Lecture Outline

• Psychological Disorders
– Anxiety disorders
– Mood disorders
– Schizophrenia

Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety is considered pathalogical when it interferes with daily
functioning.
• Anxiety disorders include:
– Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
• Constant and exaggerated worry.
– Panic Disorder:
• Intense attachk of anxiety that are not justified by the situation.
– Phobia:
• An irrationally excessive fear of an object or situation.
– Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:
• Excessively repetitive thoughts and behaviors.

Phobias
• Common phobias include.
– Examples include:
• Heights, snakes, spiders, being in open or public places (agoraphobia), being with
strangers (social phobia), being alone.
• Hypotheses about the origins and objects of phobias:
– Specific experiences (classical conditioning).
– Observational learning.
– Danger in evolutionary history.
– Absence of safe experiences.
– Lack of predictability or controllability.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• An obsession is a persistent thought that cannot be controlled.
– “Did I lock the door?”
• A compulsion is an intentional behavior (ritual) that occurs in response to
a thought.
– Check the door (22 times).
• Obsessive-Compulsive persons experience anxiety if they are unable to
complete their ritual.
 Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
• Behavioral techniques:
– Systematic desensitization.
– Exposure
• In the treatment of compulsive behavior, it is important to prevent the
compulsive avoidance response.

Substance Abuse
• Read Module 16.2 about Substance Abuse in the textbook.
– There may be one or more questions from this module on the final exam.

Mood Disorders
• Mood disorders are characterized by disturbance of emotion and mood
state.
• Major Depressive Disorder:
– Long-term (at least 2 weeks).
– Intense sadness, loss of appetite, and difficulty sleeping.
– Seasonal Affective Disorder.
– Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar Disorder
• Alternating episodes of manic periods and depression.
– A manic episode is characterized by a week or more of:
• Excessive happiness.
• High energy, little sleep, and racing thoughts.
• Unrealistically inflated sense of self.

Explanations of Mood Disorders

• Genetics:
– Heritability studies show that probability of depression is higher when there are
close biological relatives with depression.
– What is inherited may be a vulnerability to respond to frequent stress with
depression.
• Environmental factors:
– The probability of depression is also somewhat higher when there are adoptive
relatives with depression.
– Accumulated stressful events.
 Explanations of Mood Disorders (Continued)
• Cognitive factors.
– Pessimistic explanatory (attributional) style.
• Internal, stable, global expectancies for negative events.
• External, temporary, specific expectancies for positive events.
• Rumination
– Dwelling on the stressful event and the negative feelings, as opposed to thinking
objectively about solving the problem or distracting oneself.

Treatment for Mood Disorders

• Medication.
– For depression: Tricyclics, MAO Inhibitors, atypical antidepressants.
– For bipolar disorder: Lithium, anticonvulsants, fish oils.
• Psychotherapy.
– Studies suggest that cognitive therapy is most effective.
• Stress reduction methods (exercise, meditation, etc.)
• Bright light therapy.
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
– Used in cases resistant to medications and psychotherapy.

Schizophrenia
• Disturbances include:
Thought Unfounded beliefs and illogical patterns of thought (delusions).
Perception Presence of hallucinations.
Language Disorganized speech.
Emotion Flat or absent affect.
Action Difficulty initiating or persisting in goal-directed behavior.

Prevalence and Onset

• About 1 in 100 Americans is afflicted with schizophrenia at some point in
his/her life.
• Schizophrenia is most frequently diagnosed in young adults.
 Biological Basis of Schizophrenia
• The heritability of schizophrenia.
– Risk of schizophrenia is 48% in monozygotic twins, 17% in dizygotic twins, and
9% in siblings.
• Brain abnormalities.
– The fluid-filled ventricles enlarge to take up the volume resulting from thinning of
the cortex.
– Smaller neurons, fewer synapses, less myelin.
• Seen consistently in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
• Problems in prenatal development are associated with schizophrenia.
– Poor prenatal care, difficult pregnancy and labor, and/or mother’s infection and
fever.
• The dopamine hypothesis.
– Schizophrenia reflects elevated activity of dopamine synapses in the frontal cortex.
– Stress: Cortisol increases the level of dopamine in the brain.
• Patients who receive frequent criticism are more likely to have relapses

Treatment of Schizophrenia
• Antipsychotic drugs:
– Relieve the symptoms of schizophrenia.
– Block the production of dopamine at synapses.
– Can lead to unpleasant side effects such as tremors and involuntary movements
after prolonged use.
• Atypical antipsychotic drugs:
– Relieve symptoms without producing tremors but can suppress the immune system.
• Psychotherapy:
– Can reduce the amount of stress in the patient’s life and promote better compliance
with medications schedules.