Introductory Psychology Concepts CHAPTER 12 ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY Professor

Introductory Psychology Concepts CHAPTER 12 ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY Professor Veronica Emilia Nuzzolo © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Abnormal Psychology: Defining the Study of Abnormal Behavior • Actions, thoughts, and feelings that cause people to experience distress and prevent functioning in daily lives • In extreme cases, persons may become harmful to themselves or others © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -2

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Abnormal Psychology: What is “abnormal”? Three criteria—distress, dysfunction, and deviance—seem to govern decisions about abnormality. Dysfunctional for person or society Distressing to self or others Judgment of abnormality Deviant: violates social norms © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -3

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Abnormal Psychology Psychological Perspective: Understanding Abnormal Behavior in Terms of Psychological Events • Behavior is due to underlying issues. • Stems from childhood conflicts over opposing wishes regarding sex and aggression. • If conflicts are not resolved they can be buried in the unconscious, which can bring about abnormal behavior in adulthood. • This view was held most famously by Freud. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -4

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Abnormal Psychology Behavioral Perspective: Understanding Abnormal Behavior in Terms of the Principles of Learning • All behavior is merely a response to various stimuli, and these responses have been learned through past experience. • Abnormal behavior occurs because a person has learned abnormal behavior. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -5

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Abnormal Psychology Neuroscience Perspective: Understanding Abnormal Behavior in Terms of Biology • Behavior is due to underlying issues. • The root cause is found in a physical examination of the individual, which is why we use terms like mental “illness” and mental “hospitals”. • Examination may reveal a hormonal imbalance, a chemical deficiency, or a brain injury causing the abnormal behavior. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -6

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Abnormal Psychology Cognitive Perspective: Understanding Abnormal Behavior in Terms of Cognitive Events • Behavior is a result of factors that are within an individual’s control. • People’s cognition, their thoughts and beliefs, are a central component of abnormal behavior. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -7

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Abnormal Psychology Group Perspective: Understanding Abnormal Behavior in Terms of the Effects of Groups on Abnormal Behavior. • People’s behavior is shaped by the kind of family group, society, and culture in which they live. • One’s relationships with others can support or cause abnormal behaviors. • Daily interactions that cause stress and conflict can also promote and maintain abnormal behaviors. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -8

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Anxiety Disorders: Excessive and Unrealistic Anxiety • Anxiety is the state of tension and apprehension that one naturally feels in threatening situations. • An anxiety disorder is classified by excessive responses that are out of proportion to the situation that triggers them. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -9

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Anxiety Disorders Phobias: Irrational Fear of Objects or Situations • Specific Phobias: specific triggers such as spiders, dogs, airplanes, elevators, or germs. • Social Phobias: fear of situations where a person might be evaluated and possibly embarrassed. • Agoraphobia: fear of open or public places from which escape would be difficult. Phobia Trigger Acrophobia Aerophobia Agoraphobia Ailurophobia Amaxophobia Anthophobia Heights Flying Entering Public Spaces Cats Vehicles, Driving Flowers © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -10

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Anxiety Disorders Phobias: Irrational Fear of Objects or Situations Phobia Trigger Aquaphobia Water Murophobia Mice Arachnophobia Spiders Mysophobia Dirt or germs Astrapobia Lightning Numerophobia Numbers Brontophobia Thunder Nyctophobia Darkness Claustrophobia Closed spaces Ochlophobia Crowds Cynophobia Dogs Ophidiophobia Snakes Dementophobia Insanity Ornithophobia Birds Electrophobia Electricity Phonophobia Speaking out loud Gephyrophobia Bridges Pyrophobia Fire Herpetophobia Reptiles Thanatophobia Death Hydrophobia Water Trichophobia Hair Mikrophobia Germs Xenophobia Strangers © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -11

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Anxiety Disorders Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Obsessive Thoughts and Compulsive Behaviors • Obsessions are persistent and unwelcome thoughts that keep recurring. • Compulsions are irritable urges to repeatedly carry out some act that is unreasonable. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -12

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Anxiety Disorders Panic Disorder: Intense Panic With Physical Symptoms • Usually characterized by a panic attack, a sudden and unpredictable surge of tension and anxiety that can last from several seconds to several hours. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -13

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Anxiety Disorders Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Intense Anxiety for At Least Six Months • Chronic, or ongoing, state of anxiety that is not attached to any specific situation or object. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -14

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Anxiety Disorders Posttraumatic Disorder: Re-experiencing a Traumatic Event • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that occurs to people who have been exposed to traumatic life events. • PTSD primarily identified through the study of soldiers returning from war, specifically their problems with images and acts they witnessed. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -15

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Anxiety Disorders Causes of Anxiety Disorders: Psychoanalytic, Behavioral, Cognitive, and Biological • Psychoanalytic: Form of neuroses that occurs when unacceptable impulses threaten to overwhelm the ego’s defenses and explode into consciousness. • Behavioral: Created through learned classical conditioning, observational learning, or operant conditioning. • Cognitive: Problem of maladaptive thought patterns and beliefs. • Biological: Created through genetics. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -16

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Dissociative Disorders: A Break in Consciousness and Memory • A breakdown of normal personality integration which can result in significant alterations in memory or identity. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -17

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Dissociative Disorders Dissociative Amnesia: Forgetting Caused By Psychological Factors • Responding to a stressful event with extensive but selective memory loss. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -18

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Dissociative Disorders Dissociative Fugue: Moving to a New Location with Loss of Identity and Memory • Losing all sense of personal identity • Giving up one’s current life • Going to a faraway location and creating a new identity. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -19

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Dissociative Disorders Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): More Than One Personality Residing in an Individual • Two or more separate personalities coexist in the same person. • Previously called Multiple Personality Disorder. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -20

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Dissociative Disorders Causes of Dissociative Disorders • Psychoanalytic: Form of neuroses that occurs when unacceptable impulses threaten to overwhelm the ego’s defenses and explode into consciousness. • Behavioral: Created through learned classical conditioning, observational learning, or operant conditioning. • Cognitive: Problem of maladaptive thought patterns and beliefs. • Family Issues and Biological: Created through genetics. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -21

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders: Severe Disturbances in Emotion • Emotion-based disturbance strong enough to intrude on everyday life. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -22

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Major Depression: Extreme Sadness, Despair, With No Obvious Cause • Characterized by: • Episodes of deep unhappiness • Loss of interest in life. • Secondary symptoms include: • Elevated or decreased changes in sleep and appetite • Loss of interest in sex • Loss of overall energy • Difficulties concentrating and making decisions. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -23

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Major Depression: Across different places and cultures, women are diagnosed more frequently with depression than men. Lifetime rate per 100 people 25 Males 20 Females 15 10 5 0 U. S. A Puerto Rico Paris, France Western Germany © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. Florence, Beirut, Italy Lebanon Korea New Zealand 12 -24

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Bipolar Disorder: Severe Mood Swings From Depressive to Manic Episodes • Characterized by: • An internal struggle with depression (usually the dominant state) • Alternated with periods of mania, a state of highly excited moods of euphoria and grandeur. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -25

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Dysthymia: Moderate Depressive Symptoms • A form of depression that has less dramatic effects on personal and occupational functioning. • Can also last for longer periods than major depression. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -26

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Cyclothymia: Moderate Mood Swings • A mild form of depression that may include long-term bouts of irritability. • Likened to a milder form of dysthymia. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -27

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Causes of Mood Disorders • Psychoanalytic: Occurs when an early traumatic loss or rejection creates vulnerability that is not properly resolved. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -28

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Causes of Mood Disorders • Behavioral: • Learned via reinforcement • May be triggered by a loss or some other punishing event © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -29

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Causes of Mood Disorders • Cognitive: A person’s perceptions, thoughts, or self statements cause feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -30

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Causes of Mood Disorders • Family Issues: Caused from our surrounding culture, family, friends, and the presence or absence of a strong social support network when dealing with negative factors. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -31

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Mood Disorders Causes of Mood Disorders • Biological: Created through genetics and neurochemical factors © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -32

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Disorders: Extremely Rigid Maladaptive Behavior Patterns • A class of mental disorders characterized by rigid, long -term patterns of inflexible and maladaptive behavior that keep a person from functioning appropriately in society. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -33

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Disorders Personality Disorder Types: Dramatic/Impulsive Antisocial: A disregard for social rules, norms, and cultural codes, charactized by • Impulsive behavior • Indifference to the rights and feelings of others • Beginning in childhood and continuing past age 18 Histrionic: Excessive, dramatic, emotional reactions and attention seeking • often sexually provocative; • highly impressionable and suggestible; • out of touch with negative feelings. SOURCE: Based on DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2000 © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -34

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Disorders Personality Disorder Types: Dramatic/Impulsive Narcissistic: • Grandiose fantasies or behavior, lack of empathy, and oversensitivity to evaluation; constant need for admiration from others; proud self-display. Borderline: • Pattern of severe instability of self-image, interpersonal relationships, emotions • often expressing alternating extremes of love and hatred toward the same person; • high frequency of manipulative suicidal behavior. SOURCE: Based on DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2000 © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -35

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Disorders Personality Disorder Types: Anxious/Fearful Avoidant: • Extreme social discomfort and timidity; • feelings of inadequacy • fearfulness of being negatively evaluated. Dependent: • Extreme submissive and dependent behavior; • fears of separation from those who satisfy dependency needs. Obsessive-Compulsive: • Extreme perfectionism, orderliness, and inflexibility; • preoccupied with mental and interpersonal control. SOURCE: Based on DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2000 © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -36

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Disorders Personality Disorder Types: Odd/Eccentric Schizoid: • Indifference to social relationships and experience; displays a restricted range of expressed emotions. Schizotypal: • Odd thoughts, appearance, and behavior; extreme discomfort in social situations. Paranoid: • An unwarranted tendency to interpret the behavior of other people as threatening, exploiting, or harmful. SOURCE: Based on DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2000 © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -37

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Personality Disorders Causes of Personality Disorders Psychoanalytic: Antisocial neurosis caused by a person having not properly developed the superego (the conscience). Biological: Created through genetics and physiological factors. Behavioral: Learned via reinforcement; may be triggered by a loss or some other punishing event. Cognitive: A person’s perceptions, thoughts, or self-statements cause feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy. Family Issues: Caused from our surrounding culture, family, friends, and the presence or absence of a strong social-support network when dealing with negative factors. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -38

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Somatoform Disorders: The Belief that One is Physically Ill with No Physical Ailment • Disorders in which the individual experiences the symptoms of physical health problems that have psychological, rather than physical, causes. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -39

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Somatoform Disorders Hypochondriasis: Worrying About Having or Contracting a Disease • Constant fear of illness and an obsessive preoccupation with one’s health. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -40

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Somatoform Disorders Somatization Disorder: Polysymptomatic Complaints • Intensely and chronically uncomfortable psychological conditions that indirectly create a high risk of medical complications. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -41

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Somatoform Disorders Conversion Disorder: Physical Loss of Function With No Physical Reason • Involves an actual physical disturbance to one’s body, which can cause blindness, deafness, and paralysis. An impossible conversion symptom. Glove anesthesia is a conversion disorder in which all feeling is lost below the wrist. The skin areas served by nerves in the arm make this symptom physiologically impossible. Glove anesthesia Actual nerve innervation © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -42

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Somatoform Disorders Causes of Somatoform Disorders Psychoanalytic: Form of neurosis that occurs when an early traumatic loss of rejection creates vulnerability that is not properly resolved. Behavioral: Triggered by a loss or an other punishing event and learned as a negative reinforcement pattern. Cognitive: People victimize themselves through their own beliefs that they are worthless or inadequate. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -43

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia: A Split Between Thoughts, Emotions, and Behavior • Psychiatric mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, which results in significant social or occupational dysfunction. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -44

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Main Symptoms of Schizophrenia • • • Delusions Attention Difficulties Hallucinations Disturbed Speech Emotional Disturbances Disordered Thinking Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia are tormented by bizarre and intrusive thoughts and images. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -45

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Types of Schizophrenia Disorganized (hebephrenic) schizophrenia Inappropriate laughter and giggling, silliness, incoherent speech, infantile behavior, strange and sometimes obscene behavior. Paranoid schizophrenia Delusions and hallucinations of persecution or of greatness, loss of judgment, erratic and unpredictable behavior. Catatonic schizophrenia Major disturbances in movement; in some phases, loss of all motion, patient frozen into a single position, remaining that way for hours or days; in other phases, hyperactivity and wild, violent movement. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -46

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Types of Schizophrenia (continued) Undifferentiated schizophrenia Variable mixture of major symptoms of schizophrenia; classification used for patients who cannot be typed into any of the more-specific categories. Residual schizophrenia Minor signs of schizophrenia after a more-serious episode. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -47

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Possible Causes of Schizophrenia Psychoanalytic: Suggests that schizophrenia is a form of regression to earlier experiences and stages of life. • Freud: people with schizophrenia lack egos strong enough to cope with unacceptable impulses. Behavioral: Suggests that the disorder is created through learned classical conditioning, observational learning, or operant conditioning. Cognitive: Suggests that schizophrenia results from overattention to stimuli in the environment. • People with the disorder may be receptive to everything in their environment, unable to screen out unimportant stimuli. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -48

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Possible Causes of Schizophrenia (continued) Brain Abnormalities: Brain scans have indicated a number of structural abnormalities in the brains of schizophrenic patients. Nonschizophrenic brain Schizophrenic brain ventricles One difference between the brains of a person with schizophrenia and without is enlarged ventricles (butterfly-shaped spaces seen in the middle of the MRIs). © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -49

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Possible Causes of Schizophrenia (continued) Biological hypothesis: The brains of people with schizophrenia may harbor either a biochemical imbalance or a structural abnormality. • The dopamine hypothesis suggests that schizophrenia occurs when there is excess activity in the areas of the brain that use dopamine as a neurotransmitter. • Drugs that block dopamine action in brain pathways can be highly effective in reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -50

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Possible Causes of Schizophrenia (continued) Genetic: Strong evidence exists for a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. • Specific genes and their roles in creating the disposition are unknown. • Twin studies show that identical twins have higher concordance rates than fraternal twins. • Adoption studies show much higher concordance with biological parents than with adoptive parents. © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -51

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Genes and schizophrenia The degree of risk for developing schizophrenia correlates highly with the degree of genetic relationship with someone who has that disorder. Relationship Genetic relatedness Unrelated person in the general population 0% Nephew/niece 25% Sibling 50% Offspring of 1 schizophrenic patient 50% Fraternal twin 50% Offspring of 2 schizophrenic patients 50% with each parent Identical twin 100% 10 Lifetime risk 20 30 40 50 60 1% 3% 10% 13% 17% 46% 48% Data summarizes results of 40 concordance studies conducted in many countries. SOURCE: Based on Gottesman, 1991 © 2013 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. 12 -52