Psych

• Abnormal behaviour


  Deviations from the norm, not necessarily a mental disorder
• Formal diagnoses of mental disorders

  • Made by mental health professionals
  • Rely on a variety of criteria
• Statistical deviance


  Behaviour that occurs infrequently in the population
• Statistical deviance


  • Don flicks a light switch exactly 7 times before he leaves a room
• Cultural deviance


  Behaviour that violates rules or accepted norms of society
• Cultural deviance


  • Don's co-workers have noticed his behaviour and so try to avoid him
• Personal distress


  Behaviour that causes emotional distress or upset
• Personal distress


  • Don feels anxious about what will happen if he is unable to do the 7 flicks, or if he miscounted
• Maladaptive behaviour


  Everyday adaptive behaviour is impaired
• Maladaptive behaviour


  • Don sometimes refuses to leave the house until he flicks each light switch 7 times, which has made him late to work many times
• Mental disorders


  Persistent disturbances or dysfunctions in behaviour, thoughts, or emotions that cause significant distress or impairment
• Mental disorders


  • Have common symptoms and signs
• Medical model of mental disorders


  Proposes that it's useful to think of abnormal behaviour as a disease
• The medical model brought improvements in the treatment, but some critics argue it outlived its usefulness
• Being labeled (e.g., psychotic) often carries social stigma and stereotypes, even after recovery
• DSM-5


  Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edition
• DSM-5

  • 22 major categories that together total 200 different disorders
  • Purpose is for diagnosis and classification of mental disorders
  • Provides objective and measurable criteria for diagnosing disorders
  • Does not provide therapies/treatments or discuss causes
• Comorbidity


  The coexistence of two or more disorders in a person
• Diathesis-stress model


  We may be predisposed to a particular mental disorder but not see it expressed until it becomes triggered by stress
• Anxiety disorders


  • Generalized anxiety disorder
  • Panic disorders
  • Phobic disorders
• Generalized anxiety disorder


  Marked by a chronic, high level of anxiety not tied to any specific threat
• Panic disorder


  Involves discrete recurrent attacks of overwhelming fear and terror
• Phobic disorders


  Characterized by persistent and irrational fears of an object or situation that presents no realistic danger
• Specific phobia disorder


  A highly focused fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, or situations
• Social phobia/social anxiety disorder


  An intense fear of social situations in which a person has the potential of being scrutinized by others
• According to preparedness theory, we are predisposed toward certain fears, e.g. relatively easy to condition people to fear things like snakes
• Anxiety disorders: phobic disorders


  According to preparedness theory, we're predisposed toward certain fears
• Causes of anxiety disorders


  • Learning - e.g., classical, and operant conditioning (little albert)
  • Biological - neurotransmitters, brain structures, etc.
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)


  Persistent, uncontrollable intrusions of unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and urges to engage in ritualistic behaviours (compulsions) to fend off those thoughts
• Obsessions


  Recurrent unwanted thoughts or images often related to fears (e.g., germs) doubts (e.g., forgetting to turn stove off) and impulses (e.g., to hurt oneself or others)
• Compulsions


  Stereotyped rituals (e.g., repeatedly washing hands, repeatedly checking stove), that temporarily relieve anxiety
• The OCD cycles
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)


  • Develops in response to major traumatic events
  • Involves recurrent images or unwanted thoughts, chronic physiological arousal, and avoidance of triggers
  • First recognized in context of military and combat
• Situations where PTSD can occur


  • Assault, severe automobile accident, natural disaster etc.
• Factors predicting risk for PTSD

  • Biology, e.g., heightened activity in the amygdala and smaller hippocampus
• Mood disorders


  A class of disorders marked by emotional (mood) disturbances that interfere with functioning
• Major depressive disorder


  People with major depressive disorder show persistent feelings of sadness and despair, and loss of interest in previous sources of pleasure
• Onset of major depressive disorder at any point in lifespan, but majority before age 40
• Lack of treatment for major depressive disorder associated with higher risk
• Major depressive disorder is more common in women (not just postpartum)