List and Descriptions of the Categories of Psychological Disorders
List and Descriptions of the Categories of Psychological Disorders
Psychological disorders, also known as mental disorders, are patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact multiple areas of life. These disorders create distress for the person experiencing these symptoms. The following list of psychological disorders includes some of the major categories of psychological disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as well as several examples of each type of psychological disorder.
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The latest edition of the diagnostic manual is the DSM-5 and was released in May of 2013. This list of psychological disorders reflects many of the changes made between the earlier edition of the manual and the most recent version.
Some of the major categories of disorder include the following: ?Anxiety Disorders
?Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders
?Dissociative Disorders
?Feeding and Eating Disorders
?Mood Disorders
?Neurocognitive Disorders
?Neurodevelopmental Disorders
?Personality Disorders
?Sleep-Wake Disorders
?Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders
?Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
?Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
Anxiety disorders are those that are characterized by excessive and abnormal fear, worry and anxiety. In one recent survey published in the Archives of General Psychology, it was estimated that as many as 18% of American adults suffer from at least one anxiety disorder.
Types of anxiety disorders include:
?Generalized anxiety disorder
?Agoraphobia
?Social anxiety disorder
?Phobias
?Panic disorder
?Post-traumatic stress disorder
?Separation anxiety
Impulse-control disorders are those that involve an inability to control impulses, resulting in harm to oneself or others. Types of impulse-control disorders include:
?Kleptomania (stealing)
?Pyromania (fire-starting)
?Trichotillomania (hair-pulling)
?Intermittent explosive disorder
?Dermatillomania (skin-picking)
?Conduct disorder
?Oppositional defiant disorder
Dissociative disorders are psychological disorders that involve a dissociation or interruption in aspects of consciousness, including identity and memory. Dissociative disorders include:
?Dissociative disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder
?Dissociative fugue
?Dissociative identity disorder
?Depersonalization/derealization disorder
Eating disorders are characterized by obsessive concerns with weight and disruptive eating patterns that negatively impact physical and mental health. Types of eating disorders include:
?Anorexia nervosa
?Bulimia nervosa
?Rumination disorder
Feeding and eating disorders that are usually diagnosed during infancy, childhood, and adolescence have also been moved to this category in the DSM-5.
Mood disorder is a term given to a group of mental disorders that are all characterized by changes in mood. Examples of mood disorders include:
?Bipolar disorder
?Major depressive disorders
?Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (previously known as childhood bipolar disorder)
?Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
The APA suggests that only minor changes were made to the sections on bipolar and related disorders, largely to reflect a greater emphasis on changes in activity and engery rather than focusing only of moods.
These psychological disorders are those that involve cognitive abilities such as memory, problem solving and perception. Some anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and psychotic disorders are classified as cognitive disorders. Types of cognitive disorders include:
?Alzheimer's disease
?Delirium
?Major neurocognitive disorder
?Mild neurocognitive disorder
Developmental disorders, also referred to as childhood disorders, are those that are typically diagnosed during infancy, childhood, or adolescence. These psychological disorders include:
?Intellectual Disability(or Intellectual Developmental Disorder), formerly referred to as mental retardation
?Learning disabilities
?Communication disorders
?Autism
?Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Personality disorders create a maladaptive pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that can cause serious detriments to relationships and other life areas. Types of personality disorders include:
?Antisocial personality disorder
?Avoidant personality disorder
?Borderline personality disorder
?Dependent personality disorder
?Histrionic personality disorder
?Narcissistic personality disorder
?Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
?Paranoid personality disorder
?Schizoid personality disorder
?Schizotypal personality disorder
Sleep disorders involve an interruption in sleep patterns. These disorders can have a negative impact on both physical and mental health. Examples of sleep disorders include:
?Narcolepsy
?Sleep terror disorder
?Sleepwalking disorder
?Insomnia disorder
Sleep disorders related to other mental disorders as well as sleep disorders related to general medical conditions have been removed from the DSM-5. The latest edition of the DSM also provides more emphasis of coexisting conditions for each of the sleep-wake disorders. This change, the APA explains, "underscores that the individual has a sleep disorder warranting independent clinical attention, in addition to any medical and mental disorders that are also present, and acknowledges the bidirectional and interactive effects between sleep disorders and coexisting medical and mental disorders."
Formerly referred to under the heading of somatoform disorders, this category is now known as somatic symptom and related disorders. Somatic disorders are a class of psychological disorders that involves physical symptoms that do not have a physical cause. These symptoms usually mimic real diseases or injuries.
Disorders included in this category include:
?Somatic symptom disorder
?Illness anxiety disorder
?Body dysmorphic disorder
?Pain disorder
The DSM-5 also includes factitious disorders under the somatic category.
Substance-related disorders are those that involve the use and abuse of different substance, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates and alcohol. These disorders can include dependence, abuse, psychosis, anxiety, intoxication, delirium and withdrawal that results from the use of various substances. Examples of substance-related psychological disorders include:
?Alcohol abuse
?Caffeine-induced anxiety disorder
?Cocaine withdrawal
?Inhalant abuse
The DSM-5 also includes gambling disorder under this
classification. The American Psychiatric Association explains that this change "...reflects the increasing and consistent evidence that some behaviors, such as gambling, activate the brain reward system with effects similar to those of drugs of abuse and that gambling disorder symptoms resemble substance use disorders to a certain extent."
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Factitious Disorders
These psychological disorders are those in which an individual acts as if he or she has an illness, often be deliberately faking or exaggerating symptoms or even self-inflicting damage to the body. Types of factitious disorders include:
?Munchausen syndrome
?Munchausen syndrome by proxy
?Ganser syndrome
Trauma- and stressor-related disorders involve the exposure to a stressful or traumatic event. These were previously considered anxiety disorders, but are now considered a distinct category of disorders.
Disorders included in this category include:
?Acute stress disorder
?Adjustment disorders
?Post-traumatic stress disorder
?Reactive attachment disorder
Adjustment Disorders
This classification of mental disorders is related to an identifiable source of stress that causes significant emotional and behavioral symptoms. The diagnostic criteria listed by the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria included:
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?(1) Distress that is marked and excessive for what would be expected from the stressor and
?(2) Creates significant impairment in school, work or social environments.
In addition to these requirements, the symptoms must occur within three months of exposure to the stressor, the symptoms must not meet the criteria for an Axis I or Axis II disorder, the symptoms must not be related to bereavement and the symptoms must not last for longer than six months after exposure to the stressor.
The DSM-V (released in May of 2013) moved adjustment disorder to the newly created section of stress-related syndromes.
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