Transcript Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal Psychology
Abnormal Psychology: study of behavior & mental
processes connected with emotional distress or
impairment in functioning
Psychological Disorders
• About half of Americans will meet the criteria for a
DSM-IV disorder at some time in life
• By age 75, the lifetime probability of a(n)…
• Anxiety disorder (including phobias) = 32%
• Mood disorder (including depression) = 28%
• Impulse control = 25%
• Alcohol abuse = 15%
• Drug abuse = 9%
• Median age of onset is earlier for anxiety disorders and
impulse control (11 years) than for substance abuse
disorders (20 years) and mood disorders (30 years)
• Half of all cases start by 14 years and ¾ of cases start by
24 years
Psychological Disorders
• Rates of mental illness have flattened in the past 15
years after steadily rising from the 1950s
• More people are seeking treatment  41% of those
having a disorder went for treatment in the prior year
which is up from 25% a decade ago
• Younger adults are more likely to seek prompt care, so
the stigma of mental illness is waning
• Because schizophrenia, autism, and some other severe
disorders were not surveyed, the researchers conclude
that he prevalence of psychological disorders is even
higher than their statistics suggest
Historical Perspectives on Abnormal
Behavior – Old Beliefs
• Perceived Causes
– Movements of sun or moon
(lunacy = full moon)
– Evil spirits, demonic possession
• Ancient Treatments
– Exorcism, caged like animals,
beaten/burned, castrated,
mutilated, blood replaced with
animal’s blood, trephening
Trephening = cut hole in head to let out evil
spirit
Historical Perspectives on Abnormal
Behavior
• In the 1800s, disturbed people no longer
thought of as “madmen” but as “mentally
ill”
• Early mental hospitals
– Barbaric prisons
– Patients chained & locked away
– Charged admission to see “crazies”
© Bettmann/CORBIS
Fig. 16.5 The Mad Hatter, from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland. History provides numerous examples of psychosis caused by
toxic chemicals. Carroll’s Mad Hatter character is modeled after an occupational
disease of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In that era, hatmakers were
heavily exposed to mercury used in the preparation of felt. Consequently, many
suffered brain damage and became psychotic, or “mad” (Kety, 1979).
Historical Perspectives on Abnormal
Behavior – 18th & 19th Centuries
• Philippe Pinel (France)
– Compassionate model for treatment – humane hospital in
Paris
• William Tuke (England)
– Trained nurses for
mentally ill, change
public attitudes
• Benjamin Rush (U.S.)
– Founder of American
psychiatry
– Encouraged humane treatment, establishment of hospitals
It’s All a Matter of Degree
Epidemiology v. Etiology
• Epidemiology is the study of diseases in populations of
humans or other animals, specifically how, when and
where they occur.
– Epidemiological studies can never prove causation
– Incidence = new cases of a condition which occur
during a specified period
– Prevalence = cases (both new and existing) of a
condition observed at a point in time or during a
period of time.
• Etiology is the study of the origins and causes of
disease
Rosenhan’s “Labeling” Study
• How does being “labeled” affect one’s
treatment by others?
• Had 7 confederates admitted to mental
hospitals, labeled as schizophrenic
• The confederates were told not to show any
unusual behaviors at all, but be completely
normal
• Normal events/behaviors were perceived as
irregular and abnormal by hospital staff
• Rosenhan reasoned that labels were so
powerful that they profoundly affected the
way information was processed & perceived
Practical Approach for Identifying
Abnormality
• What is the content of the behavior?
– I stop bathing
– I shower 37 times every day
• What is the sociocultural context in which the behavior
occurs?
– We are expected to not smell
– We are expected to show up to work on time
• What are the consequences of the behavior for that
person and for others?
– People avoid me
– I get fired from my job
What is “Abnormal”?
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Maladaptive or harmful to individual
Disturbing to others
Atypical or uncommon
Unjustifiable – does not
make sense, irrational
Psych disorders must cause significant personal distress
and impair the ability to function in one or more areas
of life
Psychological Disorders- Etiology
• Neurotic disorder (term seldom used now)
– usually distressing but that allows one to think
rationally and function socially
– Freud saw the neurotic disorders as ways of dealing
with anxiety
• Psychotic disorder
– person loses contact with reality
– experiences irrational ideas and distorted
perceptions
Psychological Disorders- Etiology
• Organic Mental Disorder: mental or emotional
problem caused by brain pathology (injury, disease)
• Substance Related Disorders: abuse or dependence on
a mind- or mood-altering drug, like alcohol or cocaine
– Person cannot stop using the substance & suffer withdrawal
symptoms of they do
How are psychological disorders diagnosed?
• Interviews, self-reports
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, 4th Ed.
 known as DSM-IV
• Published by the American Psychiatric
Association
• Provides set of criteria, but does NOT
identify causes or treatments
The DSM-IV defines symptoms & diagnoses using
hierarchy (Five Axes)
Axis 1: Adult psychological disorders (depression,
schizophrenia, etc.)
Axis 2: Developmental disorders (mental retardation,
learning disability), personality disorders
Axis 3: Medical conditions
Axis 4: Social and environmental sources of stress (loss of
job, death of loved one, divorce)
Axis 5: Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score
Scale ranges from 1 to 100
Score of 100 = unimpaired
Score of 1 = severe dysfunction
The DSM-IV defines symptoms & diagnoses using
hierarchy (Five Axes)
Axis 1: Alcohol dependence
Axis 2: Dependent personality disorder
Axis 3: Diabetes
Axis 4: Death of spouse, unemployment
Axis 5: GAF = 60 (moderate symptoms, occasional
panic attacks, difficulty in school/work/social
functioning)
Perspective
Biological
(Biomedical)
Causes of Disorder
Organic problems (i.e. brain
functioning), biochemical imbalances
(neurotransmitters), heredity
Psychoanalytic
Unconscious conflicts & impulses
stemming from childhood
Humanistic
Failure to strive to one’s potential,
out of touch with one’s feelings
Perspective
Cognitive
Behavioral
(Learning)
Sociocultural
Causes of Disorder
Irrational, dysfunctional thoughts
or thought processes
Abnormal behaviors are observed
and/or reinforced
Dysfunctional society (i.e. society’s
pressure to be thin or powerful,
gender socialization, etc.)
Biopsychosocial
Model
Assumes that biological, sociocultural, and psychological factors
combine and interact to produce
psychological disorders
Biological
(Evolution,
individual
genes, brain
structures
and chemistry)
Sociocultural
(Roles, expectations,
definition of normality
and disorder)
Psychological
(Stress, trauma,
learned helplessness,
mood-related perceptions
and memories)
FYI…
• Intern’s syndrome  tendency to see self as
having symptoms & characteristics of disorder
that one is learning
• Comorbidity  disorders
can occur together (depression
is sometimes comorbid
with an anxiety disorder)
Categories of Disorders
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Anxiety
Somatoform
Dissociative
Mood
Personality
Schizophrenic
Sexual &
Gender
Identity
• Eating
• Substance Abuse
• Etc.