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Chapter in Review
1. Psychologists have yet to agree on what does and does not constitute a psychological
disorder. Most psychologists use the DSM for diagnosis, but they do not necessarily
agree with the diagnostic categories and criteria in the DSM. There are three principle
ideas about what constitutes psychological disorder: the DSM view, the myth of
mental illness view, and harmful dysfunction view.
2. The number of people with psychological disorder is not known with certainty,
because there are numerous problems with trying to answer this question using survey
research methods. Surveys may identify people as “disordered” who are merely
responding in a normal way to adverse events (false positives); or they may fail to
identify people who are actually disordered for various reasons (false negatives). The
term insanity is a legal term, not a medical or psychological term.
3. The DSM-5 categorizes each psychological disorder according to its quality,
symptoms, course, and other phenomena. The two DSM categories of greatest interest
to most counseling and clinical psychologists are the major mental disorders and
personality disorders. Co-morbidity refers to a situation where a person has more than
one diagnosis of psychological disorder at a time or over the lifetime.
4. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) defines the basic experience of anxiety, a feeling
of tension, physiological arousal (e.g., increased heart rate), and apprehension or
worry about events that have not yet occurred (as opposed to fear, which is
experienced during a threat).
5. Phobias are powerful, disruptive, irrational fears. Specific phobias are phobias that
refer to a specific thing (e.g., heights, airplanes, blood, small animals). Specific
phobias are the most common anxiety disorder, but are the least disabling. Social
phobia is a controversial diagnosis where ordinary shyness is taken to a dysfunctional
extreme.
6. Panic disorder consists of powerful anxiety over the possibility of experiencing a
panic attack.
7. Anxiety disorders result from combinations of causes. The triple vulnerability theory
of David Barlow proposes that anxiety disorders result from the interaction of
generalized biological vulnerability (genetic inheritance), generalized psychological
vulnerability (beliefs that make the person vulnerable to anxiety in general), and
specific psychological vulnerability (specific beliefs that make the person vulnerable
to a particular anxiety disorder).
8. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is the most severe anxiety disorder, consisting of
persistent, intrusive, anxiety-provoking thoughts (obsessions), often combined with a
strong urge (compulsion) to perform repetitive, ritualistic behaviors or mental acts
designed to relieve the anxiety provoked by the obsessive thoughts.
9. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a rare response to trauma. PTSD may consist
of experiences of “reliving” the traumatic event, negative changes in mood and
cognition, and changes in physiological arousal levels and reactivity.
10. Depressive disorders are characterized by sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, grief,
guilt, and low feelings of self-worth. Bipolar disorders are characterized by ceaseless
energy, elation, unrealistically high self-esteem, and racing thoughts, and/or anger,
anxiety, or extreme irritability.
