Psychological Disorders
Psychological disorder is a harmful dysfunction in which thoughts, behaviours or feelings are:
• Maladaptive, Unjustifiable, Disturbing, Atypical
4 main attributes of a Psych Disorder [MUDA]
Maladaptive;
• An exaggeration of normal acceptable behaviours
• Destructive to oneself or others
• Unjustifiable;
Behaviour which does not have a rational basis
Disturbing;
• A behavior which is troublesome to other people or concerning
Atypical;
• A behaviour so different from other people’s behavior that it violates a horm
• Norms are the rules established by a culture, of accepted & expected behaviors
Atypical & Culture
Norms can vary from culture to culture
• it doesn’t matter if my behavior is unlike yours if we live in different event cultures; it only matters whether people in my culture think my behavior is abnormal
Early Views on mental health
In ancient times, mental illness was usually explained through a supernatural model; the person was possesses or a sinner
• people showing symptoms of psychological disorders were possessed by demons and they often were tortured or executed the sufferers to oust these bad spirits
Philippe Pinet- a French physician who worked to reform the treatment of people with mental
disorders
Encouraged more humant treatment
• Pinel saw psychological disorders as Sickness not demonic possession.
• Pinel favored talking to patients, treating them gently, and providing clean living conditions.
Medical Model
is the concept that mental diseases have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases cured.
Psychological disorders can be diagnosed based on their symptoms and treated or cured through therapy
• Psychological disorders are similar to a physical illness
The medical model is alive and well today.
Contemporary research has uncovered physical causes, both genetic and biochemical
for symptoms of some of the more troubling psychological disorders, including schizophrenia & has led to new medical treatments, often involving drug therapy.
But the medical model, in its quest to find physiological explanations for mental diseases, focuses almost exclusively on nature & almost never on nurture.
Bio-psycho-social Model
Bio-psycho-social model is a contemporary perspective that assumes biological, psychological, and social factors combine to interact to produce psychological disorders
• Studies the influences of nature and nurture and their interaction
• The bio-psycho-social model agrees with the medical model that there is a biological component, but differs to include the Psycho-Social factors
Social model- bio, psycho and social
Bio - genetic predisposition or hereditary susceptibility to a disorder
Psycho- one’s though’s & thinking patterns
social- expectations & influence of culture, family peers
Classifying Mental Disorders
Psychology classifies disorders to:
• Describe the disorder
•Predict the future course of the disorder
• Treat the disorder appropriately
Provides a springboard for research into the disorder’s Cause
The DSM-5
the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition
• a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders
•Lists and describes all the currently accepted categories of mental disorders
- Defines a diagnostic process
• Includes Symptoms but not the causes of each disorder
The Un-DSM
Character Strengths and Virtue: A Handbook & Classification
the positive psychology movement have examined the conditions that allow communities and individuals to flourish
• they decided to employ the same process used to develop the DSM to come up with Character Strengths and Virtues, the Un-DSM
Benefits and Cons of labels :
Labels describe abnormal behavior; they do NOT explain it.
Drawbacks of labeling include their effect on our
perceptions. The misdiagnosis of 8 healthy people shows us just how easily misdiagnosis can occur.
• Benefits of labeling: Classifications let us understand and communicate quickly; psychiatric diagnosis helps mental health professionals communicate with one
another about psychological disorders, understand some of the processes at work, and guide people toward better outcomes in their treatenent
