Transcript Psychological Disorders

Psychological Disorders
Perspectives on Psychological
Disorders
Psychological Disorders
A famous TV character who has OCD
An anxiety disorder characterized by
Unwanted repetitive thoughts & or actions
• People are fascinated
with the exceptional,
the unusual, & the
abnormal
• We need a reason to
explain the evil in the
world
– Hunger
– Pain
– Unusual people
Why are we obsessed?
• “to study the abnormal is the best way of
understanding the normal”
• Most people have had an experience in
dealing with a mental disorder
• 2.1 million people are admitted as
inpatients to US Mental hospitals
• 2.4 million others are on an outpatient
bases
Who has the disorders?
• World Health
Organization estimates
that some 450 million
people in the world suffer
from a mental disorder
• Being human most of us
Howard Hughes one of the most
will not be able to go
Famous & richest men in the world
Suffered from a mental illness.
through life without facing
OCD.
the realities of
psychological
disturbance.
Perspective on Psychological
Disorders
• How do you define a psychological
disorder?
• Harmful dysfunction in which behavior is judged to
be different from normal
– What is normal & what is abnormal
– Is it an illness than can be cured or is it a
natural response to a troubling environment?
– How do we classify disorders without
stigmatizing people?
Defining Psychological Disorders
• Most mental health workers describe
mental disorders as behaviors that are
– Atypical (disturbing)
– Disturbing
– Maladaptive
– Unjustifiable
• Being different from most other people in one’s
culture is part of what it takes to define a
psychological disorder
Def. Psychological Cont.
• Does not impair your
life it is not a disorder
• Standards of
acceptability changes
according to culture &
time
– Ex.
• Sex experts in the 1800’s
compared to those in the
20th century have a very
different idea of what a
disorder is.
• Others find the rational
for your behavior
unjustifiable
• The Diagnostic &
Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders
• First appeared in 1952
– Homosexuality
– Smoking
– DSM-IV
Understanding Psychological
Disorders
• Previously people believed
psychological disorders were
caused by
– Evil spirits
– Movement of the stars
– Godlike powers
• Treatments included
– Caged
– Beaten
– Castrated
– Body mutilation
– Animal blood transfusion
The Medical Perspective Cont.
• “Moral treatment” was a necessary in
order to treat what they saw as an
illness
• 1800’s reformer (Phillipe Pinel) &
others viewed their behavior as an
illness and the “Medical Model” was
born.
Slowly hospitals have
Replaced asylums as
The medical field has
Advanced.
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Treating them humanly
Talking to them
Replacing brutality with kindness
Isolation with activity
Filth with clean air & sun
• “mental illnesses are diagnosable disorders of
the brain”, that can be treated.
The Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective
• Basically that Nature & Nurture combined
can be the cause of a psychological
disorder
– Inner psychological dynamics, social, &
cultural circumstances can be the reason
behind a disorder
• According to this perspective there is no
separation between the mind & the body & that all
the reasons above combined can explain why
someone can develop a psychological disorder.
Classifying Psychological Disorders
• Puts mental illness in order
that make sit easier to
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classify them
describe symptoms
Predict future course
Imply appropriate treatment
Stimulate research into its
causes
DSM-V version in 2010
Defines 17 major types of mental
disorders
Critics have a problem with the wide
net to any type of behavior.
Label are arbitrary & at worst value
judgments masquerading as science
Labeling Psychological Disorders
• Labeling people with disorders has the
potential for danger
– We view that person as different
– Our perceptions & interpretations of actions
can change
– Lead to misdiagnosis
– Stigmatize people
• 9 out of 10 people with a disorder are not
dangerous
There is a purpose
• Psychiatric diagnosis
– Communicate with each other about the
subject matter of their concern
– Comprehend the pathological processes
involved in psychiatric illness
– Control psychiatric outcomes