Categories of mental disorders | Behavior | MCAT | Khan Academy

Summary

This video script offers an insightful overview of mental disorders, emphasizing their classification and characteristics. It distinguishes mental disorders from symptoms caused by substances or medical conditions and highlights the importance of distress or disability as a key diagnostic factor. The script outlines the DSM-5's top-level categories, including neurodevelopmental, neurocognitive, sleep-wake, and anxiety disorders, among others. It also addresses the significance of cultural context and the evolution in understanding disorders like gender dysphoria, which is now recognized as a condition only when associated with distress or disability.

Takeaways

• 🧠 There are numerous mental disorders, many with overlapping features, and they are typically not attributed to medication, substance use, or other medical conditions unless specified.
• 🌐 The mental abnormalities must cause distress or disability to be considered a mental disorder, distinguishing it from mere eccentricity or unusual behavior.
• 📚 Two primary systems categorize mental disorders: the ICD-10 by the World Health Organization and the DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association.
• 👶 Neurodevelopmental disorders affect the development of the nervous system, including intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, and ADHD.
• 👵 Neurocognitive disorders involve the loss of cognitive functions after development, such as delirium and dementia, often due to Alzheimer's or stroke.
• 😴 Sleep-wake disorders relate to sleep abnormalities, including insomnia and sleep-related breathing disorders, as well as abnormal behaviors during sleep.
• 😟 Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive worry or fear, with specific phobias and generalized anxiety disorder being common examples.
• 😞 Depressive disorders involve persistent negative mood and can include symptoms like hopelessness and loss of interest, with a high risk of suicide.
• 😈 Bipolar and related disorders feature mood swings, including manic episodes with abnormally positive mood, rapid speech, and impaired judgment.
• 🌀 Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia, involve psychosis with symptoms like delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking.
• 🔒 Personality disorders are characterized by long-term patterns of behavior and inner experience that deviate from cultural norms and cause distress or disability.

Q & A

What are the general considerations for diagnosing mental disorders?

Mental abnormalities must not be due to the use of medications, substances, or another medical condition, and they should cause distress or disability. Additionally, the features often overlap with cultural norms, so the abnormalities must be outside what is considered normal for a person's culture.

What are the two main systems used to categorize mental disorders mentioned in the script?

The two main systems used to categorize mental disorders are the ICD-10 from the World Health Organization and the DSM-5 from the American Psychiatric Association.

What is the difference between neurodevelopmental disorders and neurocognitive disorders?

Neurodevelopmental disorders involve abnormalities in the development of the nervous system that cause mental dysfunction, while neurocognitive disorders involve the loss of cognitive and other brain functions after the nervous system has developed.

What are some examples of neurodevelopmental disorders mentioned in the script?

Examples of neurodevelopmental disorders include intellectual disability (previously called mental retardation), autism spectrum disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.

What is delirium and how does it differ from major neurocognitive disorder?

Delirium is a reversible episode of cognitive and other higher brain function abnormalities, often caused by drugs, blood abnormalities, or infections. Major neurocognitive disorder, also known as dementia, involves an irreversible and often progressive loss of cognitive functions, potentially caused by Alzheimer's disease or stroke.

What are sleep-wake disorders and what are some examples?

Sleep-wake disorders involve distress or disability from abnormalities related to sleep. Examples include insomnia, breathing-related sleep disorders, and abnormal behaviors during sleep such as sleepwalking.

How are anxiety disorders defined in the script?

Anxiety disorders are defined as distress or disability from abnormal amounts of worry or fear. They can be specific to certain stimuli (phobias) or not specific to certain stimuli (generalized anxiety disorder).

What is the difference between mood and affect as described in the script?

Mood refers to a long-term emotional state that may be positive or negative, while affect describes how a person's emotional state appears to others. Mood is more persistent and may or may not be related to specific events, whereas affect is the subjective experience a person has of their emotions.

What are the characteristics of bipolar and related disorders?

Bipolar and related disorders involve distress or disability from abnormal mood, similar to depressive disorders, but with the difference being periods of abnormally positive mood called 'mania.' During mania, individuals may sleep little, talk fast, and make bad decisions due to impaired judgment.

What is the main feature of psychotic disorders as described in the script?

The main feature of psychotic disorders is psychosis, which involves delusions or hallucinations. Delusions are fixed false beliefs not explainable by a person's cultural background, and hallucinations involve sensory perceptions without real stimuli.

How does the script define personality disorders?

Personality disorders involve distress or disability related to personality features that are outside generally accepted societal norms. Personality disorders are traditionally grouped into clusters based on characteristics such as odd or eccentric behavior (Cluster A), intense emotional and relationship problems (Cluster B), and anxious, avoidant, or obsessive tendencies (Cluster C).