📌 Snapshot
- What makes a behaviour a psychological disorder, the main disorder types and their symptoms, with tables and MCQs.
- The four Ds, the two views of abnormality, the history of explanations and the models that explain disorders.
- Anxiety, trauma, dissociative, mood, schizophrenia, childhood and substance related disorders compared in tables.
- Every symptom pair NTA loves to swap, from obsession versus compulsion to delusion versus hallucination.
📖 Detailed Notes
Written and reviewed by Subhra Gupta, Humanities faculty at UniDrill (M.A. Sociology, University of Delhi · 7 years teaching Humanities). Based on NCERT Psychology Class XII (Psychology), Chapter 4.
When does feeling anxious stop being "normal"?
Your heart pounds before a big exam. Your palms sweat before a stage performance. Nobody calls that a disorder, and a little of it even helps you perform. Now picture someone whose racing heart strikes at random in a car, so they stop driving and eventually stop leaving the house. Where exactly is the line? That question is the heart of this chapter, and the answer is never "a single symptom". It is a combination of how unusual, how distressing, how disabling and how risky the pattern is.
A word on how to read this chapter. Learning the names and symptoms of disorders does not qualify anyone to diagnose themselves or friends. Many people see a little of themselves in almost every description, and that is normal. Diagnosis and treatment need trained clinicians. If something here worries you about yourself or someone close, talking to a parent, teacher, school counsellor or doctor is the right step. Psychological disorders are health conditions, to be treated like any other illness, and people who live with them deserve respect, not labels.
What is abnormal behaviour?
When behaviour cannot be modified to suit the needs of a situation, it is maladaptive. Abnormal psychology is the area of psychology that studies maladaptive behaviour: its causes, consequences and treatment. The word abnormal literally means "away from the normal", but psychology has no ideal model of normal behaviour to compare with, so most definitions rely on the four Ds.
| D | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Deviance | Different, extreme, unusual, even bizarre | Believing that a stranger is sending coded messages through the television |
| Distress | Unpleasant and upsetting to the person and to others | Constant dread that spoils meals, sleep and friendships |
| Dysfunction | Interferes with carrying out daily activities in a constructive way | Not being able to attend school because of intense fear |
| Danger | Possibly dangerous to the person or to others | Starving oneself or acting on thoughts of self harm |
No single D is enough. Many people are deviant without distress or dysfunction. A world record holder or a very shy artist may be unusual, yet is neither distressed nor disabled.
Two views. For the exam: there are two basic views of abnormality. The first treats it as deviation from social norms: behaviour that differs markedly from a society's ideas of proper functioning, and norms grow out of a society's own culture and change over time. The second treats it as maladaptive behaviour: the best test is not whether society accepts it, but whether it fosters the well being of the person and of the group, including growth and fulfilment (the self actualisation you met in Maslow's hierarchy). Another reading: the norms view assumes that socially accepted behaviour is never abnormal and that normality means conformity, and critics have raised serious questions about that. On the maladaptive view, even conforming behaviour can be abnormal if it blocks optimal functioning, like a student who stays silent even when they have questions.
Beyond the textbook. For the exam: abnormal behaviour is judged by the four Ds and by the two views above. In reality: clinicians do not treat normal and abnormal as two boxes. Symptoms such as low mood, worry or unusual experiences lie on a continuum, and a disorder is diagnosed when they are intense, lasting and disabling enough to matter in a person's life. The same behaviour can also mean different things in different settings, such as talking to yourself while praying and talking to yourself while no one is there. Why it matters: it explains why diagnosis uses clear criteria and a clinician's judgement, not a quick checklist.
How people explained disorders over time
Certain explanations have returned again and again in history. Three perspectives recur: supernatural, biological or organic, and psychological.
| Period | Explanation | Key idea |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient and traditional societies | Supernatural and magical forces | Evil spirits (bhoot pret) or the devil cause disturbed behaviour; exorcism removes the evil through countermagic and prayer; a shaman or medicine man (ojha) is believed to contact spirits |
| Ancient Greece | Organismic and biological | Hippocrates, Socrates and especially Plato saw disturbance as a conflict between emotion and reason. Galen elaborated the four humours: blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm, each linked to a temperament, with imbalance causing disorder. This is similar to the Indian idea of the three doshas: vata, pitta and kapha |
| Middle Ages | Demonology and superstition | People with mental problems were seen as evil, and "witch hunts" followed. The Christian spirit of charity also grew, and St. Augustine wrote on mental anguish and conflict, laying groundwork for psychodynamic theories |
| Renaissance | Humanism and curiosity | Johann Weyer stressed psychological conflict and disturbed relationships as causes, and insisted "witches" were mentally disturbed and needed medical, not theological, treatment |
| 17th and 18th centuries | Age of Reason and Enlightenment | The scientific method replaced faith and dogma. The Reform Movement brought more compassion and reform of asylums in Europe and America, with deinstitutionalisation: community care for recovered patients |
| Modern era | Interactional or bio psycho social approach | Biological, psychological and social factors together shape how a disorder appears and how it ends |
Cause → effect: each shift in explanation changed how people were treated. Calling a disorder spirit possession led to exorcism. Calling it evil led to persecution. Calling it a medical or psychological condition led to asylums, reform and finally community care.
Why it matters. Old explanations have not vanished. Exorcism and spirit explanations are still commonly used in many places. Beliefs like these, along with fear and shame, delay people from seeing a doctor or psychologist. The stigma attached to mental illness is a major reason people do not seek help, and the correct view is that a psychological disorder, which reflects a failure in adaptation, should be viewed like any other illness.
Classification: DSM and ICD
A classification groups disorders into categories on the basis of shared characteristics. It helps professionals communicate, helps in understanding causes and helps to follow how disorders develop.
| System | Published by | What to remember |
|---|---|---|
| DSM-5 | American Psychiatric Association (APA) | Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition; discrete clinical criteria that indicate the presence or absence of a disorder |
| ICD-10 | World Health Organisation (WHO) | ICD-10 Classification of Behavioural and Mental Disorders; the scheme officially used in India and elsewhere; gives descriptions of clinical features and diagnostic guidelines |
Beyond the textbook. For the exam: DSM-5 is American Psychiatric Association, ICD-10 is WHO, and ICD-10 is the scheme used in India. In reality: classification systems are revised from time to time, and WHO has since issued ICD-11, the newer version of its international classification. Why it matters: learn the textbook versions for the paper, but know the manuals are living documents, not fixed truths.
What causes abnormal behaviour? The models
No single cause explains a disorder. Each model stresses a different level.
| Model | What it says causes disorder | Key terms and examples |
|---|---|---|
| Biological | Abnormal biochemistry or physiology; faulty genes, endocrine imbalance, malnutrition, injury | Low activity of GABA is linked to anxiety, excess dopamine to schizophrenia, low serotonin to depression. Genes are linked to bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and intellectual disability, but no single gene is the culprit; many genes combine |
| Psychodynamic | Unconscious conflicts between inner forces, traced to early childhood (Freud: id, ego, superego) | Abnormal behaviour is a symbolic expression of unconscious conflicts |
| Behavioural | Maladaptive behaviour is learned, and what is learned can be unlearned | Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning (imitating others) |
| Cognitive | Irrational, inaccurate assumptions and illogical thinking | Overgeneralisation: drawing broad negative conclusions from one insignificant event |
| Humanistic existential | Failure to use one's natural tendency toward growth and goodness; avoiding the freedom to give meaning to one's life | Humanists: self actualisation. Existentialists: shirking responsibility leads to empty, "inauthentic" lives |
| Socio cultural | Social and cultural forces: war, violence, prejudice, economic problems, rapid change, family structure, isolation, labels | Labels can stick, so the person learns the "sick role"; enmeshed families make independence hard |
| Diathesis stress | A biological predisposition set off by a stressful situation | Three parts: diathesis, vulnerability, pathogenic stressors |
Psychological factors in the psychological models include maternal deprivation (separation from the mother or lack of warmth and stimulation in early life), faulty parent child relationships (rejection, overprotection, over permissiveness, faulty discipline), maladaptive family structures and severe stress.
The diathesis stress idea in one line: inherited vulnerability (diathesis) + a stressful event (pathogenic stressor) → disorder, but if the vulnerable person never meets the stressors, the disorder may never appear.
Pause and predict: two cousins share a family history of depression. One goes through a sudden bereavement, a failed year and a move to a new city, and develops depression. The other lives a settled life and does not. Which model best explains the difference?
Check your answer: the diathesis stress model. Both carry the biological predisposition (diathesis), but only one met enough pathogenic stressors to turn it into a disorder. It also shows why biology alone cannot account for most disorders.
Major psychological disorders at a glance
The chapter groups disorders into categories. The table gives the core idea of each, and the sections below give the details NTA tests.
| Category | Core idea |
|---|---|
| Anxiety disorders | Distressing fear and apprehension that interfere with functioning |
| Obsessive compulsive and related | Unwanted, repeated thoughts or acts that cannot be controlled |
| Trauma and stressor related | Lasting reactions after a traumatic or stressful event |
| Somatic symptom and related | Physical symptoms with no biological cause; or excessive worry about illness |
| Dissociative | Severed connections between ideas and emotions; loss or shift of identity |
| Depressive and bipolar | Persistent low mood; or alternating mania and depression |
| Schizophrenia spectrum | Disturbed thought, perception, emotion and movement |
| Neurodevelopmental | Appear early in development and affect personal, social and academic functioning |
| Disruptive, impulse control and conduct | Defiance and violation of others' rights |
| Feeding and eating | Disturbed eating and body image |
| Substance related and addictive | Maladaptive patterns from regular use of a substance |
Anxiety disorders
Anxiety is a diffuse, vague, very unpleasant feeling of fear and apprehension. Its signs are rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, fainting, dizziness, sweating, sleeplessness, frequent urination and tremors. Anxiety about an exam or a dentist visit is normal and can even motivate. High anxiety that is distressing and interferes with effective functioning signals an anxiety disorder, the most common category of psychological disorders.
| Disorder | What it is | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Generalised anxiety disorder | Prolonged, vague, unexplained and intense fears not attached to any particular object | Worry about the future, hypervigilance (constantly scanning for danger), motor tension (restless, shaky, unable to relax) |
| Panic disorder | Recurrent anxiety attacks with intense terror | Abrupt surge of anxiety to a peak; shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, palpitations, choking, nausea, chest pain, fear of losing control, going crazy or dying |
| Phobias | Irrational fears related to specific objects, people or situations | Three types: specific phobia, social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and agoraphobia |
| Separation anxiety disorder | Fear and anxiety about separation from attachment figures, beyond what is appropriate for the age | Child fears being alone in a room, clings to parents, may fuss, scream or have severe tantrums |
The three phobias are easy to mix up.
| Type | Fear is of | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Specific phobia | A certain animal, object or enclosed space (the most common type) | Intense fear of lizards or lifts |
| Social anxiety disorder | Dealing with others, with intense and incapacitating fear and embarrassment | Being unable to speak a word of a well rehearsed speech before an audience |
| Agoraphobia | Entering unfamiliar situations; many are afraid of leaving home | Staying indoors for months |
Deb, whom the chapter describes, felt his heart beating fast, sweated and was short of breath while driving. After a few months the attacks increased and he stopped driving and then leaving the house, fearing an attack in traffic. That is panic disorder, which led to avoidance and agoraphobia like patterns, a good example of how a disorder takes over daily life.
Obsessive compulsive and trauma related disorders
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) involves preoccupation with specific ideas or repeatedly carrying out an act that the person cannot control, affecting normal activities. Related disorders include hoarding disorder, trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder) and excoriation (skin picking) disorder.
| Term | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Obsession | Inability to stop thinking about a particular idea or topic; the thoughts are often unpleasant and shameful to the person | Constant thought that the hands are contaminated |
| Compulsion | The need to perform certain behaviours over and over; commonly counting, ordering, checking, touching and washing | Washing hands each time something is touched; stepping only on certain patterns on the road |
Easy way to keep them apart: an obsession is something you think, a compulsion is something you do.
Trauma and stressor related disorders. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can follow natural disasters such as a tsunami, bomb blasts, serious accidents or war. Symptoms vary but may include recurrent dreams, flashbacks, impaired concentration and emotional numbing. Adjustment disorders and acute stress disorder are also in this category.
Pause and predict: a student has washed her hands many times a day since touching a classroom door handle. She knows the worry is excessive and finds it shameful, but she cannot stop. Which part is the obsession and which is the compulsion?
Check your answer: the unwanted, repeated thought that her hands are dirty is the obsession. The repeated hand washing is the compulsion. Her distress and loss of time are what move this from habit to disorder.
Somatic symptom and dissociative disorders
Somatic symptom and related disorders involve physical symptoms with no biological cause. The person has psychological difficulties and physical complaints.
| Disorder | What it is | Key difference |
|---|---|---|
| Somatic symptom disorder | Persistent body related symptoms that may or may not link to a medical condition; the person is overly preoccupied with them and visits doctors often | Concern is expressed through physical complaints |
| Illness anxiety disorder | Persistent preoccupation with developing a serious illness; alarmed by news of others' illness and not reassured by doctors | The anxiety itself is the main concern |
| Conversion disorder | Reported loss of part or all of a basic body function, such as paralysis, blindness, deafness or difficulty walking; often follows a stressful experience and can be sudden | A physical loss with no physical cause |
Dissociative disorders. Dissociation is the severance of connections between ideas and emotions. It involves feelings of unreality, estrangement and depersonalisation, and sometimes loss or shift of identity. Sudden temporary alterations of consciousness blot out painful experiences.
| Disorder | What it is | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Dissociative amnesia | Extensive but selective memory loss with no organic cause such as head injury | Cannot recall personal information, often linked to stress or trauma; dissociative fugue is a part of it: unexpected travel away from home, a new identity and inability to recall the previous one |
| Dissociative identity disorder | Often called multiple personality; the most dramatic dissociative disorder | Two or more separate and contrasting personalities that may or may not be aware of each other; often linked to childhood trauma and abuse |
| Depersonalisation / derealisation disorder | A dreamlike state | Sense of being separate from self (change of self perception) and from reality |
Depressive and bipolar disorders
Depression is one of the most widely prevalent mental disorders. In daily speech we use "depressed" for ordinary sadness after a loss, a break up or a failed goal, but depression as a disorder is more than that.
| Disorder | Features |
|---|---|
| Major depressive disorder | A period of depressed mood and/or loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, along with changes in body weight, constant sleep problems, tiredness, inability to think clearly, agitation or greatly slowed behaviour, excessive guilt or worthlessness, and thoughts of death and suicide |
| Bipolar I disorder | Mania and depression alternating, sometimes with periods of normal mood. Manic episodes rarely appear alone. Earlier called manic depressive disorder. Related types: Bipolar II and cyclothymic disorder |
Risk factors for depression include heredity, age and gender (women are more likely to report a depressive disorder; women are particularly at risk during young adulthood and men in early middle age), negative life events and lack of social support.
About suicide, with care. Suicide results from a complex mix of biological, genetic, psychological, sociological, cultural and environmental factors. Risk factors include having mental disorders (especially depression and alcohol use disorders), disasters, violence, abuse, loss and isolation, and a previous suicide attempt is the strongest risk factor. Suicidal thoughts are heightened under acute emotional distress, and they lead to action only when acting on them seems to be the only way out of a person's difficulties, which is why timely help matters. Stigma stops many people from seeking help, but suicides are preventable. Measures suggested by WHO include limiting access to the means of suicide, responsible media reporting, alcohol related policies, early identification, treatment and care of people at risk, training health workers and care for people who attempted suicide. Warning signs in students include lack of interest in usual activities, declining grades, decreasing effort, misbehaviour, repeated absence and smoking, drinking or drug misuse. Building self esteem helps: highlight positive experiences, offer chances to develop skills, build trusting communication and set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound goals.
If you or someone you know is in distress, please talk to a trusted adult or a counsellor today. In India you can call Tele-MANAS on 14416 for free mental health support.
Pause and predict: for four weeks a student has lost interest in cricket, which he used to love, sleeps badly, feels worthless and cannot think clearly. Is this just "being sad"?
Check your answer: no. Ordinary sadness after a disappointment passes. A period of low mood or loss of interest in most activities, along with sleep problems, worthlessness and poor thinking, matches the picture of major depressive disorder, and it deserves a conversation with a counsellor or doctor.
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders
Schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders in which personal, social and occupational functioning deteriorates because of disturbed thought processes, strange perceptions, unusual emotional states and motor abnormalities.
Beyond the textbook. For the exam: schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders with disturbed thought, perception, emotion and movement. In reality: it is often confused with dissociative identity disorder, but "split personality" is a myth. The word does not mean multiple personalities. People with schizophrenia are also not usually violent, and many manage well with treatment and support. Why it matters: knowing this protects you from a common exam trap and from stigma.
The symptoms fall in three groups. This is the most tested part of the chapter.
| Group | Meaning | Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | Pathological excesses or bizarre additions | Delusions, disorganised thinking and speech, hallucinations, inappropriate affect |
| Negative | Pathological deficits | Alogia (poverty of speech), blunted and flat affect, avolition (apathy), social withdrawal |
| Psychomotor | Unusual movement | Odd gestures and grimaces; catatonia: stupor, rigidity, posturing |
| Delusion | Belief |
|---|---|
| Persecution (the most common) | Others are plotting against, spying on, slandering, threatening or victimising me |
| Reference | Actions of others or objects and events have special, personal meaning for me |
| Grandeur | I am a specially empowered person |
| Control | My feelings, thoughts and actions are controlled by others |
A delusion is a false belief held firmly on inadequate grounds, unaffected by rational argument. A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus. Auditory hallucinations are the most common, with sounds or voices speaking to the patient (second person) or talking about the patient as "he" or "she" (third person). Other types are tactile (tingling, burning), somatic (a snake crawling in the stomach), visual, gustatory (strange tastes) and olfactory (smell of poison or smoke).
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Loosening of associations / derailment | Rapid shifting from topic to topic so thinking becomes illogical |
| Neologisms | Inventing new words or phrases |
| Perseveration | Persistent, inappropriate repetition of the same thoughts |
| Inappropriate affect | Emotions unsuited to the situation (a positive symptom) |
| Blunted affect / flat affect | Less than usual emotion / no emotion at all (negative symptoms) |
| Catatonic stupor / rigidity / posturing | Motionless and silent / rigid upright posture / odd, awkward positions held for long |
Childhood and adolescent disorders
Neurodevelopmental disorders appear in the early stage of development, often before or during early schooling, and hamper personal, social, academic and occupational functioning.
| Disorder | Core features |
|---|---|
| ADHD | Two main features: inattention (cannot sustain mental effort, easily distracted, does not finish work) and hyperactivity impulsivity (constant motion, cannot wait or take turns, acts before thinking) |
| Autism spectrum disorder | Widespread difficulty in social interaction and communication, stereotyped patterns of behaviour, restricted interests and strong desire for routine; for example lining up objects, rocking or hand flapping |
| Intellectual disability | Below average intellectual functioning (IQ of approximately 70 or below) plus deficits in adaptive behaviour (communication, self care, home living, social skills, functional academic skills, work), manifested before age 18 |
| Specific learning disorder | Difficulty perceiving or processing information efficiently and accurately; problems in basic reading, writing and/or mathematics skills; may reach acceptable levels with additional inputs and effort |
Levels of intellectual disability are classified by IQ range.
| Level | IQ range | Brief picture |
|---|---|---|
| Mild | About 55 to 70 | Cares for self; can learn third to sixth grade skills, hold a job and live fairly independently |
| Moderate | About 35 to 40 up to 50 to 55 | Needs training for self help; first or second grade skills; sheltered work |
| Severe | About 20 to 25 up to 35 to 40 | Little self care; very limited language; needs constant care or supervision |
| Profound | Below about 20 to 25 | Generally dependent on others for all care |
Disruptive, impulse control and conduct disorders include oppositional defiant disorder (ODD): age inappropriate stubbornness, irritability, defiance, disobedience and hostility; and conduct disorder: age inappropriate actions that violate family expectations, societal norms and the rights of others, such as aggression that harms people or animals, property damage, deceit or theft, and serious rule violations. Aggression can be verbal, physical, hostile (aimed at injuring) or proactive (dominating and bullying without provocation).
Feeding and eating disorders matter to many young people.
| Disorder | Core features |
|---|---|
| Anorexia nervosa | Distorted body image: sees self as overweight; refuses to eat, exercises compulsively, may lose large amounts of weight and starve |
| Bulimia nervosa | Eats excessive amounts then purges by laxatives, diuretics or vomiting; feels disgusted and ashamed when bingeing and relief after purging |
| Binge eating | Frequent episodes of out of control eating, faster than normal, until uncomfortably full, even when not hungry |
Substance related and addictive disorders
These disorders involve maladaptive behaviours from regular, consistent use of a substance, which alters the way people think, feel and behave. Examples of commonly abused substances include alcohol, stimulants, caffeine, cannabis, hallucinogens, inhalants, tobacco, opioids and sedatives.
| Substance | Key facts |
|---|---|
| Alcohol | People who abuse it drink large amounts regularly and rely on it in difficult situations. The body builds tolerance, so more is needed, and withdrawal responses follow if they stop. It harms families, relationships, careers and health, and raises risk of road accidents. Children of persons with this disorder face higher rates of anxiety, depression, phobias and substance related disorders. Ethyl alcohol slows down the central nervous system, first reducing inhibition and then impairing judgment, speech, memory and coordination |
| Heroin | Interferes with social and occupational functioning; dependence with tolerance and withdrawal. The most direct danger is overdose, which slows the respiratory centres and can cause death |
| Cocaine | Regular use can lead to being intoxicated all day, poor social and work functioning, problems of short term memory and attention. Stopping brings depression, fatigue, sleep problems, irritability and anxiety |
Exam traps
| The trap | Why it's tempting | The truth |
|---|---|---|
| "Schizophrenia means split or multiple personality." | The word "schizo" suggests splitting | Multiple personality is dissociative identity disorder; schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder of thought, perception and emotion |
| "Hallucination is a false belief." | Both involve unreal experiences | A false belief held firmly is a delusion; hallucination is a perception without a stimulus |
| "Obsession is the repeated act." | Both words are used loosely | Obsession is the repeated thought; compulsion is the repeated act |
| "Poverty of speech is a positive symptom." | A symptom that appears in speech sounds like an excess | Alogia is a negative symptom (a deficit) |
| "Loosening of associations is a negative symptom." | Disorganised talk seems like a loss | Disorganised thinking and speech is a positive symptom |
| "ICD-10 is published by the APA." | Both manuals look alike | DSM-5 is APA; ICD-10 is WHO and is used in India |
| "Illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder are the same." | Both involve worry about health | In somatic symptom disorder the concern shows as physical complaints; in illness anxiety disorder, the anxiety itself is the main concern |
| "Anorexia nervosa involves purging after bingeing." | Both are eating disorders | That is bulimia nervosa; anorexia is refusal to eat with a distorted body image |
60-second revision
| Topic | Lock this in |
|---|---|
| Four Ds | Deviance, distress, dysfunction, danger |
| Two views | Deviation from social norms; maladaptive behaviour |
| History | Supernatural → biological → psychological → bio psycho social |
| Classification | DSM-5 (APA) and ICD-10 (WHO, used in India) |
| Neurotransmitters | Anxiety: low GABA. Schizophrenia: excess dopamine. Depression: low serotonin |
| Models | Biological, psychodynamic, behavioural, cognitive, humanistic existential, socio cultural, diathesis stress |
| Anxiety types | GAD, panic, phobias (specific, social, agoraphobia), separation anxiety |
| OCD | Obsession = thought; compulsion = act |
| Dissociative | Amnesia (fugue), DID, depersonalisation / derealisation |
| Mood | Major depression; bipolar = mania + depression |
| Schizophrenia | Positive, negative, psychomotor; persecution is the commonest delusion; auditory the commonest hallucination |
| Neurodevelopmental | ADHD, autism spectrum, intellectual disability (IQ about 70 or below, before 18), specific learning disorder |
| Eating | Anorexia (starving), bulimia (binge and purge), binge eating |
Where this chapter connects
- Previous: Meeting Life Challenges explains how stress becomes distress and why social support and coping skills protect mental health.
- Next: Therapeutic Approaches shows how each model of disorder leads to a different kind of treatment.
- Related: Self and Personality introduces Freud's id, ego and superego, used by the psychodynamic model here. Variations in Psychological Attributes covers intelligence and the IQ ranges behind intellectual disability.
🎯 Practice MCQs
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Q1. Which of the following are the "four Ds" commonly used to define psychological abnormality?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
The four Ds are deviance, distress, dysfunction and danger. The other options bring in terms such as depression, delusion, disability and dependence, which are specific symptoms or conditions and not part of the standard definition.
Q2. Which statement correctly contrasts the two views of abnormality?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: B
The first approach treats abnormal as deviation from social norms, and the second treats it as maladaptive, based on well being of the person and the group. Option A reverses them. Option C is wrong because neither view is purely biological, and option D is wrong because the maladaptive view allows conforming behaviour to be abnormal if it blocks growth.
Q3. Match List I with List II. List I: (i) Galen (ii) Johann Weyer (iii) Exorcism (iv) Deinstitutionalisation. List II: (p) Community care for recovered patients (q) Four humours (r) Removal of evil through countermagic and prayer (s) Insisted that witches were mentally disturbed and needed medical treatment
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
Galen elaborated the four humours, Weyer argued that so called witches needed medical treatment, exorcism is removing evil through countermagic and prayer, and deinstitutionalisation means community care. The other options pair at least two of these wrongly.
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Q4. Priya has a sudden episode in which her heart races, she feels short of breath and dizzy, and she fears she is dying. These attacks occur unpredictably, and now she avoids travelling alone. The most appropriate description of her main problem is:
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: C
Recurrent, abrupt attacks of intense terror with breathlessness, dizziness and a fear of dying define panic disorder. Generalised anxiety disorder is a prolonged, objectless worry, not abrupt peaks. Separation anxiety concerns attachment figures, and conversion disorder involves loss of a body function without a physical cause.
Q5. Read the statements. Statement I: An obsession is the inability to stop thinking about a particular idea. Statement II: A compulsion is a need to perform certain behaviours repeatedly, such as washing or checking. Statement III: Hoarding disorder and trichotillomania are classified with obsessive compulsive and related disorders. Which statements are correct?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: D
All three statements are correct. Obsessions are repeated thoughts, compulsions are repeated acts, and hoarding disorder, hair pulling disorder and skin picking disorder fall in the same group. Options A, B and C each drop a correct statement.
Q6. A person believes that his thoughts and actions are being controlled by a chip placed in his brain by others. This is an example of a:
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: B
Believing that one's feelings, thoughts and actions are controlled by others is a delusion of control. Grandeur is a belief of being specially empowered, and reference means attaching special personal meaning to others' actions or to objects. Hallucination is a perception without a stimulus, not a belief.
Q7. Assertion (A): Poverty of speech and flat affect in schizophrenia are called negative symptoms. Reason (R): They represent pathological deficits in thought, emotion and behaviour.
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
Negative symptoms are named for the deficits they show: reduced speech (alogia), absent emotion (flat affect), apathy and social withdrawal. So R correctly explains why A is true. Options B, C and D each wrongly mark one statement as false or unrelated.
Q8. Rohan, aged 8, often forgets instructions, cannot sit through a lesson, leaves his work unfinished, interrupts others and cannot wait for his turn. These are the two main features of:
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: D
Inattention and hyperactivity impulsivity are the two main features of ADHD. Autism spectrum disorder is mainly about social communication and repetitive behaviours. ODD is stubbornness and hostility, and a specific learning disorder is about difficulty in reading, writing or mathematics.
Q9. Which of the following is correctly matched?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: C
Binge eating involves frequent out of control episodes, with eating faster than normal and continuing until uncomfortably full. The descriptions in A and B are swapped between anorexia and bulimia. Option D describes a specific phobia, whereas agoraphobia is fear of entering unfamiliar situations and often of leaving home.
Q10. In the diathesis stress model, a psychological disorder develops when:
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: B
The model has three components: the diathesis (biological predisposition), the vulnerability it creates, and pathogenic stressors that can trigger the disorder. Option A ignores the diathesis, option C describes social learning in the behavioural model, and option D is the psychodynamic model.
Q11. Which pairing of neurotransmitter and disorder is correct?
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: A
Anxiety disorders have been linked to low activity of GABA, schizophrenia to excess dopamine, and depression to low activity of serotonin. Options B and C reverse the direction of activity, and option D is wrong on both counts.
Q12. A person on a trip suddenly leaves home and work, takes up a new name in another city, and later wakes up with no memory of the events or of his earlier identity. This pattern is best described as:
▸ Show answer & explanation
Answer: C
Unexpected travel away from home, assuming a new identity and not recalling the previous one are the essential features of dissociative fugue, which belongs to dissociative amnesia. Dissociative identity disorder involves two or more personalities. Depersonalisation involves a dreamlike sense of being separate from self, and schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder with delusions and hallucinations.
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