Chapter 14 – Psychological Disorders A.Conceptions of Mental Disorders I.Psychopathology—also called abnormal psychology; refersto the study of mental disorders ("disease process of the psyche/mind") i.Early Conceptions of Mental Disorder a.Evil spirits b.Somatogenic hypothesis—the hypothesis that mentaldisorders are caused by physical illness (e.g., infections,injury) c.Psychogenic hypothesis—the hypothesis that mentaldisorders arise via psychological processes (Freud believedthis) ii.Modern Conceptions of Mental Disorders—reflect theintegration of evidence from different scientific disciplines a.Diathesis-Stress Models—describe psychopathology asdeveloping when a stressful event occurs for someone with a geneticrisk (i.e., a biological predisposition), or diathesis, for aparticular type of disorder.
- When your bucket (diathesis) overflows from water
(stress), you develop the disorder b.Multicausal Models—emphasize that there may be manydifferent types of diatheses (e.g., biopsychosocial model) B.Defining, Assessing, and Diagnosing Mental Disorders I.Mental Disorder i.Criteria a.Deviate from cultural norms?b.Maladaptive?c.Self-destructive? Distress? Threaten others?d.Discomfort or concern from others?ii.Must not be merely an expectable and culturally sanctionedresponse to a particular event (e.g., death of a loved one) iii.Duration and severity are important II.Prevalence—refers to how widespread a disorder is 1 / 2
i.Point Prevalence—how many people have a disorder at a given time ii.Lifetime Prevalence—how many people will have thedisorder at any point in their lives (46% of all people will have at least1 mental illness in their lifetime) III.Assessment—refers to the set of procedures used togather information about an individual i.Diagnosis—a statement that an individual has a particularmental disorder a.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5(DSM 5)—a manual that lists the symptom criteria required tomake a diagnosis ●Problems include categorical vs. dimensional approach; comorbidity (pfactor?) ii.Clinical Interviews—involve acquiring informationin a face-to-face setting by asking questions as well as observing behaviors (canbe structured or unstructured)
- Signs (observed by the interviewer; from objectivephysiological
measures) vs. Symptoms (from the patientreport) iii.Self-report Measures—gather information by havingthe patient response to questions on a questionnaire iv.Projective Tests—tests based on the assumption thataspects of an individual’s unconscious conflicts or motives maybe inferred from their responses to ambiguous stimuli, such as the RorschachInkblot Test or TAT; although common among practicing clinicians, theiruse is not supported by most researchers because of a lack of evidence forvalidity v.Neuropsychological testing IV.Labeling of mental disorders i.Pros: gives clinicians and researchers a "common language";can improve treatment; facilitates research about causes of disorders
ii.Cons: labels bring stigma, which can prevent peoplefrom getting the help
they need; also can cause individual more stress becausenow labeled as having a mental illness C.Personality Disorders I.Characterized by maladaptive patterns of typical personalitytraits
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