ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR I:Medical Perspective, Psychodynamic Perspective

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Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Lesson 36

ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR I

Definitions of Abnormal Behavior

3. A Sense of Personal Discomfort Seen As Abnormality

A person is seen as abnormal if his thoughts and behavior are a source of discomfort for him.

Discomfort can be in the form of anxiety, distress, or guilt.

4. Inability to function effectively

People, who cannot function and perform as effectively as they ought to, are seen as abnormal.

This definition includes adjusting, and adapting to the social requirements.

5. The Legal Definition of Abnormality

· Laws in different countries define abnormality according to their legal standards.

· It is primarily needed for differentiating sanity from insanity.

· Abnormality may be viewed as not being able to foresee and understand the consequences of

the criminal act.

Or it can be taken as inability to control one's own thoughts and behaviors.

Or it can be the ability to see right as different from wrong.

Perspectives on Abnormality

Approaches to studying, describing, understanding, explaining, and predicting abnormality.

These approaches affect the way a mental patient will be treated.

1. Medical Perspective

Psychological problems are caused by physiological factors.

These can be the biological processes and systems, genetic factors, the nervous system and the

neurotransmitters, hormonal changes, or external variables affecting the biology of a person.

2. Psychodynamic Perspective

Childhood experiences are the root cause of mental disorders.

Unconscious determinants are significant.

3. Behavioral Perspective

Abnormal behavior is learned.

Abnormality is a learned response.

It results from our interaction with the external world.

4. Cognitive Perspective

The factors causing mental disorders are a person's cognitions, thoughts, and beliefs.

5. Humanistic Perspective

People's need to self-actualize, and their responsibility for their own actions, play a central role

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in abnormality behavior.

6. Sociocultural Perspective

The social milieu in which one lives, the family and the people around, the society, and the

culture at large are of primary importance in the onset, and later treatment, of mental illness

Classification of Mental Disorders

Kraepelin gave the first classification system of mental disorders.

A number of classification systems followed afterwards.

The purpose was to assist the clinicians diagnose mental disorders, as well as to determine the

extent of the problem.

Classification Systems

DSM- IV- TR

ICD

DSM-IV-TR

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders is the classification system compiled by

the American Psychiatric Association.

This is the most widely used classification system all over the world.

ICD: International Classification

For decades, mental health professionals in Western Europe and a major part of the world used

this classification system.

The World Health Organization developed ICD.

ICD is a comprehensive classification system of all kinds of diseases, including psychological or psychiatric illnesses.

For a number of years ICD9 remained a popular diagnostic system.

Research, in the last more than a decade, reflected that the revised and improved versions of

DSM had an edge over ICD in many respects.

Besides, there were no major differences as such in the two systems.

Also, the need for a single universally accepted system was intensely felt.

Therefore today DSM-IV-TR is recognized as a universally accepted diagnostic system.

DSM-IV-TR

The first DSM was published in 1917.

It originated from a project of the American Medico-Psychological Association, now known as

American psychiatric Association and United States Bureau of the Census.

In order to collect uniform data on hospitalized mental patients, they developed a list of 59

mental illnesses.

The list was further expanded with the publication of the first DSM in 1952.

The first DSM included a list of 106 mental illnesses.

DSM-II was published in 1968.

DSM-III was published in 1980.

DSM-III-R was published in 1987.

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· DSM-IV was published in 1994.

· DSM-IV was developed after a special 27-member task force of experts worked for five years.

· More than 1000 psychiatrists contributed and advised in deciding about the diseases and other

information to be included in DSM-IV.

DSM-IV-TR was published in 2000.

DSM-IV-TR contains definitions of more than 200 mental disorders.

These disorders are organized into 17 major categories.

Multi Axial System of DSM-IV-TR

DSM-IV-R also contains five axes, or five types of information, that have to be considered in

the diagnosis of a patient.

Axes of DSM-IV-TR

· Axis I: Clinical disorders

· Axis II: Long standing problems that are frequently overlooked in the presence of disorders

listed in axis mental retardation, personality disorder, and I.

Axis III: General medical conditions that may be relevant to a psychological disorder.

Axis IV: Psychosocial or environmental problems that a person is facing.

These problems may affect the diagnosis, treatment, or the course of the mental disorder.

Axis V: Global Assessment Of Functioning.

Major Categories of Disorders in DSM-IV-TR

Anxiety disorders

Somatoform disorders

Dissociative disorders

Mood disorders

Schizophrenia

Personality disorders

Sexual disorders

Substance-related disorders

Delirium, dementia, amnesia, and other cognitive disorders.

Anxiety Disorders

Disorders in which anxiety becomes an impediment in a person's routine functioning.

Anxiety is a reaction to real or imagined threat that may hamper the daily functioning and

results in uneasiness, worry, and apprehension.

In anxiety disorders, anxiety occurs without an obvious external cause, to an extent that it

affects routine functioning of the person.

·Stress is the part of daily routine in a person's life but the reactions to stress vary from

individual to individual.

·Anxiety is one of the various reactions to stress.

·Whether or not one will develop anxiety, and to what extent, will depend on the nature

of stress faced, family history, and fatigue or over work, and the person's coping strategies.

Major symptoms of stress include

· Sleeplessness

· Headaches

· Twitching and trembling

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Dry mouth

Memory problems

Nightmares

Irritability

Fatigue

Sweating

Muscle tension

Insomnia

Common causes are

· Imagined threat

· Grief

· Physical or emotional stress

· Use of drugs

· Withdrawal from drugs.Subcategories of Anxiety Disorders

Generalized anxiety disorder

Panic disorder

Phobic disorder

Obsessive compulsive disorder

Post- traumatic stress disorder

Treatment can be done through

· Finding the actual cause of anxiety.

· Avoid becoming dependent on mood altering drugs.

· Avoid stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol etc.

· Biofeedback and relaxation therapy.

· Aerobic exercises.

· Avoid the effects that have been produced due to anxiety, if anxiety is cured, the

other symptoms will be resolved automatically. Generalized Anxiety Disorders

The disorder marked by long-term, persistent, anxiety and worry.

It refers to the long- term anxiety in which there is continual and exaggerated state within the

person due to which he/ she is continually tense, apprehensive and in automatic nervous

system arousal.

Chronic form of anxiety disorders.

Causes include

· Hereditary causes,

· Or this disorder begins at very early age and the revealing of the symptoms is gradual not burst.

Treatment involves

· Medications and use of psychotherapy,

· Exposure therapy,

· Behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Symptoms involve

· People with this disorder are unable to relax,

· Insomnia

· Trembling,

· Muscle tension,

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Head aches, sweating,

Twitching,

Trembling,

Feel tiredness,

Depression etc.Panic Disorder

· Disorder in which anxiety is manifested in the form of panic attacks lasting from a few seconds

to many hours.

Panic attacks are unpredictable; resulting from vague anxiety and that may accompany

physiological manifestations.

Symptoms include:

· Dizziness and/or fainting

· Sweating

· Trembling

· Palpitation

· Nausea

Choking

Fear of dying

Fear of being out of control

Skin blushing or flushing

Chest pain and discomfort

Sleep disturbances

Agitation

Facial paralysis etc.Causes involve

· Use of drugs and stimulants.

· As a result of some incident or risk factor.

· The exact cause of panic attacks is still not known; may result due to temporal

dysfunction of the brain or may have been learnt through past experiences.

· More frequent in women than men.

Prognosis: The disorder is difficult to treat and long- lasting as well, but behavioral therapies and use of

drugs can minimize the symptoms.

Phobias

Phobias are the particular, persistent, irrational and intense paralyzing fear of some objects and

situations that they are unable to explain and overcome; and that may occur without any actual

cause.

Symptoms include

· Perspiration

· Frustration,

· Rapid heart beat

· Headaches etc.

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