Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

 Autism  , a severe developmental disability that impairs children’s ability to com-
municate and relate to others, is another childhood disorder that usually appears in 
the fi rst three years and typically continues throughout life. Children with autism 
have diffi culties in both verbal and nonverbal communication, and they may avoid 
social contact. About one in 110 children are now thought to have the disorder, and 
its prevalence has risen signifi cantly in the last decade. Whether the increase is the 
result of an actual rise in the incidence of autism or is due to better reporting is a 
question of intense debate among researchers (Rice, 2009). 
Other Disorders
It’s important to keep in mind that the various forms of psychological disorders 
described in DSM-IV-TR cover much more ground than we have been able to discuss 
in this module. Some relate to topics previously considered in other chapters. For 
example, psychoactive substance use disorder relates to problems that arise from the use 
and abuse of drugs. Furthermore, alcohol use disorders are among the most serious 
and widespread problems. Both psychoactive substance use disorder and alcohol use 
disorder co-occur with many other psychological disorders such as mood disorders, 
posttraumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia, which complicates treatment con-
siderably (Salgado, Quinlan, & Zlotnick, 2007). 
Another widespread problem is eating disorders . They include such disorders as 
anorexia nervosa and bulimia, which we considered in the chapter on motivation and 
emotion, as well as binge-eating disorder , characterized by binge eating without behav-
iors designed to prevent weight gain. Finally, sexual disorders, in which one’s sexual 
activity is unsatisfactory, are another important class of problems. They include sex-
ual desire disorders, sexual arousal disorders, and paraphilias, atypical sexual activities 
that may include nonhuman objects or nonconsenting partners. 
Another important class of disorders is organic mental disorders, some of which 
we touched on previously. These are problems that have a purely biological basis, 
such as Alzheimer’s disease and some types of mental retardation. Remember, there 
are other disorders that we have not mentioned at all, and each of the classes we 
have discussed can be divided into several subcategories (Kopelman & Fleminger, 
2002; Pratt et al., 2003; Reijonen et al., 2003).
autism
A severe developmental 
disability that impairs children’s 
ability to communicate and relate 
to others.
In the most severe cases of autism, 
children display self-injurious behavior 
and must wear protective head gear.
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