PSYC 1030H Chapter Notes - Chapter 15: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder
Psychological Disorders
Abnormal Behaviour: Myths, Realities, and Controversies
●The medical model assumes that it is useful to view abnormal behaviour as a disease.
This view has been criticized on the grounds that it turns ethical questions about deviance
into medical questions.
●Three criteria are used in deciding whether people suffer from psychological disorders:
deviance, maladaptive behaviour, and personal distress. People with psychological
disorders are not potentially curable.
●DSM-5 is the official psychodiagnostic classification system. This version of the DSM
was released in 2013. Psychological disorders are more common than widely believed.
Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders
●The anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, panic
disorder, agoraphobia, selective mutism, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety
disorder.
●Obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, specific disorder were
considered to be types of anxiety disorders in the DSM-IV. In the DSM-5, they are
considered to be separate categories of disorder.
●Heredity, oversensitivity to the physiological symptoms of anxiety, and abnormalities in
GABA or serotonin activity may contribute to these disorders.
●Many anxiety responses, especially phobias, may be caused by classical conditioning and
maintained by operant conditioning. Cognitive theorists maintain that a tendency to
overinterpret harmless situations as threatening may make some people vulnerable to
anxiety disorders. Stress may also trigger anxiety disorders.
Dissociative Disorders
●Dissociative disorders include dissociative amnesia and fugue and dissociative identity
disorder. These disorders are uncommon and their causes are not well understood.
Mood Disorders
●The principal mood disorders are major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder (bipolar
1 and 2). While major depression involves just depressive episodes, people suffering
from bipolar disorder cycle between manic and depressive episodes. Mood disorders are
episodic. Depression is more common in females than males.
●Evidence indicates that people vary in their genetic vulnerability to mood disorders.
These disorders are accompanied by changes in neurochemical activity in the brain.
Cognitive models posit that negative thinking contributes to depression. Depression is
often rooted in interpersonal inadequacies and stress.
Document Summary
The medical model assumes that it is useful to view abnormal behaviour as a disease. This view has been criticized on the grounds that it turns ethical questions about deviance into medical questions. Three criteria are used in deciding whether people suffer from psychological disorders: deviance, maladaptive behaviour, and personal distress. People with psychological disorders are not potentially curable. Dsm-5 is the official psychodiagnostic classification system. This version of the dsm was released in 2013. Psychological disorders are more common than widely believed. The anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, panic disorder, agoraphobia, selective mutism, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, specific disorder were considered to be types of anxiety disorders in the dsm-iv. In the dsm-5, they are considered to be separate categories of disorder. Heredity, oversensitivity to the physiological symptoms of anxiety, and abnormalities in. Gaba or serotonin activity may contribute to these disorders.