This document discusses various perspectives on psychological disorders and classifications of mental illnesses. It provides an overview of several major psychological disorders including anxiety disorders like specific phobias, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Mood disorders such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder are explained. The document also summarizes schizophrenia, dissociative disorders, personality disorders, and some common childhood disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The purpose of creating classifications and diagnoses is to allow for statistical analysis, guide treatment choices, and provide a shorthand for discussing symptoms.

1. PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
BY MEGERSA ALENE REGASSA

2. Abnormal behavior :
-actions, thoughts and feelings that are harmful to
the person or others.
-experiencing discomfort enough not to function.

3. • Medical perspective - the perspective that
suggests that when an individual displays
symptoms of abnormal behavior, the root
cause will be found in a physical examination
of the individual, which may reveal a hormonal
imbalance, a chemical deficiency, or a brain
injury.
• Psychoanalytic perspective - the perspective
that suggests that abnormal behavior stems
from childhood conflicts over opposing wishes
regarding sex and aggression.
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders

4. • Behavioral perspective - the perspective that
looks at the behavior itself as the problem.
• Cognitive perspective - the perspective that
suggests that people’s thoughts and beliefs
are a central component of abnormal
behavior.
• Humanistic perspective - the perspective that
emphasizes the responsibility people have for
their own behavior, even when such behavior
is abnormal.

5. •Sociocultural perspective - the perspective that
assumes that people’s behavior—both normal
and abnormal— is shaped by the kind of family
group, society, and culture in which they live.

6. Classifying Psychological DisordersClassifying Psychological Disorders
Why create classifications of mental
illness? What is the value of talking
about diagnoses instead of just
talking about individuals?
1. Diagnoses create a verbal
shorthand for referring to a list
of associated symptoms.
2. Diagnoses allow us to statistically
study many similar cases,
learning to predict outcomes.
3. Diagnoses can guide treatment
choices.
The Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual
▪ It’s easier to count
cases of autism if we
have a clear
definition.
▪ Versions: DSM-IV-
TR, DSM-V (May
2013)
▪ The DSM is used to
justify payment for
treatment.
▪ It’s consistent with
diagnoses used by

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ioning?
The Five “Axes” of Diagnosis

8. Anxiety Disorders
The occurrence of anxiety without an obvious
external cause that affects daily functioning.
•Phobias - intense, irrational fears of specific
objects or situations.
Phobic Disorder:

9. Specific Phobia
A specific phobia is more than just
a strong fear or dislike. A specific
phobia is diagnosed when there is
an uncontrollable, irrational,
intense desire to avoid the some
object or situation. Even an image
of the object can trigger a
reaction--“GET IT AWAY FROM
ME!!!”--the uncontrollable,
irrational, intense desire to avoid
the object of the phobia.

10. Some Fears and Phobias
What trends are
evident here?
Which varies
more, fear or
phobias? What
does this imply?
Agoraphobia is the
avoidance of situations in
which one will fear having a
panic attack, especially a
situation in which it is
difficult to get help, and
from which it difficult to
escape.
Social phobia refers to an intense
fear of being watched and judged by
others. It is visible as a fear of public
appearances in which
embarrassment or humiliation is
possible, such as public speaking,
eating, or performing.
Some Other Phobias

11. Panic Disorder:
A panic attack is not just an “anxiety attack.” It may
include:
▪ many minutes of intense dread or terror.
▪ chest pains, choking, numbness, or other frightening
physical sensations. Patients may feel certain that
it’s a heart attack.
▪ a feeling of a need to escape.
Panic disorder refers to repeated and unexpected
panic attacks, as well as a fear of the next attack, and a
change in behavior to avoid panic attacks.

12. GAD: Generalized Anxiety Disorder
The experience of long-term,
persistent anxiety and worry.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder [OCD]
▪ Obsessions are intense, unwanted worries, ideas, and
images that repeatedly pop up in the mind.
▪ A compulsion is a repeatedly strong feeling of
“needing” to carry out an action, even though it
doesn’t feel like it makes sense.

13. Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder [PTSD]
About 10 to 35 percent of people
who experience trauma not only
have burned-in memories, but
also four weeks to a lifetime of:
▪ repeated intrusive recall of those
memories.
▪ nightmares and other re-
experiencing.
▪ social withdrawal or phobic
avoidance.
▪ jumpy anxiety or hypervigilance.
▪ insomnia or sleep problems.

14. Somatoform Disorders
Psychological difficulties that take on a physical
(somatic) form, but for which there is no medical
cause.
A disorder in which people have a constant fear of
illness and a preoccupation with their health.
Hypochondriasis

15. Conversion Disorder:
A major somatoform disorder that involves an
actual physical disturbance, such as the inability
to use a sensory organ or the complete or partial
inability to move an arm or leg.
Somatization Disorder
A long-term (chronic) condition in which a
person has physical symptoms that involve more
than one part of the body, but no physical cause
can be found.

16. Somatoform Pain
Disorder
Pain that is severe enough to disrupt a person's
everyday life.

17. ▪ Dissociation refers to a separation of
conscious awareness from thoughts,
memory, bodily sensations, feelings,
or even from identity.
▪ Dissociation can serve as a
psychological escape from an
overwhelmingly stressful situation.
▪ A dissociative disorder refers to
dysfunction and distress caused by
chronic and severe dissociation.
Dissociative
Disorders
Loss of memory with no known physical cause; inability to reca
“Running away” state; wandering away from one’s life, memor
formerly “Multiple Personality Disorder” Development of sepa
Dissociative
Amnesia:
Dissociative
Fugue
Dissociative
Identity
Disorder
(D.I.D.)
Examples:

18. Mood Disorders
Major depressive disorder [MDD] is:
▪ more than just feeling “down.”
▪ more than just feeling sad
about something.
Bipolar disorder is:
▪ more than “mood swings.”
▪ depression plus the problematic
overly “up” mood called “mania.”

19. Schizophrenia: the mind is split from reality, e.g.
a split from one’s own thoughts
so that they appear as
hallucinations.
Psychosis refers
to a mental split
from reality and
rationality.
Schizophrenia
symptoms include:
▪ disorganized
and/or
delusional
thinking.
▪ disturbed
perceptions.
▪ inappropriate
emotions and

20. Subtypes of Schizophrenia
Paranoid
•Plagued by
hallucinations, often
with negative messages,
and delusions, both
grandiose and
persecutory
Disorganized
•Primary symptoms are
flat affect, incoherent
speech, and random
behavior
Catatonic
•Rarely initiating or
controlling movement;
copies others’ speech
and actions
Undifferentiated
•Many varied symptoms
Residual
•Withdrawal continues

21. Personality Disorders
A disorder characterized by a set of inflexible,
maladaptive behavior patterns that keep a person
from functioning appropriately in society.
Antisocial Personality Disorder
A disorder in which individuals
show no regard for the moral and
ethical rules of society or the rights
of others.

22. Borderline Personality Disorder
A disorder in which individuals
have difficulty developing a secure
sense of who they are.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
A personality disturbance characterized by an
exaggerated sense of self- importance.
Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD)
A mental disorder characterized by
paranoia and a pervasive, long-standing
suspiciousness and generalized mistrust of
others.

23. A person who displays a pervasive pattern of social
inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, extreme
sensitivity to negative evaluation, and avoidance
of social interaction.
Avoidant Personality Disorder (AvPD)
Dependent Personality Disorder
(DPD)
Formerly known as asthenic personality
disorder, is a personality disorder that is
characterized by a pervasive psychological
dependence on other people.

24. Also called anankastic personality disorder, is a
personality disorder characterized by a
pervasive pattern of preoccupation with
orderliness, perfectionism, mental and
interpersonal control at the expense of
flexibility, openness, and efficiency. In
contrast to people with obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD), behaviors are rational and
desirable to people with OCPD.
Obsessive- Compulsive
Personality Disorder (OCPD)

25. Childhood Disorder
A disorder marked by inattention, impulsiveness, a
low tolerance for frustration, and a great deal of
inappropriate activity.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
Autism
A severe developmental disability that impairs
children’s ability to communicate and relate to
others.

26. Described in clinical literature as a severe and
relatively uncommon disorder that can affect
children.RAD is characterized by markedly
disturbed and developmentally inappropriate
ways of relating socially in most contexts.
Elimination Disorder
Disorders that concern the elimination of feces
or urine from the body.
Reactive Attachment
Disorder (RAD)

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