Chapter 12

Abnormal Behavior

v What is abnormal behavior?

Ø Behavior is abnormal when...

§ It is unusual

§ It is socially unacceptable

§ One’s perception or interpretation of reality is faulty

· Hallucination—A perception in the absence of sensory stimulation that is confused with reality

§ One is in severe personal distress

§ One’s behavior is self-defeating

§ It is dangerous

v Models of abnormal behavior

Ø Demonological Model—The view that abnormal behavior reflects invasion by evil spirits or demons.

Ø The Medical Model—The view that abnormal behavior is symptomatic of an underlying illness.

§ Organic Version—Abnormal behavior patterns reflect underlying biological or biochemical problems

§ Psychodynamic Version—Abnormal behavior patterns reflect underlying psychological problems or conflicts

· Neurotic—Having a disorder theorized to stem from unconscious conflict

· Psychosis—Disorder in which a person lacks insight and has difficulty meeting the demands of daily life and maintaining contact with reality

Ø Learning Model—abnormal behavior not a symptom of underlying problem, rather it is the problem in itself (Learned through interaction with environment and others)

Ø Cognitive Model—focuses on cognitive events like thought, expectations and attitudes that accompany or underlie psychological disorders

Eclectic Psychologists—those that select from various systems or theories

v Classifying Abnormal Behavior

Ø Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association

§ Sorts abnormal behavior mainly on basis of observable similarities

§ (Refer to table 12.2 on page 482 of text)

· Axes I and II—describe abnormal behavior patterns

· Axis III—describes physical illnesses and conditions that may affect the understanding or treatment of abnormal behavior

· Axes IV and V—further info that can affect prognosis and treatment (severity and functioning level)

v Anxiety Disorders

§ Anxiety—characterized by nervousness, fears, feelings of dread and foreboding, and physical signs such as rapid heartbeat and sweating

Ø Phobias—two types

§ Simple Phobias—persistent fears of specific objects or situations

§ Social Phobias—irrational excessive fears of public scrutiny

Ø Panic Disorder—recurrent experiencing of attacks of extreme anxiety in the absence of external stimuli that usually elicit anxiety

Ø Generalized Anxiety Disorder—feelings of dread and foreboding and sympathetic arousal lasting for at least one month

Ø Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

§ Obsession—recurring thought or image that seems beyond control

§ Compulsion—apparently irresistible urge to repeat an act or engage in ritualistic behavior (hand washing)

Ø Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-intense and persistent feelings of anxiety and helplessness that are caused by a traumatic experience (wars, natural disasters), may include flash backs

Ø Theoretical Views

§ Social-Learning Views

· Fears may be acquired by observational learning

· Obsessions and compulsions divert attention from more important and threatening issues (view shared by cognitive theorists)

§ Seligman and Rosenhan (1984)—Prepared Conditioning: The view that we are genetically predisposed to become conditioned to certain stimuli

§ Benzodiaxepines—drugs that reduce anxiety

v Dissociative Disorders

§ Disorders in which there are sudden, temporary changes in consciousness or self-identity

Ø Psychogenic Amnesia—loss of memory or self-identity, skills and general knowledge retained

Ø Psychogenic Fugue—experience amnesia, then flee to a new locationn and establish a new life-style

Ø Multiple Personality Disorder—person appears to have two or more distinct personalities, which may alternate in controlling the person

Ø Depersonalization Disorder—persistent or recurrent feelings that one is not real or is detached from one’s own experiences or body

Ø Theoretical Views

§ Psychodynamic Theory—dissociative disorders use repression or avert improper impulses

§ Learning Theory—dissociative disorders: people learn not to think about disturbing acts in order to avoid guilt or shame

§ Social Learning Theory—role playing may be involved in dissociative disorders like multiple personality

v Somatoform Disorders

§ people complain of physical problems, though there is no evidence of physical abnormality

Ø Conversion Disorder—anxiety or unconscious conflicts are converted into physical symptoms that often have effect of helping the person with the conflict

Ø Hypochondriasis—persistent belief that one has a medical disorder despite lack of medical findings

Ø Theoretical Views

§ Psychodynamic Theory—conversion disorders are used for reduction of guilt or shame, and possibly even to serve a purpose

v Eating Disorders

Ø Anorexia Nervosa—eating disorder characterized by maintenance of an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of weight gain, a distorted body image, and amenorrhea in females

§ Amenorrhea—absence of menstruation

§ 1 in 200 school-aged girls has trouble gaining or maintaining weight

§ Anorectic girls outnumber anorectic male by a margin of somewhere between 9:1 and 20:1

§ Usually begins in adolescence (between 12 and 18)

Ø Bulimia Nervosa—eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by purging as well as by persistent over-concern with body shape and weight

§ Ratio women:men is about 10:1

§ Affects about 5% of population

Ø Theoretical Views

§ Psychoanalysts—anorexia may be unconscious effort to remain prepubescent

§ Learning Theorists—anorexia may come from a phobia concerning the possibility of gaining weight

§ May be connections to biology as well

v Mood Disorders

§ Characterized by disturbances in expressed emotion

· Magnified feelings of depression or there is no apparent cause for feelings of depression.

· Depression when ones situation is depressing is normal

Ø Major Depression

§ A severe depressive disorder in which the person may show loss of appetite, psychomotor symptoms, inability to concentrate or make decisions, recurrent suicide attempts and impaired reality testing.

· These symptoms are present in mild cases of depression but the symptoms are usually less severe.

· Psychomotor retardation is characteristic of slowness in motor activity and thought.

· Many people are delusional unworthiness, guilt, and hallucinations.

Ø Bipolar

§ Characterized by mood swings

· When happy usually exhibits excessive excitement and silliness along with extreme generosity.

· When sad the sleep more often and are lethargic

· People with bipolar depression attempt suicide on the way down from their elated or happy phase of depression.

Ø Theoretical Views

§ Psychodynamic Views

· Major depression is brought on by hateful feelings normally expelled, turned inward.

· Bipolar depression is brought on by conflicts with the id (the happy state) and superego (the depressed state).

§ Learning Views

· Lewinsohn theorized depressed people lack skills that might lead to rewards such as assertiveness and social skills.

· Learned Helplessness is Seligman’s model to show organisms show inactivity in no reinforced adverse situations.

· Cognitive Factors

¨ Depression is affected by attitude and expectancy.

¨ Depressed people have negatively distorted self images.

¨ Depressed people feel guilty for their short comings.

· Failure and Attributional Style

¨ Attributional style is ones tendency to attribute one’s behavior to 6 different styles of analyzing failures.

Ø Internal (self-blame) vs. External (blame elsewhere)

Ø Stable (unchangeable) vs. Unstable (temporary)

Ø Global (large) vs. specific (small)

¨ Depressed people tend to interoperate failures through internal, stable, and global perspectives. They feel helpless.

· Organic Factors

¨ Mood swings tend to run in families

¨ Norepinephrine a neurotransmitter could have a role in depression is there is a minimal amount of it.

¨ Depression could be reduced by enhancing sensitivity of norepinephrine receptors.

Ø Suicide

§ Facts about Suicide

· Nearly 200,000 people attempt suicide a year in the US. About 1 every 10 succeed.

· Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students.

· Most people who attempt suicide show hopelessness and despair. Not out of touch with reality.

· Strongly suicidal people find life dull, boring, and empty. They feel anxious, guilt-ridden, helpless, and inadequate.

· Suicide attempts are more frequent after “exit events” Ex. Death of family member or friend.

§ Myths about Suicide

· People who commit suicide are not seeking attention. 70-80% give clear clues prior to the act.

· Unsuccessful suicide attempts are not designed for attention.

· 75 % of successful suicides have made previous attempts.

· Most people with suicidal thoughts do not act them out.

v Schizophrenia

§ -Schizophrenia is characterized by disturbances in

· Thought and language

· Perception and attention

· Motor activity

· Mood

· Withdrawal and autism

§ Schizophrenics think in an illogical manner and jump from topic to topic.

§ Schizophrenics have delusions of illogical plans for saving the world and that some major organization is after them. They may see devils, colors, or obscene words.

§ Motor activity may become wild or may slow to a stupor. Possible strange gestures or inappropriate responses.

Ø Types of Schizophrenia

§ Disorganized Schizophrenics show incoherence, disorganized behavior, and delusions that are often sexual or religious.

§ Catatonic Schizophrenics show striking impairment in motor activity.

§ Paranoid Schizophrenics have systematized delusions and frequently related auditory hallucinations.

Ø Theoretical Views

§ Psychodynamic Views

· Schizophrenia is caused by the id’s impulses overwhelming the ego causing hallucinations.

· Fantasies then become confused with reality.

§ Learning Views

· Schizophrenia is caused by negative actions being reinforced with attention.

¨ An example of this is the bad kid in class gets more attention than the good kid.

§ Genetic factors

· Schizophrenia runs in families

· A child with two schizophrenic parents has a 35% chance of developing the disorder.

§ Dopamine Theory

· Schizophrenic people utilize their dopamine more causing hallucinations.

v Personality Disorders

§ Enduring patterns of maladaptive behavior that are a source of distress to the individual or others.

Ø Types of Personality Disorders

§ Paranoid personality disorder is characterized by persistent suspicious but not involving the disorganization of paranoid schizophrenia.

· Schizotypal personality disorder is characterized by oddities of thought and behavior but not involving bizarre psychotic symptoms

· Schizoid personality disorder is characterized by social withdrawal.

· Antisocial personality is characterized by a person who is in frequent conflict with society yet who is undeterred by punishment and experiences little or no guilt and anxiety. (Table 12.3)

§ Theoretical Views

· Factors that contribute to antisocial personality are an antisocial father, parental lack of love and rejection during childhood and inconsistent discipline.

· Antisocial personalities tend to run in families.

· Supermales with two y chromosomes suffer more frequently from this disease

v Sexual Disorders

§ Gnder-identity disorder is a disorder in which a person’s anatomic sex is inconsistent with his or her gender identity.

Ø Transsexualism

§ A person attracted to members of their own sex but does not consider is homosexual and see themselves as being trapped.

§ Usually reared by parents who want children of the opposite sex or different tendencies of the brain

Ø Paraphilias

§ Fetishism is a variation of choice in sexual object in which a body part or an inanimate object elicits sexual arousal and is preferred to a person.

§ Transvestic fetishism is a recurrent, persistent dressing in clothing worn by the opposite sex for purposes of sexual excitement.

§ Zoophilia is sexual contact with animals is preferred means of achieving sexual arousal

§ Pedophilia is sexual contact with children as a preferred source of sexual excitement.

§ Exhibitionism is the compulsion to expose one’s genitals in public.

§ Voyeurism is attainment of sexual gratification through observing others undress or engage in sexual activity.

§ Sexual masochism is the attainment of sexual gratification by means of receiving pain or humiliation.

§ Sexual sadism is the attainment of sexual gratification by means of inflicting pain or humiliation on sex partners.

Ø Theoretical Views

§ Paraphilias are defense mechanisms against anxiety