Psychological Disorders from A – Z

Practicing psychologists are required to know a multitude of psychological disorders in order to effectively
diagnose patients and facilitate the treatment process. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
lists mental illnesses under several major categories depending on behavioral, emotional and physical symptoms.

Adjustment Disorders

Psychological disorders that stem from severe stress typically fall under the following criteria:

- Stress reactions that exceed the typical and expected response for any given situation

- Stress that impairs relationships with friends, family, coworkers and disrupts daily life

Symptoms of adjustment disorders must fall within three months of contact with a stressor not last more than six
months and not be related to grief.

Anxiety Disorders

As the most common of psychological disorders, anxiety disorders affect sufferers by causing chronic worrying,
irrational behavior and abnormal amounts of fear. Common anxiety disorders include general anxiety disorder
(GAD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

Cognitive Disorders

Cognitive disorders affect brain functions such as memory, speech, perception and thought processing.
Alzheimer’s disease is classified as a cognitive disorder as it affects the mind, as do dementia and amnesia. Some
anxiety disorders can also be grouped in the cognitive category as sufferers often lose control of mental
functions.

Developmental Disorders

Typically diagnosed in childhood, developmental disorders affect the maturation process by inhibiting mental
growth in infancy through adolescence. The Autism Society of America estimates that 1 in every 150 American
child is struck with the disorder in early childhood. Other developmental disorders include attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder and mental retardation.

Dissociative Disorders

Identity and memory are typically interrupted with this type of psychological condition causing a patient to
suffer a complete mental breakdown. Multiple personality disorder, now simply called dissociative disorder, is

 
 
 

the most recognized disease in this classification. Others include dissociative fugue and depersonalization
disorder.

Eating Disorders

Diseases such as bulimia, anorexia and rumination are all considered psychologically fueled eating disorders.
Obsessions with weight loss and gain combined with unhealthy eating habits contribute to these types of mental
illnesses. Without proper treatment these diseases can lead to physical illness and even death.

Factitious Disorders

Even fabricated mental disorders are considered psychological disorders by the American Psychological
Association. Patients with factitious disorders deliberately fake an illness, not necessarily psychological in
nature, in order to gain attention. Some even engage in self-harm to make the illness appear real. Typical
factitious disorders include ganser syndrome and munchausen syndrome.

Impulse-Control Disorders

Patients suffering from impulse control often harm themselves or others in an attempt to satisfy their compulsive
needs. This behavior usually stems from control issues such as loss of control in certain situations, which often
leads to anxiety. Patients tend to engage in behaviors that quell this anxiety, but are harmful to their bodies or
those around them. Types of impulse-control disorders include trichotillomania, dermatillomania, pyromania and
kleptomania.

Personality Disorders

People with personality disorders are often portrayed as vain, arrogant, narcissistic and clingy. In truth, patients
with this type of problem have dysfunctional ways of thinking and perceiving situations, which results in
abnormal behavioral patterns. These negative thinking and behavior patterns usually create work and relationship
problems as no one around the sufferer understands his or her thought process. Common personality disorders
include narcissism, borderline personality disorder, antisocial behavior, schizotypal personality disorder and
avoidant behavior.

Psychotic Disorders

Losing contact with reality is what defines psychotic disorders. Patients literally are in another world mentally as
they tend to suffer from vivid hallucinations. Psychosis can be very dangerous in that patients may strike out in
fear and display irrational behavior. Treating psychosis usually requires intensive psychotherapy and
antipsychotic medication. Schizophrenia and delusional disorder are the most common psychotic disorders.

Sexual Disorders

 
 
 

Gender identity and sexual disorders involve abnormal sexual functioning as they reduce a person’s normal
enjoyment of sex. Examples of sexual disorders include paraphilias, sexual pain disorders and erectile
dysfunction. Gender identity disorders involve dissatisfaction with a person’s own sexual organs.

Sleep Disorders

Poor sleep quality because of the interruption of sleep patterns is usually due to psychological sleep disorders
including narcolepsy, sleepwalking, insomnia and sleep terror disorder. Patients with sleep disorders suffer both
physically and mentally and may require medication. Sufferers also have increased risk for heart attack, stress,
high-blood pressure and obesity.

Somatoform Disorders

Somatoform disorders are akin to phantom pain and other psychological pain disorders that do not stem from a
physical reason such as illness or injury. Unlike factitious disorders, patients suffer pain reactions that mimic real
diseases, or so they think. Hypochondriasis is the most common somatoform disorder, followed by body
dysmorphic disorder and pain disorder.

Substance Abuse Disorders

Substance abuse involves the use of harmful substances such as drugs or alcohol to achieve a desired result,
usually a feeling of euphoria. Substance abusers also use harmful products to mask anxiety, depression and other
mental disorders. Substance abuse disorders include symptoms of intoxication, dependence, abuse, withdrawal
and psychosis. Even everyday substances such as caffeine can cause dependence and anxiety.

Each category of psychological mental disorders encompasses a variety of disorders above and beyond the
aforementioned.