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Chapter 1: Conceptual Issues in Abnormal Psychology

• Learning Objectives:
  • Describe the difficulties inherent in defining abnormality and mental disorder.
  • Distinguish among the main theoretical approaches to understanding the classification, aetiology, and treatment of mental disorders.
  • Evaluate the changes made in psychiatric classification over time.
• Defining Abnormal:
  • Several terms in the field mean essentially the same thing. These include psychological disorder, mental disorder, and psychiatric disorder. Mental illness and psychopathology are also similar but may refer to the field of study.
  • No single definition captures all aspects of the range of disorders contained in the DSM-5.
• Defining Abnormal (cont):
  • Statistical deviation
  • Rare behaviours deviating from the average.
  • Violation of social or cultural norms. Can be mis-used (e.g., "Drapetomania").
  • Also, statistical rarity is an element in the definition of abnormality; however, individuals with atypical characteristics (like an elite athlete) are not necessarily considered abnormal.
• Characteristics of Mental Disorders
  • Personal distress: Emotional pain and suffering
  • Disability: Impairment in key areas
  • Dysfunction: Disabling or maladaptive behaviour, such as intentional harmful behaviours like substance use.
• DSM-5 Definition
  • A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning.
• DSM-5 Definition (cont)
  • A syndrome is a grouping of signs and symptoms.
  • Mental disorders often cause significant distress and disability in social, occupational, or other important activities.
• DSM-5 Definition (cont)
  • Common stressors like the death of a loved one are not considered mental disorders.
• Biological Perspective
  • Early - Hippocrates (four humours),
  • Infectious view, e.g., general paresis
  • Genetic, structural, neurotransmitter areas
• Biological Perspective (cont)
  • Genetics- Monozygotic twins, offspring of schizophrenic parents, siblings. etc.
  • Brain Structure: structural abnormalities
  • Neurotransmitters: examples: serotonin and dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, GABA mechanisms, agonist and antagonist drugs, second messengers
• Treatment from the Biological Perspective
  • Early treatments were ineffective.
  • Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), psychosurgery
  • Effective medications arrived in the 1950s, and remain popular.
• Limitations and Criticisms of the Biological Perspective
  • Much of the evidence for biological causation is inconclusive.
  • High rates of relapse after stopping medication.
  • Side effects of some medications are underestimated.
  • Current biological perspectives frequently assume a categorical approach.

Chapter 2: Anxiety Disorders

• Learning Objectives:
  • Describe the nature of anxiety and models regarding the aetiology of anxiety disorders.
  • Describe the diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, aetiology, and treatments for specific phobias.
  • Describe the diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, aetiology, and treatments for panic disorder and agoraphobia.
  • Describe the diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, aetiology, and treatments for social anxiety disorder.
  • Describe the diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, aetiology, and treatments for generalised anxiety disorder. • The Nature of Fear and Anxiety Disorders
  • Fear: Immediate alarm reaction to perceived danger.
  • Anxiety: Apprehension about future threat.
  • True vs False alarms; false alarms are the hallmark of anxiety disorders/
• Vulnerability
  • Biological (e.g., predisposition towards anxiety)
  • Generalised psychological (e.g., belief that the world is a dangerous place)
  • Specific psychological (e.g., conditioned response)
• Diagnoses:
  • Specific phobias
  • Panic disorders and agoraphobia
  • Social anxiety
  • Generalised anxiety

Chapter 3: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

• Learning Objectives:
  • Describe the nature and diagnostic criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
  • Describe the epidemiology and aetiological accounts of OCD.
  • Describe the essential elements of contemporary treatment approaches to OCD.
  • Describe the nature and diagnostic criteria for hoarding disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania and excoriation disorder.
• Obsessions
  • Intrusive; unwanted thoughts, feelings, ideas, and urges
  • Most common - contamination, sexual, and aggressive impulses
• Compulsions
  • Repetitive behaviours, rituals, routines, in response to obsessions
  • Designed to reduce anxiety
• OCD
  • Causes significant distress and interference with daily functioning
• OCD (cont)
  • Clinical assessment, insight, and severity assessment is critical

Chapter 4: Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders

• Learning Objectives:
  • Describe the current diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  • Identify the prevalence of PTSD and the course of posttraumatic stress responses.
  • Compare the different models accounting for the development of PTSD.
  • Understand the components of effective treatments for PTSD and the current challenges in the treatment of PTSD.
• PTSD
  • Contrasts to other disorders as it is a disorder of nonrecovery
  • Symptoms emerge during and after the traumatic event but may not worsen over time
  • Focus on understanding risk and resilience

Chapter 5: Depressive Disorders

• Learning Objectives:
  • Describe the diagnostic criteria for depressive disorders
  • Understand the prevalence of depression in various groups and its associated features
  • Understand the current biological, psychological and social theories of the causes of major depressive disorders
  • Understand the effective treatments for depressive disorders and approaches to reducing relapse and preventing the onset of depression
• Terminology
  • Unipolar disorder (aka depressive disorder)
  • Bipolar disorder
• DSM-5 Changes
  • The removal of some previously distinct diagnoses from the 'Mood Disorders' group; inclusion of 'Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder' and 'Prolonged Grief Disorder'

Chapter 6: Bipolar Disorder

• Learning Objectives:

  • Differentiate bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder and cyclothymic disorder
  • Understand the epidemiological aspects of bipolar disorder
  • Describe the possible causes of bipolar disorder
  • Describe the medical and psychological interventions used to treat and prevent bipolar disorder

• History

  • Early views classified mania and depression as separate conditions
  • Later views integrated mania and depression as a single condition
  • Discovery of lithium treatment, a significant step forward.

Chapter 7: Psychotic Disorders

• Learning Objectives:

  • Outline the defining symptoms of psychosis.
  • Describe the symptoms of the various DSM-5 psychotic disorders and the problems associated with psychosis.
  • Describe the evolution in the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and the controversies in the field regarding this diagnosis
  • Outline the prevalence, age of onset and stages of psychosis.
  • Describe the range of factors implicated in the aetiology of psychosis
  • Describe the main treatment priorities in relation to the phases of psychosis and the range of evidence-based treatment options

• Key Features of Psychotic Disorders:

  • Delusions
  • Hallucinations
  • Disorganised thinking
  • Disorganised or abnormal motor behaviour
  • Negative symptoms (e.g. flat affect, reduced speech, lack of motivation)

Chapter 8: Somatic Symptom and Dissociative Disorders

• Learning Objectives

  • Describe the similarities and differences between the two categories of somatic symptom and dissociative disorders and the various ways in which these conditions have been understood historically
  • Identify the features, causes and treatments of the primary disorders in the 'somatic symptom and related disorders' category
  • Identify the features, causes and treatments of the primary disorders in the 'dissociative disorders' category

• Somatic Symptom & Related Disorders:

  • Prominent somatic symptoms that are distressing & disruptive; with excessive thoughts, feelings, and behaviours related to symptoms

• Dissociative Disorders:

  • Disruption in functions like consciousness, memory, identity and behaviour.

• Conversion Disorder:

  • Symptoms of altered motor or sensory functioning that are not consistent with a recognised medical condition

• Factitious Disorder:

  • Falsification of physical or psychological symptoms, or induction of injury or disease, in oneself or others
  • Not motivated by external rewards

Chapter 9: Eating Disorders

• Learning Objectives:

  • Describe the diagnostic features of eating disorders.
  • Describe current understandings regarding the epidemiology, etiology, and treatment of anorexia nervosa.
  • Describe current understandings regarding the epidemiology, etiology, and treatment of bulimia nervosa.
  • Describe current understandings regarding the epidemiology, etiology, and treatment of binge-eating disorder.
  • Understand key challenges facing the eating disorders field and evaluate the various responses to these challenges

• DSM-5 changes for Eating Disorders

  • "Feeding and Eating Disorders" is a new chapter, which accommodates conditions that include altered consumption or absorption of food

• Anorexia Nervosa: Clinical Description, DSM 5 Criteria, Subtypes

• Symptoms and effects from the disorder (including medical complications)

• Bulimia Nervosa: Clinical Description, DSM 5 Criteria, Subtypes

• Binge-eating Disorder: Clinical Description, DSM 5 Criteria

Chapter 10: Addictive Disorders

• Learning Objectives
  • Describe the diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, etiology, and treatment of substance use disorders.
  • Describe the diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, etiology and treatment of gambling disorder.
• Key terms:
  • A substance; substance intoxication; tolerance; withdrawal from a substance; dual diagnosis
• Substance Use Disorders
  • Various substances including alcohol, caffeine, cannabis, inhalants etc.

Chapter 11: Other Disorders

• Learning Objectives

• Epidemiology, Etiology, and Treatment of each Specific Disorder .

Chapter 12: Other Disorders

• Learning Objectives

• Epidemiology, Etiology, and Treatment of each Specific Disorder .

Chapter 13: Personality Disorders

• Learning Objectives

  • Outline the factors differentiating normal from dysfunctional personality functioning
  • Describe the two classification systems for diagnosing personality disorders, including their similarities and differences
  • Summarise and critically evaluate research on the prevalence of personality disorders in general
  • Describe prominent models regarding the aetiology and treatment of personality disorders in general
  • Describe prominent models regarding the aetiology and treatment of specific personality disorders

• The Definition of Personality

  • A persistent pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving across situations and over time

• Five Factor Model of Personality traits

  • Neuroticism
  • Extraversion
  • Openness to Experience
  • Conscientiousness
  • Agreeableness

• Personality Disorders

  • Cluster A (Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal) - odd or eccentric behaviours.
  • Cluster B (Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic) - dramatic, emotional or erratic behaviours.
  • Cluster C (Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive) - anxious or fearful behaviours.

• Discussion of the overlap of personality disorders with other conditions. Discussion of problematic aspects of current classification systems include inter-rater reliability.

Chapter 14: Disorders of Childhood

• Learning Objectives

  • Describe the key behavioural and emotional problems of children that are identified by parents and identify the main challenges in examining the mental health problems of children.
  • Describe key themes in the classification of childhood psychological disorders.
  • Describe the main characteristics of the neurodevelopmental disorders.
  • Describe the key features and factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of externalising disorders and the evidence-based approaches to the treatment of these disorders.
  • Describe the key characteristics and treatment of separation anxiety disorder and selective mutism.
  • Describe the various elimination disorders and their treatments

• Overview of Childhood Disorders and Themes

  • Internalising
  • Externalising
  • Neurodevelopmental
  • Elimination disorders

• Specific Childhood Disorders

  • Separation Anxiety Disorder
  • Selective Mutism
  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Specific Learning Disorder
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Intellectual Disability, and other Neurodevelopmental conditions
  • Enuresis
  • Encopresis