Psychology of Mental Health Disorders

Types of Disorders

• Animal phobia: fear of animals
• Natural environment phobias:
  • Heights
  • Storms
  • Water
  • Dark
• Situational phobias:
  • Enclosed spaces (claustrophobia)
  • Elevators
  • Flying
  • Dentists
  • Driving
  • Tunnels
  • Bridges
• Blood-Injection-Injury phobia:
  • Blood
  • Injections
  • Injuries
  • Medical procedures
• Social Phobia:
  • Fear of embarrassing or humiliating oneself in front of others
  • Fear of public speaking

Anxiety Disorders

• Panic Attack:
  • Triggered by a specific situation
  • Occurs right after exposing a fear situation
  • Shaken and frightened
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
  • Long-lasting anxiety not focused on any particular object or situation
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD):
  • Obsessions: uncontrollable thoughts, images, occur over and over in mind
  • Compulsions: repetitive behavior, feels driven to do and cannot seem to stop

Mood Disorders

• Major Depressive Disorder (Depression):
  • Overwhelming sadness
  • Thoughts of suicide
  • Changes in appetite
  • Disturbed sleep
  • Lasts for at least two weeks
• Dysthymia:
  • Mild depression that lasts for two years
• Postpartum Depression:
  • Occurs within two years of childbirth
  • Physical and mental exhaustion
• Seasonal Affective Disorder:
  • Mood affected by season change
• Bipolar Disorder:
  • High (mania) vs low (depression)
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Aggressive behavior

Psychotic Disorders

• Schizophrenia:
  • Delusions: false beliefs
  • Hallucinations: false perceptions
  • Inappropriate behavior/emotions
• Paranoid Schizophrenia:
  • Delusions and hallucinations often support the delusions
• Catatonic Schizophrenia:
  • Excitement vs flat emotions
  • Involves schizophrenia
• Disorganized Schizophrenia:
  • Bizarre behavior
  • Delusions and hallucinations

Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociative Amnesia:
  • Memory loss of a traumatic event
• Dissociative Fugue:
  • Loss of identity and travel to a new location
• Dissociative Identity Disorder:
  • Multiple personalities
• Depersonalization Disorder:
  • Feeling like a stranger to oneself and surroundings

Other Disorders

• Illness Anxiety Disorder/Hypochondria:
  • Imagined symptoms of illness
• Conversion Disorder:
  • Suddenly experiencing blindness, laryngitis, paralysis
• Psychophysiological Disorder:
  • Aka psychosomatic, leads to aggravated real medical conditions
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder:
  • Excessively concerned about one's appearance, may lead to eating disorder

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa:
  • Restricting eating to lose weight
• Bulimia Nervosa:
  • Eating too much in a short period
• Compulsive Overeating:
  • Eating large amounts of food whether hungry or not

Personality Disorders

• Paranoid Personality Disorder:
  • Distrust of others, suspicious in relationships
• Schizoid Personality Disorder:
  • Preferring to be alone, avoiding interactions
• Schizotypal Personality Disorder:
  • Magical thinking, fearing social interactions, thinking others are harmful
• Borderline Personality Disorder:
  • Intense but unstable relationships, outbursts of anger and violence
• Histrionic Personality Disorder:
  • Depending on attracting others, seeking approval
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
  • Self-importance, need to be admired, selfish, insensitive
• Antisocial Personality Disorder:
  • Lacking respect for others' rights, criminal
• Avoidant Personality Disorder:
  • Avoiding relationships due to fear of rejection
• Dependent Personality Disorder:
  • Clingy, needing others to take care of them
• Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder:
  • Perfectionism to an extreme degree