Psychological Disorders
What Is A Psychological Disorder?
● American Psychiatric Association (APA) has 4 criteria for defining a psychological
disorder:
- here are significant disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
- The disturbances reflect some kind of biological, psychological, or developmental
dysfunction
- The disturbances lead to significant distress or disability in one’s life
- The disturbances do not reflect expected or culturally approved responses to
certain events
Diagnosing and Classifying Psychological Disorders
● The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) is the
American Psychiatric Association’s authoritative classification of mental disorders. Each
entry includes:
- an overview of the disorder including diagnostic features
- specific symptoms required for diagnosis (diagnostic criteria)
- prevalence information (what percent of the population is thought to be afflicted
with the disorder)
- risk factors associated with the disorder
- comorbidity; the co-occurrence of two disorders.
● International Classification of Diseases (ICD): authoritative index of mental and physical
diseases and the criteria for their diagnosis published by the World Health Organization
(WHO)
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
● Biological perspective views psychological disorders as linked to genetic factors,
chemical imbalances, and brain abnormalities
● Psychosocial perspective emphasizes the importance of learning, stress, faulty and
self- defeating thinking patterns, and environmental factors.
,Biological Perspective: Genetic Factors
Biology is not destiny...
The diathesis-stress model suggests that people with an underlying predisposition for a
disorder (i.e., a diathesis) are more likely than others to develop a disorder when faced with
adverse environmental or psychological events (i.e., stress), such as childhood maltreatment,
negative life events, or trauma
Anxiety Disorders
● Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive and persistent fear and anxiety, and by
related disturbances in behavior
● A specific phobia is excessive, distressing, and persistent fear or anxiety about a
specific object or situation
● Phobias develop through learning (classical conditioning, modeling, or verbal
transmission).
- Agoraphobia
- Social anxiety disorder
, What is a Panic Attack?
● A panic attack is a period of extreme fear or discomfort that develops abruptly and
reaches a peak within 10 minutes
● People may also experience sweating, trembling, feelings of faintness, or a fear of losing
control, going crazy or dying…
Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder
● People with panic disorder have recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, along with
persistent concern about panic attacks, worry over the consequences of the attacks, or
self-defeating changes in behavior related to the attacks
● Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by a continuous state of excessive,
uncontrollable, and pointless
What Is A Psychological Disorder?
● American Psychiatric Association (APA) has 4 criteria for defining a psychological
disorder:
- here are significant disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
- The disturbances reflect some kind of biological, psychological, or developmental
dysfunction
- The disturbances lead to significant distress or disability in one’s life
- The disturbances do not reflect expected or culturally approved responses to
certain events
Diagnosing and Classifying Psychological Disorders
● The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) is the
American Psychiatric Association’s authoritative classification of mental disorders. Each
entry includes:
- an overview of the disorder including diagnostic features
- specific symptoms required for diagnosis (diagnostic criteria)
- prevalence information (what percent of the population is thought to be afflicted
with the disorder)
- risk factors associated with the disorder
- comorbidity; the co-occurrence of two disorders.
● International Classification of Diseases (ICD): authoritative index of mental and physical
diseases and the criteria for their diagnosis published by the World Health Organization
(WHO)
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
● Biological perspective views psychological disorders as linked to genetic factors,
chemical imbalances, and brain abnormalities
● Psychosocial perspective emphasizes the importance of learning, stress, faulty and
self- defeating thinking patterns, and environmental factors.
,Biological Perspective: Genetic Factors
Biology is not destiny...
The diathesis-stress model suggests that people with an underlying predisposition for a
disorder (i.e., a diathesis) are more likely than others to develop a disorder when faced with
adverse environmental or psychological events (i.e., stress), such as childhood maltreatment,
negative life events, or trauma
Anxiety Disorders
● Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive and persistent fear and anxiety, and by
related disturbances in behavior
● A specific phobia is excessive, distressing, and persistent fear or anxiety about a
specific object or situation
● Phobias develop through learning (classical conditioning, modeling, or verbal
transmission).
- Agoraphobia
- Social anxiety disorder
, What is a Panic Attack?
● A panic attack is a period of extreme fear or discomfort that develops abruptly and
reaches a peak within 10 minutes
● People may also experience sweating, trembling, feelings of faintness, or a fear of losing
control, going crazy or dying…
Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder
● People with panic disorder have recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, along with
persistent concern about panic attacks, worry over the consequences of the attacks, or
self-defeating changes in behavior related to the attacks
● Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by a continuous state of excessive,
uncontrollable, and pointless
