Transcript Psychological Disorders Intro

An Introduction
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“The sun shines and warms and lights us and
we have no curiosity to know why this is so,
but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and
hunger, and unusual people.” -Emerson
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Why do you think it is that we are so
fascinated by disturbed people?
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An estimated 26.2% of Americans ages 18
and older (1 in 4), suffer from a mental
disorder in a given year.
 About 6% (1 in 17), suffer from a serious mental
illness.
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An estimated 450 million worldwide suffer
from psychological disorders according to
the World Health Organization.
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Defining the line between normality and
abnormality
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Define. Understand. Classify.
Psychological disorders:
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Deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional patterns
of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.
Standards for deviant behavior vary by
context and culture.
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Highly decorated war vet?
 Wodaabe Tribe?
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Behavior causes stress &
interference to a normal life.
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Understanding Psychological Disorders
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During the early stages people assumed the
strange behavior was godlike or supernatural
in some way
 Results: Caged in zoolike conditions, burnings,
castrations, trephination, removing lengths of
intestines, cauterizing the clitoris, blood
tranfusions
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Medical Perspective
 Pinel was one of the first to argue in the 1700’s that
disorders were not demon possessions
but rather a sickness instead
 Encouraged talking, gentleness, activity
and clean air
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The concept that diseases have physical causes
that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most
cases, cured.
When applied to psychological disorders, the
medical model assumes that these “mental”
illnesses can be diagnosed on the basis of their
symptoms and cured through therapy, which
may include treatment in a psychiatric hospital
 Gained credibility because of their discoveries with
genetically influenced disorders
 Mental Health Movement
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Bio-psycho-social perspective
Assumes that all behavior arises from the
interaction of nature and nurture
 “mentally ill” attributes solely to an internal
problem and that may not always be the case
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 Actually could be a combination (environment,
bad habits, poor social skills, genetics…)
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Evidence of environmental effects comes
from links between disorder and culture
 Some disorders such as depression and
schizophrenia are world-wide while others are
cultural
 Susto; DID; Anorexia
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The bio-psycho-social perspective views all
possible influencing factors
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Classifying Disorders
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DSM IV-TR: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition- Text
Revision
 Widely used book classifying mental disorders
 Classifies 17 major categories of “mental disorders”,
describing the disorders and listing their prevalence
without presuming to explain their causes
The DSM was created in 1952 by the APA
to categorize mental disorders.
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 1952- 60 mental disorders identified
 Today- 400
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DSM does not use the term neurosis but does
use the term neurotic disorders
 Neurotic Disorders: a psychological disorder that
is usually distressing but that allows one to think
rationally and function socially.
 Freud saw the neurotic disorders as ways of
dealing with anxiety
 Psychotic disorders: a psychological disorder in
which a person loses contact with reality,
experiencing irrational ideas and distorted
perceptions
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Labels create preconceptions that can bias our
perceptions and our interpretations
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When we label a person, we view that person
differently
David Rosenhan labeling study
Langer labeling study
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Too often people with psychological disorders
are labeled ridiculed, are viewed as homicidal
maniacs or freaks in movies.
 9 out of 10 of those with mental disorders are not
violent