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Psychological Disorder: What Makes a Behavior “Abnormal”?

16 February, 2016 - 09:24

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Define “psychological disorder” and summarize the general causes of disorder.
  2. Explain why it is so difficult to define disorder, and how the Diagnostic anStatisticaManuaoMental Disorders(DSM) is used to make diagnoses.
  3. Describe the stigma of psychological disorders and their impact on those who suffer from them.

The focus of the next two chapters is to many people the heart of psychology. This emphasis on abnormal psychology—the application of psychological sciencto understanding and treating mental disorders—is appropriate, as more psychologists are involved in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorder than in any other endeavor, and these are probably the most important tasks psychologists face. About 1 in every 4 Americans (or over 78 million people) are affected by a psychological disorder during any one year (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, & Walters, 2005), 1 and at least a half billion people are affected worldwide. The impact of mental illness is particularly strong on people who are poorer, of lower socioeconomic class, and from disadvantaged ethnic groups.

People with psychological disorders are also stigmatized by the people around them, resulting in shame a nd embarrassment, as well as prejudice and discrimination against them. Thus the understanding and treatment of psychological disorder has broad implications for the everyday life of many people. Table 12.1 shows the prevalence (i.e., the frequencof occurrencof a given condition in a populationat a given time) of some of the major psychological disorders in the United States.

Table 12.1 One-Year Prevalence Rates fo r Psychological Disorders in the United States, 2001–2003

Disease

Percentageaffected

Numberaffected

Any mental disorder

26.2

81,744,000

Any anxiety disorder

18.1

56,472,000

Specific phobia

8.7

27,144,000

Social phobia

6.8

21,216,000

Agoraphobia

0.8

2,496,000

Generalized anxiety disorder

3.1

9,672,000

Panic disorder

2.7

8,424,000

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

1.0

3,120,000

Posttraumatic stress disorder

3.5

10,920,000

Any mood disorder

9.5

29,640,000

Major depressive disorder

6.7

20,904,000

Bipolar disorder

2.6

8,112,000

Schizophrenia

1.0

3,120,000

Personality disorders

   

Antisocial personality disorder

1.5

4,680,000

Borderline personality disorder

1.5

4,680,000

Anorexia nervosa

0.1

312,000

Any substance abuse disorder

3.8

11,856,000

Alcohol use disorder

4.4

13,728,000

Drug use disorder

1.8

5,616,000

All cancers*

5.4

16,848,000

Diabetes*

10.7

33,348,000

* Thesnonpsychologicaconditions areincluded focomparison.

 

In this chapter our focus is on the disorders themselves. We will review the major psychological disorders and consider their causes and their impact on the people who suffer from them. Then in Treating Psychological Disorders , we will turn to consider the treatment of these disorders through psychotherapy and drug therapy.