Psychology Psychological Disorders Dissociative, Personality & Review
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Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative disorders are characterized by disturbances in consciousness, memory, identity, and perception.
Three kinds of dissociative disorders are dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue, and dissociative identity disorder.
Dissociative Amnesia
The main feature of dissociative amnesia is an inability to remember important personal information, usually about something traumatic or painful. The memory loss is too extensive to be explained by normal forgetfulness.
Dissociative Fugue
People with dissociative fugue suddenly leave their homes and disappear unexpectedly. They do not remember their past and are confused about their identity. Sometimes, they may assume entirely new identities.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative identity disorder was formerly called “multiple personality disorder.” In this disorder, certain aspects of identity, consciousness, and memory are not integrated. People with dissociative identity disorder cannot remember important personal information and have two or more identities or personality states that control their behavior. Often, each of these identities has a separate name, personal history, set of characteristics, and self-image.
The Dissociative Identity Disorder Controversy
Dissociative identity disorder is a controversial diagnosis. Some psychologists believe that the disorder is very rare and that the increase in its prevalence since the 1980s is due to overdiagnosis. These theorists point out that the presentation of dissociative identity disorder often changes according to its representation in the media, such as in the book Sybil. Others have suggested that clinicians sometimes induce this disorder in highly suggestible people. Some psychologists, however, believe that dissociative identity disorder is not rare and has only been unrecognized and underdiagnosed in the past.
Etiology of Dissociative Disorders
Many researchers believe that severe stress plays a role in the onset of dissociative disorders. However, they cannot explain why only a small minority of people who experience severe stress develop such disorders.
Personality Disorders
Personality disorders are stable patterns of experience and behavior that differ noticeably from patterns that are considered normal by a person’s culture. Symptoms of a personality disorder remain the same across different situations and manifest by early adulthood. These symptoms cause distress or make it difficult for a person to function normally in society. There are many types of personality disorders, including the following:
- Schizoid personality disorder: entails social withdrawal and restricted expression of emotions
- Borderline personality disorder: characterized by impulsive behavior and unstable relationships, emotions, and self-image
- Histrionic personality disorder: involves attention-seeking behavior and shallow emotions
- Narcissistic personality disorder: characterized by an exaggerated sense of importance, a strong desire to be admired, and a lack of empathy
- Avoidant personality disorder: includes social withdrawal, low self-esteem, and extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation
- Antisocial personality disorder: characterized by a lack of respect for other people’s rights, feelings, and needs, beginning by age fifteen. People with antisocial personality disorder are deceitful and manipulative and tend to break the law frequently. They often lack empathy and remorse but can be superficially charming. Their behavior is often aggressive, impulsive, reckless, and irresponsible. Antisocial personality disorder has been referred to in the past as sociopathy or psychopathy.
Etiology of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)
Researchers have proposed that the following biological factors might be related to the etiology of antisocial personality disorder:
- People with this disorder may have central nervous system abnormalities that prevent them from experiencing anxiety in stressful situations. Because they feel no anxiety, they never learn to avoid behavior with negative consequences.
- Such people may also have a genetically inherited inability to control impulses.
- Some researchers have suggested that antisocial personality disorder may be caused by brain damage. Injuries to the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning and impulse control, may be particularly involved.
As with other disorders, however, biological factors alone are often not enough to cause APD. Environmental factors, such as family abuse or dysfunction, also play a large role in the development of APD. Generally, it is the combination of these environmental factors with the biological vulnerability that brings on the disorder.
Quick Review
What Is a Psychological Disorder?
- Criteria for defining psychological disorders depend on whether cultural norms are violated, whether behavior is maladaptive or harmful, and whether there is distress.
- The medical model describes and explains psychological disorders as if they are diseases.
- The vulnerability-stress model states that disorders are caused by an interaction between biological and environmental factors.
- The learning model theorizes that psychological disorders result from the reinforcement of abnormal behavior.
- The psychodynamic model states that psychological disorders result from maladaptive defenses against unconscious conflicts.
- Psychologists use objective and projective tests to assess psychological disorders.
Classification
- Classification allows psychologists to describe disorders, predict outcomes, consider treatments, and study etiology.
- Insanity is a legal term, not a diagnostic label.
- Psychologists and psychiatrists use the DSM to diagnose psychological disorders.
- The DSM uses a multi-axial system of classification.
- The DSM is a useful tool but has been criticized for several reasons.
- Most of the major disorders in the DSM are found worldwide.
- Culture-bound syndromes are limited to specific cultural contexts.
Anxiety Disorders
- A chronic, high level of anxiety may be a sign of an anxiety disorder.
- Generalized anxiety disorder involves persistent and excessive anxiety for at least six months.
- Having a specific phobia means becoming anxious when exposed to a specific circumstance.
- Social phobia is characterized by anxiety in social or performance situations.
- A person with panic disorder experiences recurrent, unexpected panic attacks.
- Agoraphobia involves anxiety about having panic attacks in difficult or embarrassing situations.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder entails obsessions, compulsions, or both.
- Post–traumatic stress disorder is a set of psychological and physiological responses to a highly traumatic event.
- Biological factors implicated in the onset of anxiety disorders include genes, different sensitivity to anxiety, the neurotransmitters GABA and serotonin, and brain damage.
- Conditioning and learning may contribute to the development of phobias.
- Some styles of thinking may make people more susceptible to anxiety disorders.
- Neuroticism is associated with anxiety disorders.
Mood Disorders
- Mood disorders are characterized by marked disturbances in emotional state, which cause physical symptoms and affect thinking, social relationships, and behavior.
- Mood disorders may be unipolar or bipolar.
- People with dysthymic disorder have depressed mood for at least two years.
- Major depressive disorder involves at least one period with significant depressive symptoms.
- Bipolar disorders involve at least one period with manic symptoms and usually depressive periods as well.
- Biological influences on mood disorders include genes, the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin, and brain abnormalities.
- There is a two-way relationship between negative thinking and depression.
- Cognitive characteristics of depressed people include learned helplessness; a pessimistic worldview; hopelessness; a tendency to make internal, stable, global attributions; and a tendency to ruminate.
- There is a two-way relationship between social support and depression.
- Depression may be related to experiences of loss.
- The onset and course of mood disorders may be influenced by stress.
Eating Disorders
- Eating disorders are characterized by problematic eating patterns, concerns about body weight, and inappropriate efforts to control weight.
- Anorexia nervosa entails very low body weight, fear of gaining weight, and distorted body image.
- Bulimia nervosa involves binge eating and unhealthy efforts to control body weight.
- Some people may have a genetic vulnerability to eating disorders.
- Eating disorders may be associated with particular personality traits.
- Cultural factors strongly influence the onset of eating disorders.
- Lacking autonomy in the family and having an overly weight-conscious mother may influence the onset of eating disorders.
- People with eating disorders tend to have certain distortions of thinking.
- The onset of anorexia nervosa may be associated with stressful events.
Somatoform Disorders
- Somatoform disorders are characterized by real physical symptoms that cannot be fully explained by a medical condition, the effects of a drug, or another mental disorder.
- A person with somatization disorder has many different, recurrent physical symptoms.
- Conversion disorder involves symptoms that affect voluntary motor functioning or sensory functioning.
- People with hypochondriasis constantly fear that they may have a serious disease.
- People with histrionic personality traits may be more likely to develop somatoform disorders.
- Several cognitive factors may contribute to somatoform disorders.
- People with somatoform disorders may learn to adopt a sick role.
Substance-Related Disorders
- Many substance-related disorders are described in the DSM.
- Substance abuse is a maladaptive pattern of drug use that results in repeated, negative legal, social, occupational, or academic consequences.
- Substance dependence involves continuing to use a drug despite persistent harmful physical or psychological consequences.
- The disease model of addiction holds that addiction is a disease that must be treated medically.
- The learning model of addiction holds that addiction is a way of coping with stress.
- Genes may produce a predisposition to substance dependence.
- Several lines of evidence suggest that environmental factors play a key role in substance dependence.
Schizophrenia
- Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that includes positive and negativesymptoms. There are several subtypes of schizophrenia.
- The paranoid type is characterized by marked delusions or hallucinations and relatively normal cognitive and emotional functioning.
- The disorganized type involves disorganized behavior, disorganized speech, and emotional flatness or inappropriateness.
- The catatonic type is characterized by unnatural movement or speech patterns.
- A diagnosis of undifferentiated type applies if diagnostic criteria are not met for any of the above three subtypes.
- Research suggests that genes, neurotransmitters, and brain abnormalities are involved in the onset of schizophrenia.
- Stress may help to induce schizophrenia in people who are already biologically vulnerable to the disorder.
Dissociative Disorders
- Dissociative disorders are characterized by disturbances in consciousness, memory, identity, and perception.
- Dissociative fugue involves sudden and unexpected travel away from home, failure to remember the past, and confusion about identity.
- People with dissociative identity disorder fail to remember important personal information and have two or more identities or personality states that control behavior.
- Dissociative identity disorder is a controversial diagnosis. Psychologists disagree about why its prevalence has risen since the 1980s.
- Severe stress may play a role in the onset of dissociative disorders.
Personality Disorders
- Personality disorders are stable patterns of experience and behavior that differ noticeably from patterns that are considered normal by a person’s culture.
- People with schizoid personality disorder are socially withdrawn and have restricted expression of emotions.
- Borderline personality disorder involves impulsive behavior and unstable relationships, emotions, and self-image.
- Histrionic personality disorder is characterized by attention-seeking behavior and shallow emotions.
- People with narcissistic personality disorder have an exaggerated sense of importance, a strong desire to be admired, and a lack of empathy.
- Avoidant personality disorder involves social withdrawal, low self-esteem, and extreme sensitivity to being evaluated negatively.
- Antisocial personality disorder begins at age fifteen and includes a lack of respect for other people’s rights, feelings, and needs.
- Abnormalities in physiological arousal, a genetically inherited inability to control impulses, and brain damage may be involved in the development of antisocial personality disorder.
- Environmental influences are also likely to influence the development of antisocial personality disorder.
