131 What are Psychological Disorders?
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Understand the problems inherent in defining the concept of psychological disorder
- Describe what is meant by harmful dysfunction
- Identify the formal criteria that thoughts, feelings, and behaviours must meet to be considered abnormal and, thus, symptomatic of a psychological disorder
A psychological disorder is a condition characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Psychopathology is the study of psychological disorders, including their symptoms, etiology (i.e., their causes), and treatment. The term psychopathology can also refer to the manifestation of a psychological disorder. Although consensus can be difficult, it is extremely important for mental health professionals to agree on what kinds of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are truly abnormal in the sense that they genuinely indicate the presence of psychopathology. Certain patterns of behaviour and inner experience can easily be labeled as abnormal and clearly signify some kind of psychological disturbance. The person who washes their hands 40 times per day and the person who claims to hear the voices of demons exhibit behaviours and inner experiences that most would regard as abnormal: beliefs and behaviours that suggest the existence of a psychological disorder. But, consider the nervousness a young man feels when talking to an attractive person or the loneliness and longing for home a first-year student experiences during her first semester of college—these feelings may not be regularly present, but they fall in the range of normal. So, what kinds of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours represent a true psychological disorder? Psychologists work to distinguish psychological disorders from inner experiences and behaviours that are merely situational, idiosyncratic, or unconventional.
Definition of a Psychological Disorder
Perhaps the simplest approach to conceptualizing psychological disorders is to label behaviours, thoughts, and inner experiences that are atypical, distressful, dysfunctional, and sometimes even dangerous, as signs of a disorder. For example, if you ask a classmate for a date and you are rejected, you probably would feel a little dejected. Such feelings would be normal. If you felt extremely depressed—so much so that you lost interest in activities, had difficulty eating or sleeping, felt utterly worthless, and contemplated suicide—your feelings would be atypical, would deviate from the norm, and could signify the presence of a psychological disorder. Just because something is atypical, however, does not necessarily mean it is disordered.
For example, only about 2-6% of people in Canada have red hair, so red hair is considered an atypical characteristic (Figure PY.2), but it is not considered disordered, it’s just unusual. And it is less unusual in Scotland, where approximately 13% of the population has red hair (“DNA Project Aims,” 2012).