ESSENTIALS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Psychological Well Being and Disorders

January 18, 2021
Bahçeşehir University

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Changing Concept of Abnormality

Culture / Context

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 Case Study: Bernice
Bernice was a 46-year-old woman. This was her fourth time seeking outpatient
therapy, and she had been hospitalized twice previously. Her obsessive-compulsive
disorder had begun 12 years earlier, shortly after the death of her father. Since then,
her symptoms had waxed and waned, but currently they were as severe as ever.

Bernice was obsessed with a fear of contamination, a fear she developed after her
father’s death from pneumonia (which she related to germs). Although she reported
that she was afraid of nearly everything because germs could be anywhere, she was
particularly afraid of touching wood, “scratchy objects,” mail, canned goods, eyeglass
frames and shiny appliances. She was unable to state why these particular objects
were sources of possible contamination.

To try to reduce her discomfort, Bernice engaged in a variety of compulsive rituals that
took up almost all her waking hours. In the morning, she spent 3 to 4 hours in the
bathroom, washing and rewashing herself. Before each washing, she scraped away the
outside layer of her bar of soap so that it would be free of germs. Mealtimes lasted for
hours because of rituals designed to decontaminate her food, such as eating three
bites of food at a time and chewing each mouthful 300 times. Her rituals had taken
over her life—she did almost nothing else. Because of her fear of contamination, she
would not leave the house, do housework, or even talk on the telephone.

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 Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder
(OCD)

• Obsessions are intrusive and recurring

thoughts, images, or impulses that are
persistent and uncontrollable (i.e., the
person cannot stop the thoughts) and that
usually appear irrational to the person
experiencing them.

• Compulsions are repetitive, clearly

excessive behaviors or mental acts that
the person feels driven to perform to
reduce the anxiety

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 Thought Suppression and OCD
• People with OCD:

– may try harder to suppress their obsessions than

other people.
– tend to believe that thinking about something can
make it more likely to occur
– may have deep feelings of responsibility for what
occurs

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• PTSD entails an extreme response to a severe

stressor, including increased anxiety,
avoidance of stimuli associated with the
trauma, and symptoms of increased arousal.

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 trauma
ˈtrɔːmə,ˈtraʊmÛ/
Emotionally, physically
and/mentally distressing and
disturbing experience that
overwhelms the individual’s
ability to cope.

is a normal reaction to an
abnormal event
 Trauma
• is an experience that profoundly shapes how we see the world.
Trauma…
• Uncontrollable
• Overwhelming
• Damage to physiological and psychological integrity
• Threat to survival
• Disruption to the regular flow of life
• Inability to cope with unexpected and deeply disturbing
experience(s)
• Causes fear, mistrust and hopelessness
 Types of Trauma
• Big ‘T’
– Sexual violence, war, major car accidents, plane
crashes, intimate partner violence, natural
disasters, life-threatening medical conditions.

• Little ‘t’
– job changes, difficult divorce/ break-up, repeated
being social exclusion, and the loss of a loved one.

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 Trauma
One can be exposed to traumatic events in the following ways:

• directly experiencing the traumatic event(s);

• witnessing, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others;
• learning that the traumatic event(s) occurred to a close family
member or close friend
• experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of
the traumatic event(s) (e.g., first responders collecting human remains; police
officers repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse)

(American Psychiatric Association, 2013)

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What Happens When We are Traumatized?
Trauma and Body
 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

– Intrusively reexperiencing the traumatic event.

– Avoidance of stimuli associated with the event.
– Signs of mood and cognitive change after the
trauma.
– Symptoms of increased arousal and reactivity.

• For PTSD diagnosis: The symptoms began or worsened after the trauma(s)
and continued for at least one month

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 Trauma and Disorders of Trauma and
Stress

• Not everyone exposed to an traumatic event

has a disorder of trauma.

• How an event impacts a person is largely

dependent on predisposing factors, such as
the individual’s past experiences, beliefs,
perceptions, expectations, level of distress
tolerance, values, and morals.

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 Post Traumatic Growth
Positive change experienced as a result of the
struggle with a major life crisis or a traumatic event.
• Appreciation of life
• Relationships with others
• New possibilities/
opportunities in life
• Personal strength
• Spiritual change
 Extra Credit Opportunity
• Movie Reflection:
– Interpret the movie from
the perspective of
trauma and anxiety.
– One page, single space,
times new roman-12
font size
– Deadline: 31st of January,
Sunday

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 Final Exam

• 26th of January, Wed @13:30.

• Covers all topics of the semester
• Similar format with midterms