Psychological Disorders

• Mental illnesses are among the most common health conditions in the United States
• More than 1 in 5 US adults live with a mental illness
• Over 1 in 5 youth (ages 13-18) either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness
• About 1 in 25 U.S. adults lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression
• Psychological disorder

  A condition that consists of significant disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, outside of cultural norms, reflecting some kind of biological, psychological, or developmental dysfunction, and leading to significant distress or disability in one's life
• Psychological disorder


  • Deviant - Different from most other people who share one's culture
  • Distressful - Causing distress to the person or to others
  • Dysfunctional - Behaviors interfere with normal day-to-day life
• Medical model


  The concept that psychological disorders have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, possibly, cured
• Biopsychosocial approach


  The interaction of one's biological, psychological, and social-cultural environment helps form their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings
• Epigenetics


  The study of environmental influences on gene expressions that occur without a DNA change
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)


  Published by the American Psychiatric Association, it categorizes and describes each disorder, providing diagnostic features, criteria, prevalence, risk factors, and information about comorbidity
• The first two editions of the DSM listed homosexuality as a disorder but it was removed in 1973
• DSM-5 is the classification system used by most mental health professionals
• DSM-5 reflects changes in diagnostic labels, such as combining autism and Asperger's syndrome under the label autism spectrum disorder, and adding new categories like hoarding disorder and binge-eating disorder
• Anxiety disorders


  • Characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety
• Generalized anxiety disorder


  The individual is continually tense, fearful, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal, with symptoms like persistent worry, being jittery and on edge, fixation on potential threats, difficulty concentrating, and inability to identify the cause of the tension
• Generalized anxiety disorder and depression often co-occur (comorbidity), and this disorder may lead to physical problems like high blood pressure, ulcers, and heart problems
• Panic disorder


  Recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, along with at least one month of persistent concern about additional panic attacks, worry over the consequences of the attacks, or self-defeating changes in behavior related to the attacks
• Panic attack


  A period of extreme fear or discomfort that develops abruptly and reaches a peak within 10 minutes, which can be expected (in response to an external trigger) or unexpected
• Smokers and caffeine users have a greater risk of panic attacks and more intense symptoms when they do have an attack, since nicotine and caffeine are stimulants
• Avoidance of situations where panic might strike may lead to a separate and additional diagnosis of agoraphobia
• Phobias


  • Characterized by persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation
• Agoraphobia


  Characterized by intense fear, anxiety, and avoidance of situations in which it might be difficult to escape or receive help if one experiences a panic attack, such as public transportation, crowds, and being outside the home alone
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)


  Characterized by obsessions (persistent, unintentional, and unwanted thoughts and urges that are highly intrusive, unpleasant, and distressing) and compulsions (repetitive and ritualistic acts, typically carried out primarily as a means to minimize the distress that obsessions trigger or to reduce the likelihood of a feared event)
• People with OCD usually know their obsessions and compulsions are irrational but suppressing them is extremely difficult
• Compulsive behaviors in OCD are responses to obsessive thoughts, and it becomes a disorder when the obsessive thoughts persistently interfere with everyday life and cause distress
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)


  Characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, and other symptoms for weeks after a severely threatening and uncontrollable event, including social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more
• Victims of PTSD include survivors of accidents, disasters, and violent and sexual assaults
• Many people experience a traumatic event, but some display survivor resiliency while others experience posttraumatic growth or have more sensitive emotion-processing limbic systems that flood their bodies with stress hormones, increasing their risk of posttraumatic symptoms
• Nearly a quarter-million Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have been diagnosed with PTSD or traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Factors influencing PTSD development after trauma


  • The sensitive emotion-processing limbic system floods one's body with stress hormones
  • Women are twice as likely as men to develop symptoms of PTSD
  • PTSD has been criticized as being overdiagnosed to include normal stress-related bad memories and dreams
• Conditioning

  Happens when one learns to associate two or more things that occur together, like classical conditioning helping explain how a frightening event may trigger a phobia, and reinforcement increasing learned fears and anxieties
• Cognition


  Includes one's thoughts, interpretations, memories, and expectations, which shape reactions, and observing others can contribute to the development of fears
• Biology: Genes and the Brain

  People may have a genetic predisposition to anxiety, OCD, and PTSD, and traumatic experiences can alter the brain, leading to overarousal of brain areas involved in impulse control and habitual behaviors, and a hyperactive danger-detection system
• Substance use disorder


  Continued substance use and craving despite significant life disruption and/or physical risk
• Psychoactive drugs


  Chemicals that change perceptions and mood, including depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens, which stimulate, inhibit, or mimic activities of the brain's chemical messengers
• Tolerance


  Dwindling effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring larger and larger doses to experience the drug's effect
• Addiction


  Caused by increased intake of psychoactive drugs or by compulsive and dysfunctional behaviors, sometimes even behaviors becoming compulsive and dysfunctional, much like abusive drug-taking
• Withdrawal


  Discomfort and distress that follow ending the use of an addictive drug or behavior
• Physical dependence


  A physiological need for a drug, marked by withdrawal symptoms
• Psychological dependence


  A psychological need for a drug, to relieve negative emotions