the conceptualization of psychological disorders as diseases that, like physical diseases, have biological causes, defined symptoms and possible cures. 

It should be viewed with skepticism

What are the three key elements that must be present for a cluster of symptoms to qualify as a potential mental disorder?

1) A disorder is manifested in symptoms that involve disturbances in behavior, thoughts, or emotions.

2) The symptoms are associated with significant personal distress or impairment

3)They symptoms stem from an internal dysfunction (biological, psychological, or both)

The observation that most disorders have both internal(biological and psychological) AND external(environmental) causes have given rise to a theory known as the-

Diathesis-Stress model, which...

Suggests that a person may be predisposed for a psychological disorder that remains unexpressed until triggered by stress. 

Diathesis is the internal predisposition, and the stress is the external trigger.

a disorder characterized by chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms:

restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance. 

disorders characterized by marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, or situations.

An individual with a phobic disorder recognized that the fear is irrational but cannot revent it from interfering with everyday functioning.

an irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual's ability to function. 

Specific phobias fall into 5 categories

1) animals

2)natural environments

3) situations

4) blood, injections, and injury

5) other phobias, including illness and death

mental disorders that have mood disturbance as their predominant feature

Two main forms- depression and bipolar disorder

When major depressive disorder and dysthymia co-occur. 

It is defined as a moderately depressed mood that persist for at least 2 years and is punctuated by periods of major depression. 

some people experience recurrent depressive episodes in a seasonal pattern.

 Commonly diagnosed in the winter and colder months because of the lack of sunlight.

On average major depressions lasts about 12 weeks. However without treatment approximately 80% of individuals will experience at least one recurrence of the disorder. 

Compared with people who have a single episode, individuals with recurrent depression have more severe symptoms, higher rates of depression in their familie, more suicide attempts, and higher rates of divorce.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)

the most dramatic form of dissociative disorder. It is characterized by the presence within an individual of two or more distinct identities that at different times take control of the individuals behavior. 

The original, or host, personality does not know about the alternate personalities, however the alternate personalities know about the host and eachother.

Characterized by the profound disruption of basic psychological processes; a distorted perception of reality; altered or blunted emotion; and disturbances in thought, motivation, and behavior. 

Schizophrenia Symptom:

1)Grossly disorganized behavior

2)Catatonic behavior

1) behavior that is inappropriate for the situation or ineffective in attaining goals, often with specific motor disturbances.

2) marked decrease in all movement or an increase in muscular rigidity and overactivity

1) paranoid type: preoccupation with delusions and hallucinations

2)Catatonic type: involves immobility and stupor or agitated, purposeless motor activity

3) Disorganized type: often the most severe, featuring disorganized speech and behavior and flat or inappropriate emotion.

4)Undifferentiated type: for cases that do not neatly fall into the first 3 categories 

5)Residual type: categorizes individuals who have substantially recovered from at least one schizophrenic episode but still have lingering symptoms.

Disorder characterized by deeply ingrained, inflexible patterns of thinking, feeling, or relating to others or controlling impulses that cause distress or impaired functioning.

People with personality disorders often blame others, society, or the univers for their difficulties, distorting their perceptions of the world in a way that makes the personality disorders seem perfectly normal. 

• a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. 
• APD is given to people who show three or more of a set of seven diagnostic signs: illegal behavior, deception, impulsivity, physical aggression, recklessness, irresponsibility, and a lack of remorse for wrongdoing.                                         

Personality disorder's three clusters

1) odd/eccentric

2) dramatic/erratic

3) anxious/inhibited