Abnormal Psychology Overview and Anxiety Disorders

Abnormal Psychology Overview

• 26% of Americans will experience some form of mental illness in their lives.
• Abnormal behavior is defined by deviance, distress, and dysfunction.
• Views of abnormal behavior in the 18th century attributed it to demonic possession.
• The medical model views mental illness as a disease requiring treatment.
• The biopsychosocial model considers biological, psychological, and social factors in mental illness.
• The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is used for diagnosing mental disorders.

Anxiety Disorders

• Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, phobic disorder, panic disorder with agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
• Fear is an emotional response. Panic is sudden overwhelming terror. Anxiety is a mood state.
• Performance tends to decrease at high arousal (fear/anxiety) and increases as arousal rises, but begins to fall again as arousal becomes overwhelming.
• Generalized anxiety disorder involves chronic high anxiety not tied to any specific threat. Symptoms include muscle tension, dizziness, and sweating.
• Phobic disorder involves a persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation with no realistic danger (e.g., spiders, heights).
• Panic disorder with agoraphobia involves recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety and fear of public places.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves obsessions (harm, failures), and compulsions (stereotyped rituals).
• Posttraumatic stress disorder involves enduring psychological disturbance from a major traumatic event.

Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociative disorders involve losing contact with portions of consciousness or memory, and disruptions in the sense of identity.
• Dissociative amnesia involves sudden loss of memory for a single traumatic event.
• Dissociative fugue involves loss of memory for one's entire life.
• Dissociative identity disorder involves two or more largely complete and different personalities.

Mood Disorders

• Mood disorders involve emotional disturbances that disrupt physical, perceptual, social, and thought processes.
• Major depressive disorder involves persistent feelings of sadness and despair, and loss of interest in sources of pleasure.
• Bipolar disorder includes periods of depression and mania.

Schizophrenic Disorders

• Schizophrenic disorders include delusions, distorted perceptions (e.g., hallucinations), and disturbed emotions.
• Schizophrenia has a significant genetic vulnerability and often begins in adolescence or early adulthood.
• Types include paranoid schizophrenia (delusions of persecution and grandeur), catatonic schizophrenia (striking motor disturbances ranging from muscular rigidity to random motor activity), disorganized schizophrenia (severe deterioration of adaptive behavior), and undifferentiated schizophrenia (does not fit other types).
• Some theories suggest that prenatal viral infections, malnutrition, or obstetrical complications, or other factors are associated to the onset of schizophrenia.

Explore the fundamental concepts of abnormal psychology, including mental illnesses, their historical perspectives, and modern categorizations. This quiz will also test your knowledge of various anxiety disorders and their characteristics, encapsulated in the DSM-V framework.