5C - major categories of psychological disorders Flashcards
1
Q
A - definition
A
A psychological disorder characterised by extreme ongoing worry and distress about a certain stimuli or situations.
2
Q
A - characteristics
A
- Persistent + excessive worry.
- Difficulty confronting the fear-inducing things.
- Sleeping difficulties (ie. insomnia).
- Avoidance behaviours.
- Physical symptoms (nausea, headaches, muscle tension).
- Activation of sympathetic NS stress responses (sweating, fast breathing).
3
Q
A - types
A
- Separation anxiety.
- Selective mutism.
- Specific phobia.
- Social anxiety.
- Panic disorder.
- Agoraphobia.
- Generalised anxiety disorder.
4
Q
A - biological risk factors
A
- Genes may be inherited from parents.
- Biological stress responses (fight or flight, sympathetic NS).
- Imbalance in brain chemistry (less neurotransmitters affects regulating bodily arousal).
5
Q
A - psychological risk factors
A
- Negative thought patterns (consistent + obsessive - catastrophic thinking).
6
Q
A - social risk factors
A
- Negative childhood experiences (trauma etc).
- Cultural expectations.
7
Q
A - biological treatments
A
- Training on how to regulate arousal.
8
Q
A - psychological treatments
A
- Therapy (address symptoms + identify causes).
9
Q
A - social treatments
A
- Support from family, friends, community.
- Psychoeducation (therapist teaches patient and family + friends ways to manage).
10
Q
DSM-5
A
- Used for diagnosing mental disorders (most widely used system).
11
Q
Diagnosis of mental disorders
A
- Benefits
- Limitations
12
Q
Benefits
A
- Provides sense of understanding + reassurance.
- Can assist professionals in treating disorders.
- Provides a common language for professionals.
- Inter-rate reliability - same diagnosis can be made when professionals use same diagnostic guideline.
13
Q
Limitations
A
- Creates possibility for self/social stigma.
- Labels may pathologise (make people feel they are strange because of it).
- Box into label - over-identification and stifling recovery.
- Under-diagnosis (not meeting criteria and not receiving treatment).
- Over-diagnosis (fitting to easily into criteria when still highly functioning).
- Categories too culturally specific.
- Diagnostic overshadowing (attributing someone’s physical symptoms to their psychological disorder).
