Test: Psychological Disorders- 1 - Humanities/Arts MCQ

Defining abnormality is deceptively difficult. When asked to describe abnormal behaviour, people typically say that it occurs infrequently, is odd or strange, is characterized by suffering, or is dangerous. All of these are reasonable answers for some types of abnormal behaviour, but none of them is sufficient in itself, and making them all necessary results in too strict a definition.
One parsimonious and practical way to define abnormal behaviour is to ask whether the behaviour causes impairment in the person’s life. The more a behaviour gets in the way of successful functioning in an important domain of life (including the psychological, interpersonal and achievement/performance domains), the more likely it is to be considered a sign of abnormality.

The diathesis-stress model suggests that some people possess an enduring vulnerability factor, which, when coupled with a proximal stressor, produces psychological disorders.

The symptoms of schizophrenia are grouped into two categories: positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms indicate the presence of something unusual (such as hallucinations, delusions, odd speech and inappropriate affect) and negative symptoms indicate the absence of something normal (such as good social skills, appropriate affect, motivation and life skills).

The 'four Ds'—deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger—are common features used to identify psychological abnormality. Development is not part of this framework.

All of the answers given above describe both anorexia and bulimia.

OCD is an inability to control preoccupation with specific ideas (obsessions) or prevent repetitive acts (compulsions), impacting normal activities.

Substance abuse is defined entirely on the criterion of impairment. If someone’s repeated use of a substance causes significant impairment in even one area of life, he can be described as a substance abuser. Common impairments include:

• failure to fulfil major role obligations – e.g. constantly late to or absent from work;
• recurrent use in dangerous situations – e.g. while driving;
• frequent substance-related legal problems – e.g. arrests for disorderly conduct; and
• social and interpersonal problems – e.g. conflict with partner or other family members.

The assertion (A) is true, as the children with Autism Spectrum Disorder exhibit repetitive behaviours like hand flapping. However, the reason (R) is false because 70% of these children have intellectual disabilities, not high intellectual abilities.

Children who are behaviorally inhibited are most likely to develop anxiety disorders and not the other psychological disorders indicated by the alternative answers above.

The assertion (A) is true, as the children of alcoholics have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and other psychological problems. The reason (R) is true, as alcohol contains ethyl alcohol, which depresses the central nervous system. However, R does not explain why children of alcoholics develop these problems; it describes alcohol’s physiological effect.