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Psychological Disorders

Psy 150

McAlhaney

Abnormal Behavior

Abnormal behavior is behavior that deviates from a given norm or standard of behavior.
It takes more than deviation alone for a behavior pattern to be considered pathological.
Additional criteria help mental health professionals to identify the presence of a mental disorder.

Abnormal behavior is behavior that deviates from a given norm or standard of behavior. If the average adult in the United States takes five baths or showers a week, and Tom takes twenty-one, then Tom’s behavior is abnormal. The definition presented above is strictly statistical. It does not imply pathology (i.e., “sickness”). If Tom is a salesman, sweats a lot, and wants to be presentable to others, he may actually find it necessary to bathe twenty-one times a week. On the other hand, Tom may suffer from irrational anxiety about his body odor. The showers may represent compulsive behavior used to reduce anxiety. In this case, it is possible that Tom suffers from an obsessive-compulsive anxiety disorder.

The following five criteria are sufficient to establish that it takes more than statistical abnormality to think of a behavior pattern as a sign of a mental disorder.

Abnormal Criteria

First, there is almost always suffering associated with a mental disorder. Often it is the self that suffers.
Second, pathological behavior is often self-defeating.
Third, pathological behavior is often self-destructive.
Fourth, pathological behavior is salient.
Fifth, pathological behavior is illogical behavior.

1) Depression, anxiety, and confusion are miserable mental and emotional states. On the other hand, sometimes it is others that suffer. For example, a person with an antisocial personality disorder may, without feeling guilty, manipulate and use another person.

2) Self-defeating behavior is behavior that provides momentary gratification with an excessive long-term cost. Examples include overspending, chronic procrastination, and compulsive gambling.

3) Self-destructive behavior tends to injure the body. Examples include overeating, drug abuse, self-inflicted injuries, and irrational risk-taking.

4) Salient behavior is behavior that stands out. It tends to be striking and conspicuous. Examples include a person wearing three sweaters on a summer day or someone holding a conversation with an invisible companion.

5) An observer of the behavior thinks, “What this person is doing right now makes no sense.” In some instances the victim of a mental disorder recognizes the nonsensical aspect of a thought or a behavior.

Mental Disorder Definition

A mental disorder is a disorder characterized by both abnormal behavior and the presence of pathological signs and symptoms.

A mental disorder is a disorder characterized by both abnormal behavior and the presence of pathological signs and symptoms. This definition consolidates what has already been said. A distinction needs to be made between a sign and a symptom.

A sign is something that is evident to others. It is external. For example, moping, making incomprehensible statements, and wearing filthy clothes are signs to others that a friend or relative may have a problem.

A symptom is something that the individual himself or herself experiences. It is internal. For example, feeling depressed, anxious, or confused are symptoms the self perceives as distressing.

Perspectives on Psychological Disorders

Societal
Does the behavior conform to existing social norms?
Individual
Personal sense of well-being
Mental-health professional
Personality characteristics
Personal discomfort
Life functioning

Whether an individual suffers from an mental disorder is, at least in part, a subjective judgment. Mental-health professionals define abnormal behavior as either maladaptive life functioning or serious personal discomfort or both.

Historical Views of Psychological Disorders

Supernatural view, where mysterious behavior was attributed to supernatural powers, likely dominated early societies

Mental hospitals and asylums were used more like prisons to keep the afflicted away from society

In early societies mysterious actions were often attributed to supernatural powers. The roots of a more naturalistic view of psychological disorders can be traced to Hippocrates, who maintained that madness was like any other sickness---a natural event arising from natural causes. This approach to mental illness fell into disfavor in the Middle Ages, and it was not until the nineteenth century that it again received systematic scientific attention.

Models of the Causes of Psychological Disorders

Biological model
Physiological or biochemical basis
Psychoanalytic model
Disorders are the result of unconscious conflicts
Cognitive-Behavioral model
Disorders are the result of learning maladaptive ways of behaving and thinking
Diathesis-Stress model
Biological predisposition to disorder which is triggered by stress
Systems theory (biopsychosocial model)
Model in which biological, psychological, and social risk factors combine to produce psychological disorders

Three influential, conflicting models of psychological disorders emerged during the late 1800s and early 1900s: the biological, psychoanalytic, and cognitive-behavioral models. Each approach has influenced the study and treatment of psychological disorders but none can claim to be the decisively correct theory of abnormal psychology.

The biological model of psychological disorders states that abnormal behavior has a biochemical or physiological basis. Although there is sound evidence that genetic/biochemical factors are involved in mental disorders as diverse as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety, biology alone cannot account for most mental illnesses.

The psychoanalytic model of psychological disorders, proposed by Freud, states that abnormal behavior is a symbolic expression of unconscious mental conflicts that generally can be traced to early childhood or infancy. For all its richly appealing ideas, this approach has produced little scientific evidence to support its theorizing about the causes and effective treatment of mental disorders.

The cognitive-behavioral model of psychological disorders states that mental disorders are the result of learning maladaptive ways of behaving and proposes that what has been learned can be unlearned. Cognitive-behavioral therapists therefore strive to modify both dysfunctional behavior and inaccurate cognitive processes in their patients. The model has been criticized for its extreme emphasis on environmental causes and treatments.

The most promising recent development in abnormal psychology is the integration of the major approaches. The diathesis-stress model of psychological disorders, for example, states that mental disorders develop when a diathesis (biological predisposition to the disorder) is set off by a stressful circumstance. The systems approach to psychological disorders states that biological, psychological, and social risk factors combine to produce mental disorders. According to this model, emotional problems are "lifestyle diseases" that are caused by a combination of biological risks, psychological stresses, and societal pressures and expectations

Classifying Psychological Disorders

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Focuses on significant behavioral patterns
Lists symptoms
Criticisms
Disorders classified as diseases
Many of the symptoms have nothing to do with mental illness

For nearly 40 years, the American Psychiatric Association has published an official manual describing and classifying the various kinds of psychological disorders. This publication, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), has gone through four editions. The current version, known as the DSM-V, provides careful descriptions of symptoms of different disorders, but includes little on causes and treatments. DSM I listed over 100 disorders, the DSM V now list over 300.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)

Axis 1 refers to clinical syndromes.
Axis 2 refers to personality disorders.
Axis 3 refers to medical conditions.
Axis 4 refers to psychosocial problems.
Axis 5 refers to a global assessment.

The five axes provide mental health professionals with a comprehensive picture of the status of a given individual’s mental disorder.

Axis 1 - As already indicated, these are clusters of signs and symptoms that allow a mental health professional to say that a given individual

is suffering from a particular mental disorder. It is the most important of the five axes. The bulk of Axis 1 will identify these clinical syndromes. They

include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and others.

Axis 2 refers to personality disorders. A personality disorder may or may not be present. However, if one does exist, it often complicates the clinical syndrome.

Axis 3 refers to medical conditions. If a person’s health is poor, this may complicate treatment. For example, a schizophrenic patient with diabetes needs a special diet along with psychiatric treatment.

Axis 4 refers to psychosocial problems. These are problems relating to others and the patient’s life situation. An unhappy marriage, loss of a job, and similar difficulties need to be evaluated in connection with the clinical syndrome.

Axis 5 refers to a global assessment. This consists of a broad, general assessment of how well the patient had been functioning in everyday life before the appearance of a mental disorder. The mental health worker makes an appraisal on a 100- point scale. A score of 100 or 90 represents superior functioning. A score of 20 or 30 represents poor functioning.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)

DSM-IV uses a five-axis system to classify

disorders. The DSM-V removes this classification system.

The word axis is used to mean a core area of importance and concern).

Let’s look at an example of what a diagnosis would look like now.

Shannon comes in to see you for an initial appointment. She’s 41 years old and reports that she’s been irritable, short-tempered, and tired for the past couple of months. She has been less patient and engaged with her friends and family. She’s not sleeping well, waking up several times at night, and she’s tired when she gets up. She’s gained weight and has stopped exercising. Shannon doesn’t know what’s wrong and has a hard time imagining that she’ll ever feel like herself again.

She has a long history of disrupted relationships, beginning in early adulthood. She often feels that other people aren’t there for her, even though she reports that she is always supportive and there for her friends. She struggles with feeling alone and worries that she’ll be abandoned. She has had several jobs and can’t decide on a direction for her life. Shannon often struggles with her identity and seems to reinvent herself periodically. Sometimes when the stress is too much, she ends up cutting herself, not in a suicide attempt, but to stop her emotional pain.

Unfortunately, Shannon has developed multiple sclerosis. She is still able to be independent, but has balance problems and needs to make some decisions about treatment options.

Along with a recent job loss, her financial situation has gotten desperate. She has been evicted from her apartment because she was so behind in her rent, and she is now staying with various friends.

DSM IV vs DSM V

Here’s how you might write up your diagnosis under DSM-IV:
Axis I: 296.22 Major depressive disorder, single episode, moderate
Axis II: 301.83 Borderline personality disorder
Axis III: 340 Multiple sclerosis
Axis IV: Unemployment, homelessness
Axis V: GAF=40

And here’s how it might look under DSM-5:
296.22 Major depressive disorder, single episode, moderate
301.83 Borderline personality disorder
340 Multiple sclerosis

The Prevalence of Psychological Disorders

In a recent survey, 14.9% of respondents reported experiencing some type of clinically significant mental disorder
Six percent were suffering from substance abuse
Most common disorders were anxiety, phobias, and mood disorders

Mental Illness and the Law

Insanity
Legal term for mentally disturbed people who are not considered responsible for their criminal actions
Those found insane often spend more time in mental institutions than they would have in prison

Mood Disorders

Mood disorders are characterized by disturbances in mood or prolonged emotional state.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps8RcOdfHT4

Depression

Symptoms
Overwhelming feelings of sadness
Lack of interest in activities
Excessive guilt or feelings of worthlessness
Major depressive disorder
Intense symptoms that may last for several months
Dysthymia
Less intense, but may last for periods of two years or more

The most common mood disorder is depression, a state in which a person feels overwhelmed with sadness, loses interest in activities, and displays other symptoms such as excessive guilt or feelings of worthlessness. The DSM-IV distinguishes between two forms of depression. Major depressive disorder is an episode of intense sadness that may last for several months; in contrast, dysthymia involves less intense sadness but persists with little relief for a period of 2 years or more. Major depressive disorder is statistically linked with suicide. Some depressions become so intense that people become psychotic---that is, lose contact with reality.

Mania

Not as common as depression
Symptoms
Feelings of euphoria
Extreme physical activity
Excessive talkativeness
Grandiosity
Mania rarely appears alone, but usually as part of bipolar disorder

Another, less common mood disorder is mania. People suffering from mania become euphoric ("high"), extremely active, excessively talkative, and easily distractible. Manic episodes rarely appear by themselves; rather, they usually alternate with depression.

Bipolar Disorder

Characterized by alternating between depression and mania
Periods of normal mood may come between bouts of depression and mania
Much less common than depression
Stronger biological component than depression

Such a mood disorder, in which both mania and depression are alternately present, sometimes interrupted by periods of normal mood, is known as bipolar disorder.

Causes of Mood Disorders

Biological factors
Twin studies demonstrate that genetic factors play a role in development of depression
Mood disorders may be linked to chemical imbalances in the brain

Causes of Mood Disorders

Psychological factors
Cognitive distortions
Maladaptive response to early negative life events that leads to feelings of incompetence and unworthiness
These responses are reactivated whenever a new situation arises that resembles the original events

Causes of Mood Disorders

Social factors
Depression is linked to troubled close relationships
May explain greater incidence of depression in women, who tend to be more relationship-oriented
Depressed people can evoke anxiety and hostility in others, who then withdraw, which in turn can intensify feelings of depression

Suicide

19,000 people commit suicide in the U.S. every year, the 11th leading cause of death
More women than men attempt suicide, but more men succeed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eZQGgvbkF4

Anxiety Disorders

Any disorder in which anxiety is a characteristic feature or avoidance of anxiety motivates abnormal behavior

Anxiety disorders are disorders characterized by a core of irrational fear.

Anxiety itself is experienced as a kind of psychological fire alarm. The individual thinks, “Something terrible is going to happen!” Freud distinguished between neurotic anxiety and rational anxiety. Neurotic anxiety is irrational, and it is the kind of anxiety that plays a significant role in the anxiety disorders. Rational anxiety is identical to realistic fear.

In anxiety disorders, a person's anxiety is inappropriate to the circumstances. Anxiety disorders have been subdivided into many specific diagnostic categories.

Specific Phobias

Intense fear of specific situations or objects
Common phobias include animals, heights, closed places, needles
Social phobias
Excessive fear of social situations
Agoraphobia
Intense fear of crowds and public places or other situations that require separation from source of security, such as the home

One familiar subtype is specific phobia, an intense, paralyzing fear of something that it is unreasonable to fear so excessively. Another subtype is social phobia---excessive, inappropriate fears connected with social situations or performances in front of other people. Agoraphobia is a less common and much more debilitating type of anxiety disorder that involves multiple, intense fears such as the fear of being alone or of being in public places or other situations that require separation from a source of security.

Panic Disorder

Recurrent panic attacks in which the person experiences intense terror without cause
Person is often left with fear of having another panic attack
Can lead to agoraphobia

Panic disorder is characterized by recurrent panic attacks, which are sudden, unpredictable, and overwhelming experiences of intense fear or terror without any reasonable cause.

Other Anxiety Disorders

Generalized anxiety disorder
Prolonged vague but intense fears not attached to any particular object or circumstance
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Driven to disturbing thoughts (obsessions) and/or performing senseless rituals (compulsions)

Generalized anxiety disorder is defined by prolonged vague but intense fears that are not attached to any particular object or circumstance.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves either involuntary thoughts that keep recurring despite the person's attempt to stop them or compulsive rituals that a person feels compelled to perform.

Two other types of anxiety disorder are caused by highly stressful events. If the anxious reaction occurs soon after the event, the diagnosis is acute stress disorder; if it occurs long after the event is over, the diagnosis is post-traumatic stress disorder.

Causes of Anxiety Disorders

Conditioning
For example, phobias can be learned through classical conditioning
Feelings of not being in control can lead to anxiety
Predisposition to anxiety disorders may be inherited
Displacement or repression of unacceptable thoughts or impulses can lead to anxiety

Psychosomatic and Somatoform Disorders

Psychosomatic Disorders

Real physical illness with psychological causes such as stress or anxiety
Tension headaches, for example
Research indicates that most, if not all, illnesses may have a psychosomatic component

Psychosomatic disorders are illnesses that have a valid physical basis but are largely caused by psychological factors such as stress and anxiety. In fact, many physicians now recognize that nearly every physical disease can be linked to psychological stress in the sense that such stress can negatively affect body chemistry, organ functioning, and the immune system.

Somatoform Disorders

Physical symptoms without any physical cause
Person experiences symptoms as real
Somatization disorder
Vague, recurrent physical complaints without physical cause
Conversion disorder
Dramatic, specific disability without physical cause
Hypochondriasis
Minor symptoms are interpreted as sign of serious illness
Body dysmorphic disorder
Person becomes preoccupied with imagined ugliness and cannot function normally

Somatoform disorders are characterized by physical symptoms without any identifiable physical cause.

Somatization disorder is defined by vague, recurring, physical symptoms (such as back pains, dizziness, and abdominal pains) for which medical attention has been sought repeatedly but no organic cause found.

Sufferers from conversion disorders have a dramatic specific disability for which there is no physical cause. A conversion disorder causes patients to suffer from neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindness, paralysis, or fits without a definable organic cause. It is thought that symptoms arise in response to stressful situations affecting a patient's mental health.

In hypochondriasis, the person interprets some small symptom as a sign of a serious disease.

Body dysmorphic disorder, or imagined ugliness, is a type of somatoform disorder characterized by extreme dissatisfaction with some part of one's appearance.

Causes of Somatoform Disorders

Freud
Symptoms related to traumatic experience in the past
Cognitive behavioral
Examines ways in which the behavior is being rewarded
Biological perspective
May be real physical illnesses that are misdiagnosed or overlooked

Dissociative Disorders

Disorders in which some part of the personality seems separated from the rest
Often involves memory loss and change in identity

In dissociative disorders, some part of an individual's personality or memory is separated from the rest.

Dissociative amnesia involves the loss of at least some significant aspects of memory. When an amnesia victim leaves home and assumes an entirely new identity, the disorder is known as dissociative fugue.

In dissociative identity disorder---commonly known as multiple personality---a person has several distinct personalities that emerge at different times or a sense of a fragmented self which is a shifting view of oneself, with sharp discontinuities, rapidly changing roles and relationships and an underlying feeling of inner emptiness.

In depersonalization disorder, the person suddenly feels changed or different in a strange way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX3F-CkTaFU

Causes of Dissociative Disorders

Seems to involve unconscious processes
Memory impairments may also include biological factors such as normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease
Dissociation is common with use of some drugs such as LSD
Trauma may also be involved

Personality Disorders

Personality disorders are enduring, inflexible, and maladaptive ways of thinking and behaving that are so exaggerated and rigid that they cause serious inner distress and/or conflicts with others.

Personality Disorders

An estimated 10 to 15% of adults in the United States experience symptoms of at least one personality disorder.
Approximately 3% of men and 1% of women have been diagnosed with a personality disorder
Rate among prisoners is close to 50%

Personality Disorders

What are personality disorders? A personality disorder is a chronic and pervasive mental disorder that affects thoughts, behaviors, and interpersonal functioning. The DSM-IV currently lists 10 different personality disorders. We will discuss those in more detail when we get to psychological disorders.

Personality Disorders

Schizoid
Withdrawn and lacks feelings for others
Paranoid
Very suspicious of others
Dependent
Inability to make decisions or act independently and cannot tolerate being alone
Avoidant
Social anxiety leading to isolation

Narcissistic
Grandiose sense of self-importance
Borderline
Instability in self-image, mood, and interpersonal relationships
Antisocial
Pattern of violent, criminal, or unethical behavior with no sense of remorse

One group of personality disorders is characterized by odd or eccentric behavior. For example, people who exhibit schizoid personality disorder lack the ability or desire to form social relationships and have no warm feelings for other people.

Those with paranoid personality disorder are inappropriately suspicious of others.

Another cluster of personality disorders is characterized by anxious or fearful behavior. Examples are dependent personality disorder (inability to make decisions or do things independently) and avoidant personality disorder (social anxiety leading to isolation). Bob Wiley has a # of issues, but one clearly seen is depended personality disorder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxBb-Q0O3gM

A third cluster of personality disorders is characterized by dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior.

For example, people with narcissistic personality disorder display a grandiose sense of self-importance. San Diego State University: According to a national poll of over 1,000 college students, 57% agreed that that people in their generation use social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and MySpace) for self-promotion, narcissism and attention seeking. Dr. Jean Twenge (associate professor of psychology) utilized YouthPolls to ask questions about the student generation and social networking sites. The survey asked: 1: Do you agree that your generation is more narcissistic and attention-seeking than previous generations?; 2. Name reasons for these characteristics.; and 3. Do you have a Facebook page? When does narcissistic behavior become narcissistic personality disorder? What are the DSM criteria? What therapy is recommended? Is the sample size of this survey large enough to make conclusions from? Considering this survey was done online, might there have been some self-selection? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71xHUBWLC1k

Borderline personality disorder is characterized by a marked instability in self-image, mood, and interpersonal relationships.

Finally, people with antisocial personality disorder lie, steal, cheat, and show little or no sense of responsibility.

Causes of Antisocial Personality Disorder

Combination of biological predisposition, adverse psychological experiences, and an unhealthy social environment
Also possible link to damaged frontal lobe during infancy
Emotional deprivation during childhood may lead to antisocial tendencies

Schizophrenic Disorders

Severe disorders characterized by disturbances of thought, communication, and emotions
Hallucinations
Sensory experiences without external stimulation
Delusions
False beliefs about reality

Types of Schizophrenic Disorders

Disorganized schizophrenia
Bizarre and childlike behavior
May engage in incoherent conversations
Catatonic schizophrenia
Can alternate between a catatonic state (mute and immobile) and an overly active state (overly excited and shouting)

Paranoid schizophrenia
Marked by extreme suspiciousness and complex delusions
Undifferentiated schizophrenia
Clear symptoms of schizophrenia that do not meet criteria for other subtypes

Causes of Schizophrenia

Biological predisposition to schizophrenia may be inherited
Twin studies show genetic link
Excessive levels of dopamine lead to psychotic symptoms
Abnormalities of brain structures
Abnormal patterns of connections between brain cells
May involve family relationships and social class

Childhood Disorders

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD)
Characterized by inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity
Causes not fully understood
Psychostimulants
Drugs that increase the ability of children with AD/HD to focus

Childhood Disorders

Autistic Disorder
Characterized by lack of social instincts and strange motor behavior
Fail to form normal attachments to parents
May withdraw into their own world
Causes are not known

Gender and Cultural Differences in Psychological Disorders

Gender Differences

More women are in treatment for psychological disorders
Men who are divorced or separated, or who never married, have a higher rate of mental disorders
Married women have higher rates than married men
Women have higher rates of anxiety disorders and depression

Cultural Differences

Many disorders occur only in particular cultural groups
Prevalence of some disorders among males/females/children differs markedly by culture

Sexual Disorders

The DSM-IV-TR recognizes three main types of sexual disorders: sexual dysfunction, paraphilias, and gender-identity disorders.

Sexual Dysfunction

Erectile disorder
Inability of a man to achieve or maintain an erection
Female sexual arousal disorder
Inability of a woman to become sexually aroused or reach orgasm
Sexual desire disorders
Lack of sexual interest or active distaste for sex

Orgasmic disorders
Inability to reach orgasm in a person who has sexual desire and can maintain arousal
Premature ejaculation
Male’s inability to inhibit orgasm as long as desired
Vaginismus
Involuntary muscle spasms in the outer part of the vagina making intercourse impossible

Sexual dysfunction is the loss or impairment of the ability to function effectively during sex. In men, this may take the form of erectile disorder, the inability to achieve or keep an erection; in women, it often takes the form of female sexual arousal disorder, the inability to become sexually excited or to reach orgasm. Sexual desire disorders are those in which the person either lacks sexual interest or has an active aversion to sex. People with sexual arousal disorder experience sexual desire but cannot achieve or maintain physical arousal, whereas those with orgasmic disorders experience both desire and arousal but are unable to reach orgasm. Other problems that can occur include premature ejaculation---the male's inability to inhibit orgasm as long as desired---and vaginismus---involuntary muscle spasms in the outer part of a woman's vagina during sexual excitement that make intercourse impossible.

Gender-identity disorders involve the desire to become, or the insistence that one really is, a member of the other sex. Gender-identity disorder in children is characterized by rejection of one's biological gender as well as the clothing and behavior society considers appropriate to that gender.

Sexual Dysfunction

Paraphilias

Sexual disorders in which unconventional objects or situations cause sexual arousal

Paraphilias involve the use of unconventional sex objects or situations.

Paraphilias

Fetishism
Non-human object is preferred method of sexual excitement
Voyeurism
Desire to watch others having sex or undressing
Exhibitionism
Compulsion to expose one’s genitals to achieve sexual arousal
Frotteurism
Touching or rubbing against a non-consenting person in public

Transvestic fetishism
Wearing clothing of the opposite sex to achieve sexual arousal
Sexual sadism
Obtain sexual gratification by humiliating or physically harming a sex partner
Sexual masochism
Inability to enjoy sex without physical or emotional pain
Pedophilia
Preferred desire to have sex with children

These disorders include fetishism, voyeurism, exhibitionism, frotteurism, transvestic fetishism, sexual sadism, and sexual masochism. One of the most serious paraphilias is pedophilia, the desire to have sexual relations with children.

Gender-Identity Disorders

Involves a desire to become, or insistence that one really is, a member of the other sex
Usually begins in childhood
Most develop normal gender identity in adulthood
Sex reassignment surgery is an option for adults who have this disorder
Causes are not known

References

Exploring Psychology, 9th Edition by David G. Myers, Worth Publishing Company, 2014.

Psychology: An Introduction, 11th Edition by Morris and Maisto, Prentice Hall Publishing, 2002

Abnormal Psychology, 6th Edition by Ronald Comer, Worth Publishing, 2007

Psychology and Your Life, 1st Edition by Robert S Feldman, McGraw Hill Publishing, 2010

http://allpsych.com/psychology101/

http://www.simplypsychology.org/