe disordered have too much or too little
of something
They are sick, HELP THEM!
What is a disorder
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To understand and study disorders we must first
define what disordered means
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Atypical
Disturbing
Maladaptive
Unjustifiable
Varies culturally
Varies temporally
Harm is the key really
Where do disorders come from?
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Evil!
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Remove blood, hair
teeth, that ought to
take care of it….
Quick Time™ an d a
TIFF ( Un compr ess ed ) de co mpr es sor
ar e n eed ed to s ee this pic tur e.
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Drill a hole in the
skull….
Medical Perspective
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Pinel realized it wasn’t demons
Stressors, inhumane treatment
Syphilis
Still a pretty popular idea
Brain problems
Schizophrenia and depression are treated
with drugs
Bio Psycho Social Perspective
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Interaction of nature and nurture
While schizophrenia and depression are
universal, others are not
So say anxiety may lead to one disorder in
one place and one in another
Pretty popular approach nowadays
Classify
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Have to know the overall characteristics of
a disorder
DSM
Doesn’t please everyone
Doesn’t talk about causes
Neurotic vs. psychotic disorders
DSM
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Many categories
Properly used the DSM is valid and
reliable
Critics say it is just labeling
Rosenhan (1973)
More and more people seem to
understand the idea of it being more like
sickness
A warning…
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This system is for
trained professionals
Please do not try this
at home…
Anxiety disorders
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Generalized anxiety disorders, phobias,
OCD
GAD is also known as ‘free floating
anxiety’
Cam escalate into a panic attack
Scary
Avoid situations
agoraphobia
Phobias
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Anxiety is focused on some object or
situation
Can be incapacitating
Easily treated
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More on that in another lecture….
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
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Many of us can see a bit of OCD in
ourselves
When it interferes with daily life, that is
when it becomes a problem
So where do OCD and GAD come from?
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Learning
Evolutionary explanations
Dissociaciative disorders
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Amnesia
Fugue
Dissociative Identity Disorder (MPD)
Only in America….
May not really even exist
Mood disorders
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We all have bad days, but not like this
Major depressive disorder involves
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Lethargy
Loss of interest in everything
Feelings of worthlessness
Not just being sad
Dysthimic disorder is a minor version
Bipolar disorder
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From depression to mania
Grandiose optimism
Too much esteem
No sex differences
Some key depressing facts..
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Cognitive changes
Depression is widespread
Sex differences
Usually short lived
Stressful events before onset
Rate increasing, age of onset decreasing
Biology
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Clear genetic effects
NE and 5Ht correlate with mood
Most drugs that are effective operate on
these systems
Social cognitive approach
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Self defeating moods and thoughts
Thoughts feed moods
Moods feed thoughts
Aww what’s the use….
Schizophrenia
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IS NOT MULTIPLE PERSONALITY
DISORDER
It is disordered thinking
It is distorted perceptions
It is inappropriate emotins and actions
Can be chronic or acute
Types
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Positive and negative symptoms
Paranoid
Disorganized
Catatonic
undifferentiated
Why?
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Not social
Genetic
Biological
Dopamine is the key
Personality disorders
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Debilitating personality, not just annoying
Borderline
Narcissistic
Histrionic
Antisocial
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Psychopath or sociopath
Rates
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About 30 % of people have had a disorder,
about 20 % have one right now
Remember this includes phobias, drug
problems
Two times higher under the poverty line
Something has to be done