Psychology Chapter on Mental Disorders

Bipolar Disorder

• Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic-depressive disorder, is a mental condition characterized by mood swings fluctuating between mania and depression.
• A strong genetic predisposition exists, though the specific genes aren't fully identified.
• Approximately 1% of the population experiences bipolar episodes. Having an identical twin with bipolar disorder significantly increases a person's risk to about 70%.

Anxiety Disorders

• Everyone experiences anxiety to some degree, but psychopathology anxiety is significantly more severe and debilitating.
• Triggers can vary greatly, from everyday anxieties to specific phobias (like spiders or heights).
• Various anxiety disorders exist with different characteristics:
• Panic Disorder: Sudden and severe anxiety attacks without clear triggers. Symptoms include rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, and more.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Persistent and pervasive feelings of anxiety without a clear external cause. Individuals worry about various aspects of their life, constantly feeling anxious.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Anxiety resulting from a traumatic incident. It can have long-term effects.

Prevalence of Mental Disorders

• Data shows the prevalence of various mental disorders in the United States, with figures measured in millions.
• Anxiety disorders are a highly prevalent category of mental health issue.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

• GAD is a psychological condition marked by persistent and pervasive anxiety.
• There is no identifiable external cause for the anxiety.
• Individuals may experience worries that don't completely consume them, yet anxiety remains.
• A sense of impending doom or something negative happening is common.
• Anxiety may reduce ability to relax or be at ease.
• GAD commonly starts at a young age, with symptoms developing gradually.

Panic Disorder

• A disorder characterized by sudden, intense episodes of overwhelming anxiety.
• These intense episodes typically lack obvious external triggers.
• Sufferers are usually calm between panic attacks.
• Common symptoms include rapid heart rate, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, and feelings of choking, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, or unreality.

Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia

• Agoraphobia is a condition where a person experience panic when in situations where escape may not be possible. Examples include crowded places, open spaces, or public transportation.
• Many people who experience panic disorder also suffer from agoraphobia.
• The risk factors for developing panic disorder are difficult to define, but it is more common in women than men.

Phobic Disorders

• Phobias aren't just normal fears. They are characterized by an intense, unreasonable fear of a specific object, activity, or situation.
• Even when individuals know their fear is irrational, phobias cause significant distress or challenges in day-to-day life.

Phobias - Irrational Fears

• Specific phobias encompass a variety of irrational fears. This list provides examples of some common phobias.

Preparedness Hypothesis

• This theory suggests that humans have an inborn tendency to develop phobias in response to stimuli that posed threats to our ancestors. This evolutionary perspective suggests a biological predisposition to respond quickly to these threats, potentially explaining phobias like snake phobia.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

• OCD is a mental health condition characterized by recurring unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses (obsessions), often accompanied by behaviors or rituals meant to reduce the anxiety associated with these thoughts.
• Obsessive compulsions may be thoughts, images, or impulses that recur frequently or persist despite attempts to suppress them.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - Compulsive Component

• Compulsive components include repetitive behaviors or mental acts that individuals feel compelled to perform in response to obsessive thoughts.
• Some people with OCD perform these behaviors to reduce anxiety, maintain a sense of control, or prevent a feared outcome.
• Popular culture often features portrayals of OCD, including characters in shows or movies.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - Additional Notes

• Individuals with OCD usually recognize those compulsions as senseless but feel unable to resist performing them.
• The disorder often begins or is first diagnosed in youth or young adulthood.
• OCD frequently runs in families, suggesting a genetic component.
• Environmental factors and learned behaviors may also play a role in the development of the disorder.
• Current treatments frequently involve therapy or medications.

Somatoform Disorders

• Somatoform disorders involve psychological distress manifested as physical symptoms or complaints. Individuals may experience pain, weakness, or other bodily problems with no identifiable medical basis.
• Conversion Disorder: Characterized by unexplained physical symptoms, such as paralysis, numbness, or blindness, with no underlying medical cause.
• Hypochondriasis: An excessive and persistent worry about having or developing a serious illness based on misinterpretations of bodily sensations.

Glove Anesthesia

• Glove anesthesia is a specific type of presentation in conversion disorder, where a person loses sensation in their hand that is inconsistent with the neurological organization of sensory nerves.

Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociative disorders involve a disconnect between thoughts, memories, identity, or awareness from other aspects of life.
• People experiencing dissociative disorders may have lost their sense of self or awareness of their surroundings and in extreme cases, flee their original lives.
• Dissociative amnesia: Characterized by sudden memory loss for personal information, often triggered by stressful or traumatic events.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops after a terrifying or upsetting event, trauma or serious illness.
• Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, emotional numbness, and avoiding anything that reminds them of the traumatic event.
• There are various treatment modalities available for PTSD.

Dissociative Fugue

• A dissociative disorder characterized by a sudden and unexpected travel away from home, and an inability to recall personal details.
• The fugue state may last for a few hours, days, or even weeks. Heavy alcohol use may increase the risk of this particular disorder.

Dissociative Fugue - DSM-IV-TR Criteria

• Diagnostic criteria for identifying dissociative fuge. Unexplained travel, partial or complete amnesia, and loss of identity are crucial components.

Depersonalization Disorder

• A dissociative disorder where a person feels disconnected from their mind, body, or surroundings.
• They may feel like an observer of their own experiences, or like their body or mind is not their own, which may feel like out of body experiences.
• This disorder is often associated with prolonged stress or trauma.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

• Once called Multiple Personality Disorder, it involves having multiple distinct identities or personalities.
• Experts believe early childhood trauma or severe abuse may be contributing factors.
• Marked by a contrast in emerging personalities compared to the original sense of self.

Schizophrenia

• Schizophrenia is a psychological illness characterized by distorted thoughts, perceptions, and/or emotions.
• The disorder can result in significant challenges in daily functioning.
• Several subtypes of schizophrenia have been identified, including paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, and undifferentiated types.

Schizophrenia - What Does it Look Like?

• Schizophrenia impacts perception and thought processes in various ways. It can create a sense of bleakness or overwhelming stimuli. Delusions and hallucinations are possible symptoms.
• Emotions might be dulled, and communication could become distorted and unusual.

Sample Speech from Schizophrenic Patient

• A snippet of speech, reflecting potential disorganization from a person with schizophrenia

Schizophrenia - Prevalence

• Schizophrenia prevalence data: One in 100 Americans, typically diagnosed early in life; often a chronic and long-term condition necessitating ongoing therapy and treatment.

Genetics and the Risk of Schizophrenia

• Risk factors for schizophrenia include a genetic component. Studies show correlation between genes shared and risk of developing schizophrenia. Twins and familial genetic connections are highlighted.

5 Major Types of Schizophrenia

• Disorganized Type: Characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia including incoherent speech and odd behaviors.
• Catatonic Type: Motor dysfunction, including periods of immobility or excessive, agitated movement.
• Paranoid Type: Delusions and hallucinations are apparent without other forms of disorganized symptoms.
• Undifferentiated Type: A catch-all category for symptoms of schizophrenia that don't fit into other specified categories.
• Residual Type: An individual previously diagnosed but no longer displaying significant symptoms.

Schizophrenia - Subtypes

• Paranoid, Disorganized, Catatonic, and Undifferentiated types, each with a specific range of symptoms that influence their classifications.

Positive and Negative Categories (Schizophrenia)

• Positive symptoms are active processes like hallucinations and delusions.
• Negative symptoms are passive processes like social withdrawal.

Causes of Schizophrenia

• Historical theories of schizophrenia, including Freud's early explanations about repressed trauma and parenting, are discussed here.
• This section also examines the role of drugs and their impact on the condition, including both how major tranquilizers can suppress symptoms and how certain drugs can induce similar psychotic-like behaviors in non-sufferers.

Causes of Schizophrenia - Loss of Grey Matter

• Research finding about a loss of the grey matter in the brains of individuals with schizophrenia as compared to healthy individuals. There are specific regions of the brain affected.

Causes of Schizophrenia - Genetic Link

• Schizophrenia has a genetic component and is more prevalent in individuals sharing immediate genetic connections. Individuals who share a high percentage of genes have higher risks of developing the disorder.

Schizophrenia Treatments

• Treatments for schizophrenia: Lobotomies, insulin shock therapy, a more contemporary treatment approach employing medication and therapy are discussed.

Lobotomies

• A historical treatment approach for schizophrenia involving severing nerve connections.

The Process (of Lobotomies)

• Detailed steps of the procedure, including the methods used to access the frontal lobes of the brain.

Other Types of Disorders

• This encompasses a broader range of psychological conditions, such as eating disorders, personality disorders, and developmental disorders.

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia nervosa: A severe eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image.
• Bulimia nervosa: An eating disorder that involves episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors, such as purging (induced vomiting) or using laxatives.

Eating Disorders - History of Bulimia Nervosa

• Historical perspectives and the evolution of understanding bulimia nervosa as a specific psychological disorder.

Personality Disorders

• These include conditions like narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder, all marked by chronic, inflexible, and disruptive patterns of behavior.

Developmental Disorders

• Autism: A developmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and restricted or repetitive behaviors, interests, and activities.
• Dyslexia: A specific learning disability affecting reading ability. It's identified by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition, poor spelling skills, and poor decoding skills.

Test your knowledge on various mental health conditions, including dissociative disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and PTSD. This quiz covers key characteristics, distinctions between disorders, and historical treatment approaches. Challenge yourself with questions based on the latest psychological concepts.