Psych final - Chapter 14 Psychological Disorders I What is...

Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders
I. What is abnormal behavior?
A. Characteristics of abnormal behavior
1. Statistical deviance
a. Behavior that occurs infrequently among the members of a
population
b. Not enough, great athletes are abnormal but don’t have disorders
2. Cultural deviance
a. Behavior that violates the accepted standards of society
b. Not enough – criminals don’t always have disorders
3. Emotional distress
a. Great despair and unhappiness
b. Not enough – not all people with disorders are unhappy,
grieving people do not have disorders
4. Dysfunction
a. A breakdown in normal functioning
b. Eating, cleaning, being able to hold a job
B. The concept of insanity
1. A legal term usually defined as the inability to understand that certain
actions are wrong, in a legal or moral sense, at the time of the crime
a. Insanity is a legal concept, rather than a psychological one
b. Failing to appreciate/understand that certain actions are wrong
c. Dahmer had psychological problems but understood that what he
did was wrong, so the insanity plea didn’t work
d. Don’t confuse insanity with psychological disorders
C. The Medical Model: Conceptualizing Abnormality as a Disease
1. Medical Model: the view that abnormal behavior is symptomatic of an
underlying “disease,” which can be “cured” with the appropriate therapy
2. Most psychological disorders can be classified in terms of symptoms
D. Problems Associated with Labeling
1. Diagnostic Labeling Effects
a. The fact that labels for psychological problems can become self-
fulfilling prophecies; the label may make it difficult to recognize
normal behavior when it occurs, and it may actually increase the
likelihood that a person will act in an abnormal way
b. If told before watching a video that a person has problems,
therapists more likely to rate their issues more negatively
2. The Rosenhan Study
a. Researchers pretended to hear voices – after admitted, stopped
the abnormal behavior. Staff interpreted normal behaviors as
symptomatic of a disorder
b. Released “in remission”
II. Classifying Psychological Disorders: The DSM-IV-TR
A. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, American Psychiatric
Association. IV – fourth edition, TR – revisions in recent years

B. DSM-IV-TR intended only for purposes of diagnosis and classification, does
not suggest therapies or methods of treatment
C. Anxiety Disorders: Fear and Apprehension
1. A class of disorders marked by excessive apprehension and worry that
in turn impairs normal functioning
a. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
i. Excessive worrying, or free-floating anxiety, that lasts for
at least 6 months and cannot be attributed to any single
identifiable source
ii. Worry in general, for unrealistic reasons
iii. Chronically tense – trouble sleeping, tension and
fatigue, easily irritated
iv. Worry about future more than other anxiety disorders
b. Panic Disorder
i. A condition marked by recurrent discrete episodes or
attacks of extremely intense fear or dread