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Psychological Disorders (Chapter 16) - Psychology: Frontiers and Applications

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Course
PSYCH 1003 (PSYCH1003)

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University Of Western Ontario (UWO )

This document covers all essential information in Chapter 16 of the “Psychology: Frontiers and Applications” textbook in a succinct and informative way, and is a suitable substitute for reading the textbook chapter itself for those running short on time or looking for a quick summary. Includes ...

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Uploaded on June 11, 2023
Number of pages 19
Written in 2022/2023
Type Class notes
Professor(s) Prof. mike atkinson
Contains Chapter 16 of the &opencurlydoublequote;psychology: frontiers and applications” textbook

dsm 5
psychology
psych
psychological disorders
abnormal psychology
abnormal psych
anxiety
gad
panic
phobia
ocd
anorexia nervosa
bulimia nervo
generalized anxiety disorder
obsessive compulsive disorder

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Psychological Disorders
Chapter 16
Stats from CMHA
● One in five Canadian suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder
● Nearly half of all North Americans between the ages of 15 and 54 will experience a psychological
disorder at some time in their lives
● Psychological disorders are the second leading cause of disability, exceeding physical illnesses
and accidents
● Medications used to treat anxiety and depression are among the most frequently prescribed drugs
in North America
● One adolescent dies by suicide every 90 seconds in North America
● 4,000 Canadians die by suicide every year; 90% of these were diagnosed with a mental disorder
● 24% of all deaths among 15 to 24 year olds are suicide
● Each year more than a million students withdraw from universities in North America because of
emotional problems
● Wanted for North Americans will have substance abuse disorders during their lifetime
● In developed economies like Canada in the united states, psychological disorders account for over
15% of the financial burden of illness, more than the burden caused by all cancers

Abnormal
● Defining what abnormal is needs to take into account the personal values of a diagnostician, the
expectations of the current culture/culture of origin, general assumptions about human nature,
statistical deviation for the norm, and distress, dysfunction, and deviance
○ Dysfunction, and deviance seem to govern decisions but abnormality, and one or more of
them seem to apply to virtually any behaviour regarded as abnormal
● We label behaviours is abnormal if they are intensely distressing to the individual, but this isn't
even necessary nor sufficient to Define abnormality
● Most behaviours judged abnormal are dysfunctional, either for the individual or for society
○ Behaviours that interfere with a person's ability to work or to experience satisfying
relationships with other people are likely to be seen as maladaptive and self-defeating,
especially if the person seems unable to control such behaviour
● Conduct within every society is regulated by norms (behavioural rules that specify how people
are expected to think, feel, and behave)
○ People are likely to be viewed as psychologically disturbed if they violate unstated
norms, especially if the violations make others feel uncomfortable and cannot be
attributed to environmental causes
● Both personal and social judgments of behaviour enter into considerations of what is abnormal
● Abnormal behaviour is personally distressing, personally dysfunctional, and/or culturally deviant
so other people judge it to be inappropriate or maladaptive

Major diagnostic categories in the DSM-5

, ● Anxiety disorders: intense, frequent, or inappropriate anxiety, but no loss of reality contact;
includes phobias, generalized anxiety reactions, and panic disorders
● Mood (affective) disorders: marked disturbances of mood, including depression and mania
(extreme elation and excitement)
● Somatic symptom disorders: physical symptoms, such as blindness, paralysis, or pain, that have
no physical basis and are assumed to be caused by psychological factors
● Dissociative disorders: psychologically caused problems of consciousness and self-identification,
including amnesia and multiple personalities (dissociative identity disorder)
● Schizophrenic and other psychotic disorders: severe disorder of thinking, perception, and emotion
that involve loss of contact with reality and disordered behaviour
● Substance-related and addictive disorders: personal and social problems associated with the use
of psychoactive substances, like alcohol, heroin, or other drugs; also includes behavioural
dependencies, such as a gambling disorder
● Neurodevelopmental disorders: disorders that begin in childhood, such as autism spectrum
disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
● Eating disorders: include anorexia nervosa (self-starvation) and bulimia nervosa (patterns of
binging and purging)
● Personality disorders: rigid, stable, and maladaptive personality patterns, such as antisocial,
borderline, and narcissistic disorders

Historical perspectives on deviant behaviour
● Through history human societies have explained and responded to abnormal behaviour in
different ways at different times, based on their values and assumptions but human life and
behaviour
● The belief that abnormal behaviour is caused by supernatural forces goes back to the ancient
chinese, egyptians, and hebrews, all of whom attributed deviance to the work of the devil
● One ancient treatment was based on the notion that bizarre behaviour reflected in evil spirits
attempt to escape from a person's body; to release the spirit, a procedure called trephination was
carried out, where a sharp tool was used to chisel a hole of 2 cm in diameter into the skull
● A medieval Europe, they believe that disturbed people either were possessed in voluntarily by the
devil or had voluntarily made a pact with the forces of darkness
○ The killing of witches was justified on theological grounds
○ Various “diagnostic” tests were devised, like binding a woman's hands and feet and
throwing her into a lake or pond (a woman who sank and drowned could be declared
pure, because impurities float to the surface, but those who floated were witches)
○ During the 16th and 17th centuries, more than 100,000 people with psychological
disorders were identified as witches, hunted down, and executed
● The Greek physician Hippocrates suggested that mental illness were diseases just like physical
disorders; believe that the site of mental illness was the brain
○ By the 1800s, Western medicine began viewing mental disorders as biologically based
and was attempting to extend medical diagnoses to them
○ The biological emphasis on mental illness was given impetus by the discovery that
General paresis, where mental deterioration and bizarre behaviour occurs from massive
brain deterioration caused by syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease)

, Vulnerability-stress model (aka. diathesis stress model)
● Each of us has some degree of vulnerability, ranging from very low to very high, for the
developing a psychological disorder given sufficient stress
● Vulnerability (predisposition) can be due to biological, personality, or environmental factors
○ Biological factors: genotype, over- or under-activity of a neurotransmitter system in the
brain, a hair-trigger autonomic nervous system, hormonal factor
○ Personality factors: low self-esteem, extreme pessimism, Type A, maladaptive learning
○ Environmental factors: poverty, severe trauma or loss earlier in life, parenting styles,
cultural factors, low social support
● A predisposition creates a disorder only when a stressor (some recent or current event that
requires a person to cope) combines with the vulnerability to trigger a disorder
○ E.g. economic adversity, environmental trauma, interpersonal stressors or losses,
occupational setbacks or demands

Classification system of diagnosing psychological disorders
● To be scientifically and practically useful, a classification system has to meet standards of
reliability (the system should be couched in terms of observable behaviours that can be reliably
detected and should minimize subjective judgments) and validity (diagnostic categories should
accurately capture the essential features of the various disorders)
● Diagnostic categories should allow us to differentiate one psychological disorder from another
● DSM-5: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; most common and
widely used diagnostic classification system in North America
○ Has more than 350 diagnostic categories, containing detailed lists of observable
behaviours that must be present in order for a diagnosis to be made

DSM-IV-TR
● Type of diagnosis tool that used the categorical system, in which people are placed within
specific diagnostic categories
● The criteria are so detailed in specific that about 50% of people don't fit neatly into the categories;
people who receive the same diagnosis may share only certain symptoms and look very different
from one another
● The categorical system does not provide a way of capturing the severity of the person's disorder,
nor can It capture symptoms that are adaptively important but not severe enough to meet the
behavioural criteria

Dimensional system of diagnosing psychological disorders
● An alternative to the categorical system is a dimensional system, where relevant behaviours are
rated along a severity measure
● Based on the assumption that psychological disorders are extensions different in degree, rather
than kind, from normal personality functioning
● Much of the comorbidity that exists among current diagnostic categories reflects variations in the
same underlying factors, such as activity in the behavioural inhibition system or the personality
trait of neuroticism

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Psychological Disorders (Chapter 16) - Psychology: Frontiers and Applications

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