Other Disorders Semantic Symptom and Related Disorders A

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Other Disorders

Other Disorders

Semantic Symptom and Related Disorders • A psychological disorder in which the symptoms take

Semantic Symptom and Related Disorders • A psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause – “medically unexplained illnesses” – Culture has an effect on people’s physical complaints and how they explain them – In China, psychological explanations of anxiety and depression are less socially acceptable than in the West- people less often express the emotional aspects of distress – We have all experienced inexplicable physical symptoms under stress – Little comfort to hear “all in your head)

Conversion Disorder • A disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical

Conversion Disorder • A disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found (also called functional neurological symptom disorder) – They might lose sensation in a way that doesn’t make sense – Unexplained paralysis, blindness, or an inability to swallow – People are sent to physicians not psychologists

Illness Anxiety Disorder • Disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as

Illness Anxiety Disorder • Disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease (formerly hypochondriacs) – Stomach cramp, headache tomorrow…DISEASE! DEATH! – Sympathy may reinforce the disorder – Reassurances do not help- they jump around seeking and receiving more medical attention even though nothing is working

Dissociative Disorders • Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories,

Dissociative Disorders • Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings • Fugue States- Dissociative fugue usually involves unplanned travel or wandering, and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity • Dissociation itself is not so rare- many people have had feelings where they are separated from their bodies/watching themselves in a movie

Dissociative Identity Disorder • A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two

Dissociative Identity Disorder • A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder • Kenneth Bianchi

Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder • Critical of whether or not DID is a genuine

Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder • Critical of whether or not DID is a genuine disorder or an extension of our normal capacity for personality shifts – Highly hypnotizable… is it dissociation or role playing? – Localized in time and space (diagnoses are increasing, as well as number of personalities – Outside North America, the disorder is much less prevalent – In Britain, DID is a “wacky American fiend”, a rare disorder, and in India and Japan is essentially nonexistant

Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder • Others consider it to be a real disorder –

Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder • Others consider it to be a real disorder – They find support for this view in distinct body and brain states associated with different personalities – Handedness changes – Shifting visual acuity, eye-muscle balance – Heightened brain activity in areas associated with the control and inhibition of traumatic memories

Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder • Psychodynamic views and learning perspectives both agree that the

Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder • Psychodynamic views and learning perspectives both agree that the symptoms are ways of dealing with anxiety – Psychodynamic theorists see them as defenses against the anxiety caused by the eruption of unacceptable impulses – Learning theorists see them as behaviors reinforced by anxiety reduction – Others see them as under the category of PTSD- natural response to childhood trauma

Eating Disorders • Anorexia nervosa- an eating disorder in which a person maintains a

Eating Disorders • Anorexia nervosa- an eating disorder in which a person maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight • Bulimia nervosa- an eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating with purging excessive exercise, or fasting • Binge-eating disorder- significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging or fasting that marks bulimia nervosa

Eating Disorders • Not a tell-tale sign of childhood sexual abuse, but the family

Eating Disorders • Not a tell-tale sign of childhood sexual abuse, but the family environment may provide a fertile ground for eating disorders – Mothers of those girls tend to focus on their own weight and their daughters’ weight and appearance – Families of bulimia patients have a higher than usual incidence of childhood obesity and negative self evaluation – Families of anorexia patients tend to be competitive, high achieving, and protective – Those with eating disorder have low self evaluation, set perfectionist standards, fret about falling short of expectations, etc

Eating Disorders • Genetics also influence eating disorders – Twins are more likely to

Eating Disorders • Genetics also influence eating disorders – Twins are more likely to share the disorder if they are identical rather than fraternal – Cultural and gender components- ideal shapes may vary across culture and time

Personality Disorders • Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair

Personality Disorders • Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning – Clusters – Anxiety- such as a fearful sensitivity to rejection that predisposes the withdrawn avoidant personality disorder – Eccentric/odd behaviors- emotionless disengagement of the schizoid personality disorder – Dramatic/impulsive behaviors- histrionic personality disorder and selffocused/self-inflating narcissistic personality disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder • A personality disorder in which a person (usually a man)

Antisocial Personality Disorder • A personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even towards friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist (sometimes called a sociopath or a psychopath) • Typically a male whose lack of conscience becomes plain before age 15 as he begins to lie, steal, fight or display unrestrained sexual behavior – About half of such children become antisocial adults (unable to keep a job, irresponsible as a spouse and parent, assaultive or otherwise criminal

Antisocial Personality Disorder • When combined with a keen intelligence and amorality, the result

Antisocial Personality Disorder • When combined with a keen intelligence and amorality, the result may be a charming and clever con artists, a ruthless corporate executive, or even worse • Criminality is NOT an essential component of antisocial behavior – Many criminals do not fit that description because they care about their family and friends

Antisocial Personality Disorder • Behave impulsively, feel and fear little – The results may

Antisocial Personality Disorder • Behave impulsively, feel and fear little – The results may be horrifying – Henry Lee Lucas-killed when he was 13 (little regret), during 32 years of crime, he confessed to having brutally beaten, suffocated, stabbed, shot, or mutilated some 360 women, men and children – During the last six years, he teamed up with Elwood Toole, who reportedly slaughtered about 50 people “didn’t think was worth living anyhow”

Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder • Woven of both biological and psychological strands – Those

Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder • Woven of both biological and psychological strands – Those with relatives are at a higher risk – Molecular geneticists have identified some specific genes that are more common in those with antisocial personality disorder – Display fearless approaches and tendencies to life – Show little autonomic nervous system arousal while awaiting aversive events – Stress hormones are lower when they are younger – Three year olds who are slow to develop conditioned fears are later more likely to commit a crime

Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder • Other studies have found that preschool boys who later

Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder • Other studies have found that preschool boys who later become aggressive or antisocial adolescents tended to be impulsive, uninhibited, unconcerned with social rewards • Genes that put people at risk for antisocial behavior also put people at risk for substance abuse disorders (explains why they sometimes occur in combination • Brain wiring- PET scans of murderers with that of similar nonmurderers and found reduced activity in the murderers frontal lobes, an area of the cortex that helps control impulses (especially prevalent in that of people who murder on impulse)

Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder • People with antisocial typically display deficits in frontal lobe

Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder • People with antisocial typically display deficits in frontal lobe cognitive functions, such as planning, organization, and inhibition (they also respond less to facial displays of others’ distress) • Not only biological, but environmental as well – Family backgrounds marked by poverty and family instability – The biosocial combination has double the risk of crime