1) It is maladaptive (harmful) and/or disturbing to the individual

2) It is disturbing to others

3) It is unusual, not shared by many members of the population

4) It is irrational; it does not make sense to the average person

Not a medical term, but used to describe psychological disorders in general, rather it is a legal term

Isane is used to describe people who commit crimes because of their psychological disorder so they cannot be held fully responsible

When defendants plead not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI), they are asking the court to acquit them due to psychological disorders

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Latest edition DSM-IV-TR

Provides a way for pscyhologists to diagnose their patients.

It contains the symptoms of eveyrthing currently considered to be a psychological disorder

Homosexuality has been removed from DSM from defining abnormality

Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic- Internal, unconscious conflicts

Humanistic- failure to strive toward one's potential or being out of touch with one's feelings

Behavioral- Reinforcement history, the environment

Cognitive- Irrational, dysfunctional thoughts or ways of thinking

Sociocultural- Dysfunctional society

Biomedical- Organic problems, biochemical imbalances, genetic predispositions

Most psychologist are eclectic

fear of open, public spaces

May be afraid to venture out of their homes at all

experiences constant, low-levle anxiety

Such a person constantly feel nervous and out of sorts.

suffers from acute episodes of intense anxiety without any apparent provocation

Panic attacks leads to increase in frequency, and people often suffer additional anxiety due to anticipating the attacks

usually involved flashbacks or nightmares following a person's involvement in or observation of an extremely troubling event such as a war or natural disaster

Memory of the event cause anxiety

Psychoanalytic theorists- see psychological disorders as casued by unresolved, unconscious conflicts. Anxiety is views as the result of conflicts between the desires of the id, ego, and superego.

Behaviorists- believe that all behaviors are learned. This learning could happen through classical conditioning 

Cognitive theorists- believe that disordesr result from dysfunctional ways of thinking. Therefore, they would attribute an anxiety disorder to an unhealthy and irrational way of thinking and/ or specific irrational thoughts

occurs when a person manifests a psychological problem through physiological symptom. Such a person experiences a physical problem in the absence of any physical cause.

Hypochondriasis- has frequent physical complaints for which medical doctors are unable to locate the cause. Ex) headaches, cold

Conversion Disorder- will report the existence of a severe physical problem such as paralysis or blindness, and they will, in fact, be unable to move their arms or see.

Involve a disruption in conscious process.

Psychogenic amnesia- is when a person cannot remember things and no physiological basis for the distruption in memory can be identified

Organic amnesia- biologically influenced

Fugue- not only experience psychogenic amnesia but also find themselves in an unfamiliar environment

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)- is when a person has several personalitites rather than one integrated personality

Psychoanalytic theorists- believe that dissociative disorders result when an extremely traumatic event has been so thoroughly repressed that a split in conscious results

Behaviorists- think that people who have experienced trauma simmply find not thinking about it to be rewarding, thus producing amnesia, or in extreme cases, DID

Someone with a mood or affective disorder experiences extreme or inappropriate emotions.

Major depression- is the most common mood disorder. Symptoms: the length of depressive episode, loss of appetite, fatigue, change in sleeping patterns, lack of interest, feelings of worthlessness

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)- when there is less sunlight, is the resulting dianosis. Can be treated with light therapy 

Bipolar Disorder (manic depression)- involves both depressed and maniac episodes. Involes all symtpoms of major depressions. People feel high energy, anxious, irritable, confience and power

Psychoanalysts- depression as the product of anger directed inward, loss during the early psychosexual stages, or an overly punitive superego.

Learning Theorists- view the mood disorder as bringing about some kind of reinforcement such as attention or sympathy

Cognitive Triad- proposed by Aaron Beck, believes that depressions fromj unreasonably negative ideas that people have about themselves, their world, and their futures

Many theories combine these views such as Learned Helplessness- when one's prior experinvces have caused that person to view himself or herself as unable to control aspects of the future that are controllable. This belief then may result in passivity and depression.

Low levels of serotinin have been linked with unipolar depression. People who suffer from bipolar disorder have more receptors for acetylcholine in their brains and skin

Norepinephrine- associated with depression.

This suggests that these disorders are caused, at least partially, by biological factors

The most severe and ebilitating of the psychological disorders. It tends to strik people as they enter young adulthood. The fundamental symptom of it is Delusions or hallucinations

Disorganized schizophrenics- evidence some odd uses of language.

Inappropraite effect- no emotional response, like laughing at a death :(

delusions of persecution.

A man suffering delusions of persecution would believe that others are trying to hurt him or out to get him.

engage in odd movements.

They may remain motionless in strange postures for hours at a time, move jerkily and quickly for no apparent reason, or alternate between the two

Wavy Flexibility- they allow their body to be moved into any alternative shape and will then hold that new pose

Positive symptoms- refers to excesses in behavior, thought, or mood such as neologisms and hallucinations

Negative symptoms- correspond to deficits such as falt affect or  catatonia.

Dopamine hypothesis- high levels of dopamine seem to be associated with schizoprenia

• Parkinson's disease- muscle stiffness, and termors

Well-established, maladaptive ways of behaving that negatively affect people's ability to function

Antisocial personality disorder- have little regard for other people's feelings

Dependent Personality disorder- rely too much on the attention and help of others

Paranoid personality disorder- feel persectued

Narcissistic personality disorder- involves seeing oneself as the cnter of the universe

Histrionic personality disorder- cannoted overly dramatic behavior

Parahilias- Marked by the sexual attraction to an object, person, or activity not usually seen as sexual

Voyeur- someone who became sexually aroused by watching others engage in some kind of sexual behavior

Masochist- someone who is aroused by pain inflicted upon them

Sadist- someone who is aroused by inflicting pain on someone else

Substance use disorder- diagnosis made when the use of such substances regularly and negatively affects a person's life.

Substance dependence- is another term for addiction.

The Rosenhan study, while flawed and widely critiqued, raised several important issues

1) Should people who were once diagnosed with a psychological problem carry that dianosis for the rest of their lives?

2) To what extent are disorders the product of a particular environment, and to what extent do they inhere in the individual?

3) What is the level of institutional care available if the imposters could go undetected fro a period of days and, in some cases, weeks?