CLASSIFYING ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

General Psychology

Labelling and stigma

Labels can be damaging when they draw attention to one aspect of a person and ignore others.

When an individual is given the label mentally ill, a key concern is stigma. Stigma refers to a mark of shame
that may promote avoidance or negative reaction from others.

MAJOR CATEGORIES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

1. Disorders usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood or adolescence, and communicative disorders.

Include disorders that appear before adolescence, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
autism, and learning disorders (includes stuttering).

ADHD Psychological disorder in which the individual shows one or more of the following characteristics over a
period of time: in attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

2. Anxiety disorders

Psychological disorder that feature motor tension, hyperactivity, and apprehensive expectations and thoughts.

Generalized anxiety disorder an anxiety disorder that consists of persistent anxiety for at least 6 months; the
individual with this disorder cannot specify the reasons for the anxiety.

Causes:
Biological Factors
Genetic predisposition
Deficiency in neurotransmitter (GABA)
Respiratory system abnormalities
Psychological and Sociocultural Factors
Having harsh self-standards that are virtually impossible to achieve or maintain
Overly strict and critical parents (can produce low self-esteem and excessive self-criticism)
Automatic negative thoughts in the face of stress
History of uncontrollable stresses or traumas, such as an abusive parent.
2.1 Panic Disorder

An anxiety disorder marked by recurrent sudden onsets of intense apprehension or terror

Often strike without warning and can produce severe palpitations, extreme shortness of breath,
chest pains, trembling, sweating, dizziness, and feeling of helplessness.
Victims are seized by fear that they will die, go crazy, or do something that they cannot control.
Causes:
Biological
runs in the family and occurs more often in identical rather than fraternal twins
may have an autonomic nervous system that is predisposed to be overly active
 may be caused involving either or both of two neurotransmitters: norepinephrine and GABA
hyperventilation or over breathing
hormonal factors (helping to explain the tendency of women to be more likely that men to suffer
from panic disorder)
Psychological factors
Agoraphobia cluster of fears centred on public places and on inability to escape or to find help
should one become incapacitated.
misinterpret harmless indicators of physiological arousal (ex. slightly raised heartbeat) as an
emergency (such as heart attack)
Sociocultural factors
gender socialization (boys are encouraged to be more independent; girls are more protected)
traumatic experiences (girls are more often the targets of rape and child sexual abuse than boys)
2.2 Phobic Disorder
Commonly called phobia, an anxiety disorder in which the individual has an irrational, overwhelming
persistent fear of a particular object or situation

Examples:

Acrophobia, Aerophobia, Amaxophobia, Gamophobia, Thanatophobia, Nychtopohobia, Arachnophobia

Social phobia intense fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in social situations; afraid that they will say
or do the wrong thing.

Causes:

Biological
Neural circuit has been proposed for social phobia that includes the thalamus, amygdala, and
cerebral cortex.
Neurotransmitter serotonin
Psychological
Psychodynamic theorists say that phobias develop as defense mechanisms to ward-off threatening
or unacceptable impulses (ex. persons fear that the id will take over and he/she will jump off the
top of a tall building explains the individuals fear of height)
For Learning theorists perhaps the individual with the fear of falling-off a building experienced a
fall from high place earlier in life and therefore associates falling with pain---and consequently now
fears high places (classical conditioning explanation). Or have heard or seen others afraid of high
places (observational learning).
2.3 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

An anxiety disorder in which the individual has anxiety-provoking thoughts that will not go away
(obsession) and/or urges to perform repetitive, ritualistic behaviours to prevent or produce some
future situation (compulsion).

Most common: excessive checking, cleaning, counting

Causes:
Biological
Runs in families/genetic
 Frontal cortex or basal ganglia are so active in OCD that numerous impulses reach the thalamus,
generating obsessive thoughts or compulsive actions.
Psychological
Occurs during a period of life stress --- birth of a child, change in occupational or marital status
Cognitive perspective the inability to turn off negative, intrusive thoughts by ignoring and
dismissing them.
2.4 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

An anxiety disorder that develops through exposure to a traumatic event, severely oppressive
situations, severe abuse, and natural and unnatural disasters.

Symptoms:
Flashbacks in which the individual relieves the event;
Constricted ability to feel emotions, often reported as feeling numb resulting in inability to
experience happiness, sexual desire, or enjoyable interpersonal relationship;
Excessive arousal, resulting in an exaggerated startle response or an inability to sleep;
Difficulties with memory and concentration;
Feeling of apprehension, including nervous tremors;
Impulsive outbursts of behaviour, such as aggressiveness, or sudden changes in lifestyle
3. Somatoform Disorders

Occur when psychological symptoms take a physical form even though no physical
Causes can be found. Include hypochondriasis and conversion disorder.
4. Mood Disorder

Psychological disorder in which there is a primary disturbance in mood (prolonged emotion that colours the
individuals entire emotional state).
4.1 Depressive disorders
Mood disorder in which the individual suffers from depression (an unrelenting lack of pleasure in life).
4.2 Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
Involves a major depressive episode and depressed characteristics, such as lethargy and hopelessness,
for at least two weeks.
4.3 Bipolar Disorder
A mood disorder characterized by extreme mood swings that include one or more episodes of mania
(an over excited, unrealistically optimistic state).
5. Dissociative Disorder

A psychological disorder that involve a sudden loss of memory or change in identity.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called Multiple Personality disorder)
Least common; individuals suffering from this disorder have two or more distinct personalities or selves.
6. Schizophrenia (Split mind)

A severe psychological disorder that is characterized by highly disordered thought process.

Hallucination sensory experiences in the absence of real stimuli
 Delusions false, sometimes even preposterous beliefs that are not part of the persons culture (ex. one
might think that he is Napoleon)
Catatonia state of immobility and unresponsiveness
Types of Schizophrenia

Disorganized schizophrenia a type in which an individual has delusions and hallucinations that have
little or no recognizable meaning.
Catatonic characterized by bizarre motor behaviour that somewhat takes the form of a completely
immobile stupor (trance)
Paranoid characterized by delusions of reference, grandeur, or persecution.
7. Personality Disorders

Chronic, maladaptive cognitive-behavioral patterns that are thoroughly integrated into the individuals
personality.

3 Clusters

1. Odd/Eccentric Cluster
Paranoid have lack of trust in others and are suspicious
Schizoid exhibit shy, withdrawn behaviour; cold people
Schizotypal show odd thinking patterns that reflect eccentric belief, overt suspicion, and overt
hostility.
2. Dramatic/Emotionally Problematic Cluster

Histrionic seek lot of attention and tend to over react; respond more dramatically and intensely than
is required.
Narcissistic- have unrealistic sense of self-importance, cannot take criticism, manipulate people,, and
lack empathy.
Borderline emotionally unstable, impulsive, unpredictable, irritable, and anxious; Have an unstable
sense of identity and self.
Antisocial guiltless, law-breaking, exploitive, self-indulgent, irresponsible, and intrusive.
3. Chronic-Fearfulness/Avoidant Cluster

Avoidant shy and inhibited yet desire interpersonal relationships; often have low self-esteem and
extremely sensitive to rejection.
Dependent lack self-confidence and do not express their own personalities; has the pervasive need to
cling to stronger personalities, whom they allow to make decisions for them.
Passive-aggressive often pout and procrastinate; they are stubborn or are intentionally inefficient in
an effort to frustrate others.
Obsessive-compulsive shows obsessive perfectionism, rigidity, and a need to apply a very strict moral
code.