Chapter 15: Psychological Disorders
Name of Definition Biological Factors
Type of Disorder
Disorder
Anxiety disorder marked
by persistent anxiety for at
least six months where the
Generalized
individual is unable to
Anxiety Disorder
identify the reasons of this
anxiety
Anxiety disorder in
Anxiety and Anxiety- which the individual
Related Disorders faces recurrent, sudden
Panic Disorder
onsets of intense terror,
often without warning or
specific cause
Anxiety disorder in
which an individual
experiences irrational,
Specific Phobia overwhelming, persistent
fear of a particular object
or situation
Social Anxiety Anxiety disorder in
Disorder which the individual has
intense fear of being
humiliated or
embarrassed in social
situations
Psychological Factors
- Genetic predisposition
- Deficiency in GABA
- respiratory abnormalities
- problems in sympathetic NS regulation
- Genetic predisposition, genes that
direct norepinephrine, GABA, and
serotonin
- high levels of lactate
- genes involved in hormonal regulation
Each specific phobia may have its own
neural correlates
- Genes and neural circuitry in the
thalamus, amygdalae and cerebral
cortex
- NT oxytocin involved
Sociocultural Factors
- Automatic negative
- Harsh self-standards
thoughts when stressed
- Overly strict, critical, or
- Uncontrollable traumas
cold parents
or stressors
- The panic attacks are
suggested to be learned
associations between
fear and bodily cues of Women are more likely to
respiration. have panic attacks than men
- Genetic predisposition due to the biological
causes individuals to differences in hormones and
overgeneralize fear and NTs and ways of coping
associate it with any with stressful situations
stressful event
(vulnerability-stress
prediction)
Specific phobias may be Having a parent with a
based on experiences, psychological disorder not
memories and learned necessarily a specific
associations phobia
- Involves vulnerabilities - Individuals feel that
such as genetic they are prevented from
characteristics, letting others know who
overprotection, or they really are
rejecting parenting
combined with learning

Individual has anxiety-
provoking thoughts that
Obsessive- will not go away and/or
Compulsive urges to perform repetitive,
Disorder (OCD)* ritualistic behaviors to
prevent or produce some
future situation
Develops through
exposure to a traumatic
Post-Traumatic
event, a severely
Stress Disorder
oppressive situation,
(PTSD)*
cruel abuse, or a
natural/unnatural disaster
Involves significant
depressive episode and
depressed characteristics
such as lethargy and
hopelessness for at least 2
Major weeks
Depressive
Disorder (MDD)
Mood and Emotional
Disorder
Characterized by extreme
mood swings that include
Bipolar one or more episodes of
Disorder an overexcited,
unrealistically optimistic
state (mania)
- Genetic component
- Low levels of serotonin and dopamine
- High levels of glutamate in brain
pathways
- Frontal cortex or basal ganglia are so
active that many impulses reach the
thalamus creating obsessive thoughts or
compulsive behaviors
Traumatic life events can alter the balance
of neurotransmitters and hormones and the
way the brain and body react to stress
- Genes play a role in depression in
conjunction with experiences
(vulnerability-stress association)
- Linked to features in serotonin
transporter gene associated with a
stressful social environment
- Lower levels of brain activity in a
section of the prefrontal cortex and
regions associated with reward
perception from environment
- Problems in serotonin and
norepinephrine regulation and
receptors
- Genetic influences are strong
predictors
- High levels of norepinephrine and
glutamate and low levels of serotonin
experiences in a social
context
- Avoidance learning is an important contributor to the
maintenance of compulsive symptoms in order to fend off
dreaded outcome
- OCD people show cognitive bias associated with
overestimating threats which makes them see the outcome
as worse or more likely than it actually is
A person’s vulnerability is influenced by cultural
background, genetic predisposition and previous traumatic
events and conditions
- Learned helplessness - Low socioeconomic
- Focus on thoughts and status
beliefs that contribute to
and prolong sense of - Women are more likely
helplessness to be diagnosed with
- Influenced by how depression
people think through
ruminating negativity
- Pessimistic attributional
style by blaming oneself
for negative events and
expecting them to recur
- Childhood experiences
with physical, sexual,
and verbal abuse are
associated with earlier
onset of bipolarity

characterized by extreme
Dissociative memory loss that is caused
Amnesia by extensive psychological
stress
Dissociative Disorder
the individual has two or
more distinct personalities
Dissociative or selves, each with its
Identity own memories, behaviors,
Disorder and relationships; formerly
called multiple personality
disorder.
Severe psychological
disorder characterized
by highly disordered
thought processes;
individuals suffering
from schizophrenia may
be referred to as
psychotic because they
Schizophrenia are so far removed
Schizophrenia* from reality.
Spectrum
Personality Disorder Antisocial characterized by
- lower volume in the hippocampus and
amygdala
- rooted in extremely
traumatic life events
- The hippocampus is especially involved
in consolidating memory and organizing
life experience into a coherent whole
- The vast majority of
individuals with DID is
- high rate of
women.
- lower volume in the hippocampus and extraordinarily severe
amygdala sexual or physical abuse
during early childhood is - dissociative identity
related to the condition disorder is a social
- The hippocampus is especially involved
construction—that it
in consolidating memory and organizing
represents a category
life experience into a coherent whole
some people adopt to
make sense out of their
experiences
- partially explained by genetic factors - childhood experiences affect the course of the
with unresponsive disorder, or how it
parents. progresses
- structural brain abnormalities
specifically enlarged ventricles
- stress may contribute in developing nations,
- smaller prefrontal cortex and lower (vulnerability-stress family and friends are
activity in this area of the brain hypothesis) more accepting and
supportive of
individuals with
- Problems in prenatal development may
predispose a brain to developing schizophrenia.
schizophrenic symptoms
- Problems regulating dopamine
- Problems in glutamate receptors
- low levels of activation in the prefrontal - brain differences lead to engage in violence to get
 poor decision making and
problems in learning
guiltlessness, law- cortex
breaking, exploitation - less stressed than others
Personality of others, by aversive what they want
irresponsibility, and - lower levels of autonomic nervous circumstances, including
Disorder
deceit. system arousal punishment
(ASPD)

- psychopaths show deficits

in theory of mind

Characterized by a - BPD is more common in women than men

pervasive pattern of - experiences of
instability in interpersonal childhood sexual - display hypervigilance: the tendency to be constantly on the
Borderline relationships, self-image, abuse, physical abuse, alert, looking for threatening information in the environment
Personality and emotions and by Gene factors and neglect
Disorder (BPD) marked impulsivity
beginning by early
adulthood and present in a
variety of contexts.

*OCD related disorders

Compulsive collecting, poor organization skills, difficulty
discarding, cognitive deficits in information processing
Hoarding Disorder
speed, decision making, and procrastination

Particular compulsion, picking at one’s skin sometimes to

Excoriation Disorder the point of injury.
(Skin picking) Skin picking is more common among women than men.

Person compulsively pulls his or her hair from the scalp,

Trichotillomania
eyebrows, or other body areas
(Hair pulling)
Body Dysmorphic Disorder Distressing preoccupation with imagined or slight flaws in
one’s physical appearance.
 Occurs about equally in men and women

*PTSD symptoms:

- Flashbacks: can make the person lose touch with reality and reenact the event for seconds, hours, or days
- Avoidance of emotional experiences and talking about emotions
- Feelings of anxiety, nervousness, excessive arousal, and inability to sleep
- Difficulties with memory and concentration
- Impulsive behavior

*Schizophrenia symptoms:

Positive Symptoms Negative Symptoms Cognitive Symptoms

- Hallucinations are sensory experiences that occur in - social withdrawal - deficits in executive
the absence of real stimuli. They can be visual or functioning
auditory - behavioral deficits
- Delusions are false, unusual, and sometimes magical
- difficulty sustaining
beliefs that are not part of an individual’s culture. - loss or decrease of normal functions
- Thought disorder refers to the unusual, sometimes attention
bizarre thought processes that are characteristic
positive symptoms of schizophrenia. The thoughts of - Flat affect which means the display of - problems holding
individuals with schizophrenia can be disorganized little or no emotion
information in memory
and confused.
- Referential thinking, which means ascribing - lacking in the ability to read the emotions
of others - inability to interpret
personal meaning to completely random events.
- Movement disorders are a final positive symptom of information and make
schizophrenia, involving unusual mannerisms, body - deficient ability to plan, initiate, and decisions
movements, and facial expressions leading sometimes engage in goal-directed behavior.
to catatonia, a state of immobility and
unresponsiveness that lasts for long periods of time.
 SUICIDE

Biological Factors Psychological Factors Sociocultural Factors

- Genetic factors appear to play a role in suicide
- low levels of serotonin and serotonin-linked genes
- Poor physical health, especially when it is chronic,
is another risk factor for suicide
psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety
and traumatic experiences
immediate and highly stressful circumstance
interpersonal theory of suicide states that suicide
involves two factors:
desire to die when a person’s social needs are not
-
met
- acquired capability for suicide
- lowest rates occur in countries with cultural and
religious norms against ending one’s own life.
- linked to the culture of honor, in which individuals
are more likely to interpret insults as fighting
words and defend their personal honor with
aggression.
- Men are four times more likely to complete
suicide than women