Because of the difficulty in distinguishing normal from abnormal behaviour, psychologists have struggled to devise a precise, scientific definition of “abnormal behaviour.
Abnormality as deviation from the average. According to this definition, behaviours that are rare or unusual in a society or culture are considered abnormal.
Abnormality as deviation from the ideal. An alternative definition of abnormality considers behaviour in relation to some kind of ideal or morally appropriate standard toward which most people are striving.
Abnormality as a sense of personal discomfort. A more useful definition concentrates on the psychological consequences of the behaviour for the individual.
Abnormality as the inability to function effectively. Most people are able to feed themselves, hold a job, get along with others, and in general live as productive members of society.
Abnormality as a legal concept. According to the jury that first heard her case, Andrea Yates, a woman who drowned her five children in a bathtub, was sane.
MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE
When people display the symptoms of tuberculosis, medical professionals can generally find tubercular bacteria in their body tissue.
Similarly, the medical perspective suggests that when an individual displays symptoms of abnormal behavior, the fundamental cause will be found through a physical examination of the individual, which may reveal a hormonal imbalance, a chemical deficiency, or a brain injury.
PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE
the psychoanalytic perspective holds that abnormal behavior stems from childhood conflicts over opposing wishes regarding sex and aggression.
According to Freud, children pass through a series of stages in which sexual and aggressive impulses take different forms and produce conflicts that require resolution.
If these childhood conflicts are not dealt with successfully, they remain unresolved in the unconscious and eventually bring about abnormal behavior during adulthood.
To uncover the roots of people’s disordered behavior, the psychoanalytic perspective scrutinizes their early life history.
BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE
the behavioural perspective looks at the rewards and punishments in the environment that determine abnormal behaviour.
It views the disordered behaviour itself as the problem.
Using the basic principles of learning, behavioural theorists see both normal and abnormal behaviours as responses to various stimuli responses that have been learned through past experience and are guided in the present by stimuli in the individual’s environment.
This perspective provides the most precise and objective approach for examining behavioural symptoms of specific disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which we discuss in a later module.
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
The medical, psychoanalytic, and behavioral perspectives view people’s behavior as the result of factors largely beyond their control.
To many critics of these views, however, people’s thoughts cannot be ignored.
the cognitive approach assumes that cognitions (people’s thoughts and beliefs) are central to a person’s abnormal behavior.
A primary goal of treatment using the cognitive perspective is to explicitly teach new, more adaptive ways of thinking.
For instance, suppose that you develop the erroneous belief that “doing well on this exam is crucial to my entire future” whenever you take an exam.
Through therapy, you might learn to hold the more realistic and less anxiety-producing thought, “my entire future is not dependent on this one exam.
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
Psychologists who subscribe to the humanistic perspective emphasize the responsibility people have for their own behaviour even when their behaviour is considered abnormal.
Humanistic approaches focus on the relationship of the individual to society; it considers the ways in which people view themselves in relation to others and see their place in the world.
The humanistic perspective views people as having an awareness of life and of themselves that leads them to search for meaning and self-worth.
Rather than assuming that individuals require a “cure,” the humanistic perspective suggests that they can, by and large, set their own limits of what is acceptable behaviour.
As long as they are not hurting others and do not feel personal distress, people should be free to choose the behaviours in which they engage.
SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
The sociocultural perspective assumes that people’s behaviour, both normal and abnormal, is shaped by the society and culture in which they live.
According to this view, societal and cultural factors such as poverty and prejudice may be at the root of abnormal behaviour.
Specifically, the kinds of stresses and conflicts people experience in their daily lives can promote and maintain abnormal behaviour.
Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
Perspective
Description
Possible Application of Perspective to Chris’ Case
Medical
Assumes that physiological causes are at the root of psychological disorders
Examine Chris for medical problems, such as brain tumour, chemical imbalance in the brain, or disease
Psychoanalytic
Argues that psychological disorders stem from childhood conflicts
Seek out information about Chris’ past, considering possible childhood conflicts
Behavioural
Assumes that abnormal behaviours are learned responses
Concentrate on rewards and punishments for Chris’ behaviour, and identify environmental stimuli that reinforce his behaviour
Cognitive
Assumes that cognitions (people’s thoughts and beliefs) are central to psychological disorders
Focus on Chris’ perceptions of self and his environment
Humanistic
Emphasizes people’s responsibility for their own behaviour and the need to self-actualize
Consider Chris’ behaviour in terms of his choices and efforts to reach his potential
Sociocultural
Assumes that behaviour is shaped by family, society, and culture
Focus on how societal demands contributed to Chris’ disorder
THE PROBLEM OF CLASSIFICATION
Crazy. Whacked. Mental. Loony. Insane. Neurotic. Psycho. Strange. Demented. Odd. Possessed, Lunatic, mad, etc..
Society has long placed labels on people who display abnormal behaviour.
Unfortunately, most of the time these labels have reflected intolerance and have been used with little thought as to what each label signifies.
Providing appropriate and specific names and classifications for abnormal behaviour has presented a major challenge to psychologists.
It is not hard to understand why, given the difficulties discussed earlier in simply distinguishing normal from abnormal behaviour.
Yet psychologists and other care providers need to classify abnormal behaviour in order to diagnose it and ultimately treat it.
DSM-5: DETERMINING DIAGNOSTIC DISTINCTIONS
Over the years, mental health professionals have developed many classification systems that vary in terms of their utility and the degree to which they have been accepted.
However, one standard system, devised by the American Psychiatric Association, has emerged in the United States.
Most professionals today use this classification system, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), to diagnose and classify abnormal behaviour (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
The DSM-5, most recently revised in 2013, attempts to provide comprehensive and relatively precise definitions for more than 200 disorders.
By following the criteria presented in the DSM-5 classification system, diagnosticians use clients’ reported symptoms to identify the specific problem an individual is experiencing.
Among the major changes to DSM-5 are the following
A lifespan development focus. Disorders have been arranged in terms of what age they are likely to first appear. In addition, the DSM-5 is more specific about how the same disorder may change over the course of a person’s lifetime.
• Childhood and late-life conditions have been renamed. Along with removing the outdated term “mental retardation” in favour of intellectual disability, the DSM-5 renames childhood conditions as neurodevelopmental disorders, and “dementia and amnestic disorders” as neurocognitive disorders
Autism disorder has been reclassified. Different forms of autism are now grouped together and called “Autism Spectrum Disorder” (ASD), which focuses on the degree of severity of autism.
• Sexually based disorders have been reconceptualized and renamed. “Gender identity disorder” has been reclassified as gender dysphoria. This distinction makes it clear that having a gender identity that is in conflict with one’s biological sex does not imply a psychological disorder. Additionally, “paraphilia” has been renamed paraphilic disorders, emphasizing the presence of some atypical sexual interests that do not necessarily indicate a psychological disorder.
•Criteria for some disorders have been made less restrictive. In particular, the conditions that need to be met for an adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis are broader-meaning that more people are likely to be classified with adult ADHD. Additionally, bereaved clients are no longer diagnosed with depression if symptoms arose within a few months of the death of a loved one.
• The “five axes model” is eliminated. In the previous version of DSM, disorders were categorized along one of five axes (Axis I, Clinical Disorders; Axis II, Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation; Axis III, General Medical Conditions; Axis IV, Psychosocial and Environmental Problems; and Axis V, Global Assessment of Functioning). These axes have been eliminated from the new version of DSM-5.
Categories of Disorders
Anxiety (problems in which anxiety impedes daily functioning)
Examples: Generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobic disorder
Somatic symptom and related disorders (psychological difficulties displayed through physical problems)
Examples: Illness anxiety disorder, conversion disorder
Dissociative (the splitting apart of crucial parts of personality that are usually integrated)
Examples: Dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality), dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue
Mood (emotions of depression or euphoria that are so strong they intrude on everyday living)
Examples: Major depressive disorders, bipolar disorder
Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders (declines in functioning, thought and language disturbances, perception disorders, emotional disturbances, and withdrawal from others)
Examples: Delusional disorder
Personality (problems that create little personal distress but that lead to an inability to function as a normal member of society)
Examples: Antisocial (sociopathic) personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder
Sexual (problems related to sexual arousal from unusual objects or problems related to functioning)
Examples: Paraphilic disorders, sexual dysfunction
Substance-related (problems related to drug dependence and abuse)
Examples: Alcohol, cocaine, hallucinogens, marijuana
Neurocognitive disorders
Examples: Alzheimer’s
ANXIETY DISORDERS
All of us at one time or another experience anxiety, a feeling of apprehension or tension, in reaction to stressful situations.
There is nothing “wrong” with such anxiety. It is a normal reaction to stress that often helps rather than hinders our daily functioning.
Anxiety disorders occur when anxiety arises without external justification and begins to affect people’s daily functioning.
Let us discuss three major types of anxiety disorders: phobic disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.
PHOBIC DISORDER
a specific phobia, an intense, irrational fear of a specific object or situation.
For example,
claustrophobia is a fear of enclosed places,
acrophobia is a fear of high places,
xenophobia is a fear of strangers,
social phobia is the fear of being judged or embarrassed by others, and,
electrophobia is a fear of electricity.
The objective danger posed by an anxiety-producing stimulus (which can be just about anything) is typically small or non-existent.
However, to someone suffering from the phobia, the danger is great, and a full-blown panic attack may follow exposure to the stimulus.
Phobic disorders differ from generalized anxiety disorders and panic disorders in that there is a specific, identifiable stimulus that sets off the anxiety reaction.
PANIC DISORDER
In another type of anxiety disorder, panic disorder, panic attacks occur that last from a few seconds to several hours.
Panic disorders do not have any identifiable triggers (unlike phobias, which are triggered by specific objects or situations).
Instead, during an attack anxiety suddenly-and often without warning-rises to a peak, and an individual feels a sense of impending, unavoidable doom.
Although the physical symptoms differ from person to person, they may include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, unusual amounts of sweating, faintness and dizziness, gastric sensations, and sometimes a sense of imminent death.
After such an attack, it is no wonder that people tend to feel exhausted
GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER
People with generalized anxiety disorder experience long-term, persistent anxiety and uncontrollable worry.
Sometimes their concerns are about identifiable issues involving family, money, work, or health.
In other cases, though, people with the disorder feel that something dreadful is about to happen but can’t identify the reason and thus experience “free-floating’ anxiety.
Because of persistent anxiety, people with generalized anxiety disorder cannot concentrate or set their worry and fears aside; their lives become centred on their worry.
Furthermore, their anxiety is often accompanied by physiological symptoms, such as muscle tension, headaches, dizziness, heart palpitations, or insomnia
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition in which a person who has experienced a traumatic event feels severe and long-lasting aftereffects.
This disorder is common among veterans of military combat and survivors of acts of terrorism, natural disasters such as floods or tornadoes, other catastrophes such as plane crashes, and human aggression such as rape and assault.
The event that triggers the disorder overwhelms a person’s sense of reality and ability to cope.
The disorder may begin immediately after the occurrence of the traumatic event or it may develop later.
Typical symptoms include involuntary flashbacks or recurring nightmares during which the victim reexperiences the ordeal, often followed by insomnia and feelings of guilt.
Post-traumatic stress disorder can be extremely long-lasting.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), people are plagued by unwanted thoughts, called obsessions, or feel that they must carry out behaviours, termed compulsions, which they feel driven to perform.
An obsession is a persistent, unwanted thought or idea that keeps recurring. For example, a student may be unable to stop thinking that she has neglected to put her name on a test and may think about it constantly for the 2 weeks it takes to get the paper back. A man may go on vacation and wonder the whole time whether he locked his house.
As part of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, people may also experience compulsions, irresistible urges to repeatedly carry out some act that seems strange and unreasonable even to them.
Whatever the compulsive behaviour is, people experience extreme anxiety if they cannot carry it out even if it is something they want to stop.
The acts may be relatively trivial, such as repeatedly checking the stove to make sure all the burners are turned off, or more unusual, such as washing one’s hands so much that they bleed
SOMATIC SYMPTOM DISORDERS
Somatic symptom disorders are psychological difficulties that take on a physical (somatic) form but for which there is no medical cause.
Even though an individual with a somatic symptom disorder reports physical symptoms, no biological cause exists, or if there is a medical problem, the person’s reaction is greatly exaggerated.
One type of somatic symptom disorder is illness anxiety disorder in which people have a constant fear of illness and a preoccupation with their health.
These individuals believe that everyday aches and pains are symptoms of a dread disease.
Another somatic symptom disorder is conversion disorder. Unlike illness anxiety disorder, in which there is no physical problem, conversion disorders involve an actual physical disturbance, such as the inability to see or hear or to move an arm or leg.
The cause of such a physical disturbance is purely psychological; there is no biological reason for the problem.
DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
Dissociative disorders are characterized by the separation (or dissociation) of different facets of a person’s personality that are normally integrated and work together.
By dissociating key parts of who they are, people are able to keep disturbing memories or perceptions from reaching conscious awareness and thereby reduce their anxiety
Several dissociative disorders exist, although all of them are rare.
A person with a dissociative identity disorder (DID) (once called multiple personality disorder) displays characteristics of two or more distinct personalities, identities, or personality fragments.
Individual personalities often have a unique set of likes and dislikes and their own reactions to situations. Some people with multiple personalities even carry several pairs of glasses because their vision changes with each personality.
Moreover, each individual personality can be well adjusted when considered on its own
Dissociative amnesia is another dissociative disorder in which a significant, selective memory loss occurs. Dissociative amnesia is unlike simple amnesia, which involves an actual loss of information from memory and typically results from a physiological cause.
In contrast, in cases of dissociative amnesia, the “forgotten” material is still present in memory it simply cannot be recalled.
The term repressed memories is sometimes used to describe the lost memories of people with dissociative amnesia.
Dissociative fugue is a form of amnesia in which a person leaves home suddenly and assumes a new identity. In this unusual and rare state, people take sudden, impulsive trips and adopt a new identity.
After a period of time: days, months, or sometimes even years they suddenly realize that they are in a strange place and completely forget the time they have spent wandering.
Their last memories are those from the time just before they entered the fugue state
Mood disorders
Mood disorders are disturbances in emotional experience that are strong enough to intrude on everyday living.
In extreme cases, a mood may become life threatening; in other cases, it may cause the person to lose touch with reality.
MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER
Major depression is one of the more common forms of mood disorders.
It is a severe form of depression that interferes with concentration, decision making, and sociability.
Women are twice as likely to experience major depression as men, with one-fourth of all females apt to encounter it at some point during their lives.
Furthermore, although no one is sure why, the rate of depression is going up throughout the world.
When psychologists speak of major depression, they do not mean the sadness that comes from experiencing one of life’s disappointments that we all have experienced.
Some depression is normal after the breakup of a long-term relationship, the death of a loved one, or the loss of a job.
It is normal even after less serious problems, such as doing badly on a test or having a romantic partner forget one’s birthday.
People who suffer from major depression experience similar feelings, but the severity tends to be considerably greater.
They may feel useless, worthless, and lonely, and they may think the future is hopeless and no one can help them.
They may lose their appetite and have no energy.
Moreover, they may experience such feelings for months or even years.
They may cry uncontrollably, have sleep disturbances, and be at risk for suicide.
The depth and duration of such behaviour are the hallmarks of major depression.
MANIA AND BIPOLAR DISORDER
While depression leads to the depths of despair, mania leads to emotional heights.
Mania is an extended state of intense, wild elation.
People experiencing mania feel intense happiness, power, invulnerability, and energy.
Believing they will succeed at anything they attempt, they may become involved in wild schemes.
Some people sequentially experience periods of mania and depression.
This alternation of mania and depression is called bipolar disorder (a condition previously known as manic-depressive disorder).
The swings between highs and lows may occur a few days apart or may alternate over a period of years.
In addition, in bipolar disorder, periods of depression are usually longer than periods of mania.
Although creativity may be generated by mania, persons who experience this disorder often show a recklessness that produces emotional and sometimes physical self-injury.
They may alienate people with their talkativeness, inflated self-esteem, and indifference to the needs of others.
DEPRESSION IN WOMEN
The various theories of depression have not provided a complete answer to an elusive question that has dogged researchers: Why does depression occur in approximately twice as many women as men-a pattern that is similar across a variety of cultures?
One explanation suggests that the stress women experience may be greater than the stress men experience at certain points in their lives-such as when a woman must simultaneously earn a living and be the primary caregiver for her children.
In addition, women have a higher risk for physical and sexual abuse, typically earn lower wages than men, report greater unhappiness with their marriages, and generally experience chronic negative circumstances.
Furthermore, women and men may respond to stress with different coping mechanisms. For instance, men may abuse drugs, while women respond with depression
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia refers to a class of disorders in which severe distortion of reality occurs.
Thinking, perception, and emotion may deteriorate; the individual may withdraw from social interaction; and the person may display bizarre behaviour.
The symptoms displayed by persons with schizophrenia may vary considerably over time Nonetheless, a number of characteristics reliably distinguish schizophrenia from other disorders.
They include the following:
Decline from a previous level of functioning. An individual can no longer carry out activities he or she was once able to do.
Disturbances of thought and speech. People with schizophrenia use logic and language in a peculiar way. Their thinking often does not make sense, and their logic is frequently faulty, which is referred to as a formal thought disorder. They also do not follow conventional linguistic rules
• Delusions. People with schizophrenia often have delusions, firmly held, unshakable beliefs with no basis in reality. Among the common delusions people with schizophrenia experience are the beliefs that they are being controlled by someone else, they are being persecuted by others, and their thoughts are being broadcast so that others know what they are thinking.
Hallucinations and perceptual disorders. People with schizophrenia do not perceive the world as most other people do. They also may have hallucinations, the experience of perceiving things that do not actually exist. Furthermore, they may see, hear, or smell things differently from others; they do not even have a sense of their bodies in the way that others do and have difficulty determining where their bodies stop and the rest of the world begins.
Inappropriate emotional displays. People with schizophrenia sometimes show a lack of emotion in which even the most dramatic events produce little or no emotional response. Alternately, they may display emotion that is inappropriate to a situation. For example, a person with schizophrenia may laugh uproariously at a funeral or react with anger when being helped by someone.
• Withdrawal. People with schizophrenia tend to have little interest in others.
They tend not to socialize or hold real conversations with others, although they may talk at another person. In the most extreme cases, they do not even acknowledge the presence of other people and appear to be in their own isolated world.
Usually, the onset of schizophrenia occurs in early adulthood, and the symptoms follow one of two primary courses:
In process schizophrenia, the symptoms develop slowly and subtly. There may be a gradual withdrawal from the world, excessive daydreaming, and a blunting of emotion until eventually the disorder reaches the point where others cannot overlook it.
In other cases, known as reactive schizophrenia, the onset of symptoms is sudden and conspicuous.
The treatment outlook for reactive schizophrenia is relatively favourable, but process schizophrenia has proved more difficult to treat.
DSM-5 classifies the symptoms of schizophrenia into two types:
Positive-symptom schizophrenia is indicated by the presence of disordered behaviour such as hallucinations, delusions, and emotional extremes.
In contrast, negative-symptom schizophrenia shows an absence or loss of normal functioning, such as social withdrawal or blunted emotions.
The distinction between positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia is important because it suggests that two different kinds of causes might trigger schizophrenia.
Furthermore, it has implications for predicting treatment outcomes.
BIOLOGICAL CAUSES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
Schizophrenia has both biological and environmental origins:
Because schizophrenia is more common in some families than in others, genetic factors seem to be involved in producing at least a susceptibility to or readiness for developing schizophrenia.
For example, the closer the genetic link between a person with schizophrenia and another individual, the greater the likelihood that the other person will experience the disorder
According to one hypothesis, the brains of people with schizophrenia may have a biochemical imbalance.
For example, the dopamine hypothesis suggests that schizophrenia occurs when there is excess activity in the areas of the brain that use dopamine as a neurotransmitter.
This hypothesis came to light after the discovery that drugs that block dopamine action in brain pathways can be highly effective in reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia.
SITUATIONAL CAUSES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
Although biological factors provide important pieces of the puzzle of schizophrenia, we still need to consider past and current experiences of people who develop the disturbance.
For instance, psychoanalytic explanations suggest that schizophrenia occurs when people experience regression to earlier experiences and stages of life.
Specifically, Freud believed that people with schizophrenia lack egos that are strong enough to cope with their unacceptable impulses.
They regress to the oral stage a time when the id and ego are not yet separated.
Therefore, individuals with schizophrenia essentially lack an ego and act out impulses without concern for reality.
Some researchers suggest that schizophrenia is related to a family interaction style known as expressed emotion.
Expressed emotion is an interaction style characterized by high levels of criticism, hostility, and emotional intrusiveness within a family.
Other researchers suggest that faulty communication patterns lie at the heart of schizophrenia
THE MULTIPLE CAUSES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
The models used today associate schizophrenia with several kinds of biological and situational factors.
It is increasingly clear, then, that no single factor but a combination of interrelated variables produces schizophrenia
Disorders That Impact Childhood
We typically view childhood as a time of innocence and relative freedom from stress.
In reality, though, almost 20% of children and 40% of adolescents experience significant emotional or behavioural disorders.
For example, although major depression is more prevalent in adults, around 2.5% of children and more than 8% of adolescents suffer from the disorder.
In fact, by the time they reach age 20, between 15% and 20% of children and adolescents will experience an episode of major depression
Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
A considerably more common childhood disorder is attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, a disorder marked by inattention, impulsiveness, a low tolerance for frustration, and generally a great deal of inappropriate activity.
Although all children show such behaviour some of the time, it is so common in children diagnosed with ADHD that it interferes with their everyday functioning.
Children diagnosed with the disorder are often exhausting to parents and teachers, and even their peers find them difficult to deal with.
CAUSES
The cause of ADHD is not known, although most experts feel that it is produced by dysfunctions in the nervous system.
For example, one theory suggests that unusually low levels of arousal in the central nervous system cause ADHD.
To compensate, children with ADHD seek out stimulation to increase arousal.
Still, such theories are speculative.
Furthermore, because many children occasionally show behaviours characteristic of ADHD, it often is misdiagnosed or in some cases overdiagnosed.
Only the frequency and persistence of the symptoms of ADHD allow for a correct diagnosis, which only a trained professional can do
AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Autism spectrum disorder, a severe developmental disability that impairs one’s ability to communicate and relate to others, is another disorder that usually appears in the first 3 years and typically continues throughout life.
Children with autism have difficulties in both verbal and nonverbal communication, and they may avoid social contact.
Personality Disorders and Drug Addiction
Personality disorders are different from the problems we have been discussing.
People with personality disorders generally do not suffer from acute anxiety nor do they behave in bizarre, incomprehensible ways.
Psychologists consider these people to have a disorder because they seem unable to establish meaningful relationships with other people, to assume social responsibilities, or to adapt to their social environment.
This diagnostic category includes a wide range of self-defeating personality patterns, from painfully shy, lonely types to vain, pushy show-offs.
Here, we focus on people with antisocial personalities, who in the past were referred to as sociopaths or psychopaths.
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Individuals with this disturbance show no regard for the moral and ethical rules of society or the rights of others.
Although they can appear quite intelligent and likable (at least at first), upon closer examination they turn out to be manipulative and deceptive.
Moreover, they lack any guilt or anxiety about their wrongdoing. When those with antisocial personality disorder behave in a way that injures someone else, they understand intellectually that they have caused harm but feel no remorse.
People with antisocial personality disorder are often impulsive and lack the ability to withstand frustration. They can be extremely manipulative.
They also may have excellent social skills; they can be charming, engaging, and highly persuasive.
Some of the best con artists have antisocial personalities.
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
People with borderline personality disorder have problems regulating emotions and thoughts, display impulsive and reckless behaviour, and have unstable relationships with others.
They also have difficulty in developing a secure sense of who they are.
As a consequence, they tend to rely on relationships with others to define their identity.
The problem with this strategy is that rejections are devastating.
Furthermore, people with this disorder distrust others and have difficulty controlling their anger.
Their emotional volatility leads to impulsive and self-destructive behaviour.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
The narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by an exaggerated sense of self-importance.
Those with the disorder expect special treatment from others while at the same time disregarding others’ feelings.
In some ways, in fact, the main attribute of the narcissistic personality is an inability to experience empathy for other people.
OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS
It’s important to keep in mind that the various forms of psychological disorders described in DSM-5 cover much more ground than we have been able to discuss in this module.
For example, there is psychoactive substance use disorder relates to problems that arise from the use and abuse of drugs.
Furthermore, alcohol use disorders are among the most serious and widespread problems.
Both psychoactive substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder co-occur with many other psychological disorders, such as mood disorders, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, and schizophrenia, which complicate treatment considerably
Internet Addiction
Internet Addiction is one of depression and anxiety, obsessive and compulsive behaviours, attention deficits, and in some cases, occasional breaks with reality.
One of the common signs of Internet addiction is a compulsion to check messages or social networks checking them first thing in the morning, while driving, at work, during social events, and even taking a device to bed.
Some people who appear to be addicted commonly spend more time online than they expect to or even realize, to the detriment of other activities and obligations.
Another widespread problem is eating disorders.
They include such disorders as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, as well as binge-eating disorder, characterized by binge eating without behaviours designed to prevent weight gain.
Finally, sexual disorders, in which one’s sexual activity is unsatisfactory, are another important class of problems.
They include sexual desire disorders, sexual arousal disorders, and paraphilic disorders, atypical sexual activities that may include nonhuman objects or nonconsenting partners.
Paraphilic disorders per DSM-5, include:
Voyeuristic disorder
Exhibitionistic disorder
Frotteuristic disorder
Sexual masochism disorder
Sexual sadism disorder
Pedophile disorder
Fetishistic disorder
Transvestic disorder
Other specified paraphiliac disorder
Unspecified paraphilic disorder
Another important class of disorders is neurocognitive disorders, some of which we touched on previously.
These are problems that have a purely biological basis, such as Alzheimer’s dis ease and some types of developmental disability.
Remember, there are other disorders that we have not mentioned at all, such as Gambling addiction, etc., and each of the classes we have discussed can be divided into several subcategories
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