As a group, consider the four following behaviors, and then decide whether you think they are evidence of a psychological disorder. How did you come to your conclusion?

Diagnosing Psychological Disorders Activity

A man walks up to a window carrying a chair. He puts down the chair,

opens the window, takes off his clothes, and seats himself on

the chair. Why? He says he feels the need for an

“air bath.”

Psychological Disorder?Scenario 1

Every morning, a woman who lives in a Boston suburb

asks her husband to bring in the morning newspaper,

which the carrier throws just inside their fence. She does this because she is terribly

afraid of encountering a poisonous snake. Her

husband, concerned about her behavior, repeatedly tells her that there are no poisonous snakes living in their town. Nevertheless, she is afraid to leave the

house.

Psychological Disorder?Scenario 2

A teenaged boy packs a blanket and a bottle of water.

Ignoring near-freezing temperatures, he climbs a nearby mountain, spreads the blanket on the ground,

sits cross-legged on it, closes his eyes, and remains there throughout the night. In the morning, he runs home and tells his father he has seen a

vision.

Psychological Disorder?Scenario 3

A teenaged girl misses school for three days.

She periodically breaks into tears. She finds it nearly impossible to get out of bed in the morning, though she cannot sleep for more than an hour or two at

a time. She has no appetite and becomes nauseated if her family

urges her to eat.

Psychological Disorder?Scenario 4

Introduction to Psychological

Disorders

Module 27

Defining Disorder

What criteria do psychologists use to diagnose

psychological disorders?

Psychological disorder – a “harmful dysfunction” in which behaviors are judged maladaptive, unjustifiable, disturbing, and atypical.

4 attributes of a psych disorder:◦Maladaptive◦Unjustifiable◦Disturbing◦Atypical

Psych Disorders & MUDA

destructive to oneself or others

exaggeration of normal, acceptable behaviors

Maladaptive

does not have a rational basis

scenarios that meet this criteria:◦woman with fear of snakes

Unjustifiable

troublesome to other people

Mass-murderersAurora CoSandy HookDahmer

Disturbing

so different from other people’s behavior that it violates a norm (accepted behavior)

norms vary from culture to culture

Atypical

Classifying Disorders

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition

published by the American Psychiatric Association

lists and describes all the currently accepted categories of mental disorders

DSM-IV-TR

divides mental disorders into 17 major categories

includes the symptoms but not the causes of each disease

Neurosis – disorder that is distressing but allows one to think rationally and function socially

Psychosis – disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas an distorted perceptions

DSM-IV-TR

Read pages 525 – 528

Make a 2-column list of the drawbacks and advantages of labeling psychological disorders

Keep this information in mind as you are completing your project essay: Evaluate the perception the media and our U.S. culture poses regarding mental health and what you discover about mental disorders.

Labeling Disorders

1. Create a poster - list and describe each of the four criteria used to diagnose psychological disorders (MUDA). Draw a picture to represent each of the four elements.

On the back of your poster:2. For each of the four scenarios we read about

earlier, list the criteria each WOULD meet.

3. Based on the scenarios, which people WOULD be diagnosed with a psychological disorder?

Read page 519 – 520 and complete the following tasks: