Chapter – 4

Psychological Disorders

In this post we have given the detailed notes of class 12 Psychology Chapter 4 (Psychological Disorders) in English. These notes are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

Chapter 4: Psychological Disorders

Introduction

• Abnormal Psychology: This is the study of maladaptive Behaviour, including its causes, consequences, and treatment.  
• Maladaptive Behaviour: This refers to Behaviour that cannot be modified according to the needs of the situation, leading to failures in adaptation to life challenges.  

Concepts of Abnormality and Psychological Disorders

• The ‘Four Ds’ of psychological disorders:
  • Deviance: Different, extreme, unusual, or bizarre Behaviour.  
  • Distress: Unpleasant and upsetting to the person and others.  
  • Dysfunction: Interfering with the person’s ability to carry out daily activities.  
  • Danger: Posing a risk to the person or others.  
• Two views of abnormal Behaviour:
  • Deviation from social norms: Behaviour that differs markedly from society’s ideas of proper functioning.  
  • Maladaptive Behaviour: Behaviour that interferes with optimal functioning and growth, regardless of societal acceptance.  

Historical Background

• Supernatural and magical forces: Ancient theory that attributes abnormal Behaviour to evil spirits or the devil.  
• Biological/organic approach: Belief that abnormal Behaviour stems from problems in the body or brain.  
• Psychological approach: View that psychological problems arise from how an individual thinks, feels, or perceives the world.  

Classification of Psychological Disorders

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5): Official manual published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for describing and classifying psychological disorders.  
• International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10): Classification scheme used in India and elsewhere, prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO).  

Factors Underlying Abnormal Behaviour

• Biological factors: Faulty genes, endocrine imbalances, malnutrition, injuries, etc., that can interfere with normal development and functioning.  
• Psychological factors: Maternal deprivation, faulty parent-child relationships, maladaptive family structures, severe stress, etc.  
• Psychological models:
  • Psychodynamic model: Focuses on unconscious mental conflicts.  
  • Behavioural model: Emphasizes learning maladaptive ways of behaving.  
  • Cognitive model: Attributes abnormal functioning to cognitive problems like irrational or inaccurate assumptions.  
  • Humanistic-existential model: Focuses on broader aspects of human existence, such as self-actualization and responsibility for giving meaning to life.  
• Socio-cultural factors: War, violence, prejudice, discrimination, economic problems, rapid social change, etc.  
• Diathesis-stress model: Explains psychological disorders as the result of a biological predisposition (diathesis) triggered by a stressful situation.  

Major Psychological Disorders

• Anxiety disorders:

  Characterized by high levels of anxiety that are distressing and interfere with effective functioning.
  • Generalized anxiety disorder: Prolonged, vague, unexplained, and intense fears not attached to any particular object.  
  • Panic disorder: Recurrent anxiety attacks with intense terror.  
  • Phobias: Irrational fears related to specific objects, people, or situations.  
  • Separation anxiety disorder (SAD): Fearful and anxious about separation from attachment figures.  

• Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders:

  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): Inability to control preoccupation with specific ideas or prevent repeatedly carrying out a particular act or series of acts.  

• Trauma- and stressor-related disorders:

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Experienced after a traumatic event, with symptoms like recurrent dreams, flashbacks, impaired concentration, and emotional numbing.  

• Somatic symptom and related disorders:

  Physical symptoms in the absence of a physical disease.
  • Somatic symptom disorder: Persistent body-related symptoms, with excessive preoccupation and worry about health.  
  • Illness anxiety disorder: Persistent preoccupation with developing a serious illness.  
  • Conversion disorder: Reported loss of part or all of some basic body functions, often after a stressful experience.  

• Dissociative disorders:

  • Dissociative amnesia: Extensive but selective memory loss with no known organic cause.  
  • Dissociative identity disorder: The person assumes alternate personalities that may or may not be aware of each other.  
  • Depersonalization/derealization disorder: Dreamlike state with a sense of being separated from self and reality.  

• Depressive disorders:

  • Major depressive disorder: Period of depressed mood and/or loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, along with other symptoms like changes in body weight, sleep problems, tiredness, etc.  

• Bipolar and related disorders:

  • Bipolar I disorder: Alternating periods of mania and depression, sometimes interrupted by periods of normal mood.  

• Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders:

  • Schizophrenia: A group of psychotic disorders with disturbed thought processes, strange perceptions, unusual emotional states, and motor abnormalities.  
  • Symptoms of schizophrenia:
    • Positive symptoms: Delusions, disorganized thinking and speech, hallucinations, inappropriate affect.  
    • Negative symptoms: Poverty of speech, blunted/flat affect, loss of volition, social withdrawal.  
    • Psychomotor symptoms: Odd grimaces, gestures, catatonia.  

• Neurodevelopmental disorders:

  Manifest in the early stage of development and hamper functioning.
  • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity.  
  • Autism spectrum disorder: Impairments in social interaction and communication, stereotyped patterns of Behaviours, interests, and activities.  
  • Intellectual disability: Below average intellectual functioning and deficits in adaptive Behaviour.  
  • Specific learning disorder: Difficulty in perceiving or processing information, leading to problems in basic skills like reading, writing, or mathematics.  

• Disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders:

  • Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD): Age-inappropriate stubbornness, irritability, defiance, disobedience, and hostile Behaviour.  
  • Conduct disorder: Age-inappropriate actions and attitudes that violate family expectations, societal norms, and personal or property rights of others.  

• Feeding and eating disorders:

  • Anorexia nervosa: Distorted body image leading to self-starvation.  
  • Bulimia nervosa: Binge eating followed by purging.  
  • Binge eating: Frequent episodes of out-of-control eating.  

• Substance-related and addictive disorders:

  • Alcohol abuse: Regular and excessive alcohol intake, leading to dependence and various physical and psychological problems.  
  • Heroin abuse: Significant interference with social and occupational functioning, leading to dependence and risk of overdose.  
  • Cocaine abuse: Regular use leading to intoxication, dependence, and various physical and psychological problems.

Key Terms

• Abnormal psychology: The study of abnormal Behaviour and psychological disorders.  
• Antisocial Behaviour: Behaviour that violates social norms and the rights of others.  
• Anxiety: A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease.  
• Autism spectrum disorder: A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction, communication, and repetitive Behaviours.  
• Bipolar and related disorders: Mood disorders characterized by alternating periods of mania and depression.  
• Deinstitutionalization: The process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services.  
• Delusions: False beliefs that are firmly held despite evidence to the contrary.  
• Depressive disorders: Mood disorders characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest.  
• Diathesis-stress model: A model that explains psychological disorders as the result of a biological predisposition (diathesis) triggered by stress.  
• Feeding and eating disorders: Disorders characterized by abnormal eating patterns and concerns about body weight or shape.  
• Genetics: The study of genes and heredity.  
• Hallucinations: Sensory experiences that occur in the absence of external stimuli.  
• Hyperactivity: A state of excessive restlessness and activity.  
• Intellectual disability: A disability characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive Behaviour.  
• Neurodevelopmental disorders: Disorders that affect the development of the nervous system.  
• Neurotransmitters: Chemical messengers that transmit signals between neurons.  
• Norms: Social expectations or rules of Behaviour.  
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders: Disorders characterized by obsessions (recurrent, unwanted thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive Behaviours).  
• Phobias: Intense, irrational fears of specific objects or situations.  
• Schizophrenia: A chronic mental disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel, and behave clearly.  
• Somatic symptom and related disorders: Disorders characterized by physical symptoms that cannot be fully explained by a medical condition.  
• Substance-related and addictive disorders: Disorders involving the use of substances that affect mental and physical functioning.  

Summary

• Abnormal Behaviour is deviant, distressing, dysfunctional, and dangerous.  
• The three perspectives on abnormal Behaviour are the supernatural, the biological/organic, and the psychological.  
• The bio-psycho-social approach considers biological, psychological, and social factors in psychological disorders.  
• The WHO (ICD-10) and the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5) have classified psychological disorders.  
• Various models explain abnormal Behaviour, including the biological, psychodynamic, Behavioural, cognitive, humanistic-existential, diathesis-stress, and socio-cultural approaches.  
• Major psychological disorders include anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and related, trauma-and stressor-related, somatic symptom and related, dissociative, depressive, bipolar and related, schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic, neurodevelopmental, disruptive, impulse-control and conduct, feeding and eating, and substance-related and addictive disorders.

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