Abnormal Psych

Question 1

Criteria for defining mental illness

Answer 1

risk to self or others
impairment
deviating from social norms
distress

Question 2

Panic disorder

Answer 2

recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that usually happens at unexpected times
caused by overactive amygdala, low GABA, and misinterpreting normal body functions as something else

Question 3

PTSD

Answer 3

psychological disturbance due to a major traumatic event; causes nightmares, anxiety, anger and fear
Caused by overactive amygdala and underactive frontal cortex

Question 4

generalized anxiety disorder

Answer 4

chronic, high level of anxiety that is not tied to any specific threat
caused by low levels of GABA & serotonin and can be triggered by minor problems/mistakes

Question 5

specific phobia

Answer 5

persistent and irrational fear of an object/situation that presents no real danger
we are biologically prepared to have phobias of things that are dangerous

Question 6

agoraphobia

Answer 6

fear of going out to public places, large crowds, or leaving home

Question 7

separation anxiety disorder

Answer 7

when someone gets excessively anxious when separated from someone

Question 8

OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

Answer 8

persistent/uncontrollable intrusions of unwanted obsessions and urges to engage in senseless things
performance of the compulsion reduces anxiety

Question 9

Body dysmorphic disorder

Answer 9

extreme preoccupation w/ self perceived objects in their appearance leading to stress/impairment

Question 10

hoarding

Answer 10

excessive number of items and storing them in a chaotic, unorganized manner

Question 11

major depressive disorder

Answer 11

persistent feelings of sadness/despair and a loss of interest in previous sources of pleasure
summarized and compared with symptoms of mania

Question 12

bipolar disorder

Answer 12

experience both manic and depressive episodes
totally unexpected/unpredictable
low levels of serotonin

Question 13

Manic episode

Answer 13

increase in energy, self-esteem, flight of thought, goal-oriented behavior and productivity
causes people to do dangerous things they’ll regret later
high levels of norepinephrine

Question 14

depressive episode

Answer 14

lower/depressed mood, loss of interest, irregular sleeping habits
learned helplessness, loss of routines, poor social skills
reduced hippocampus, enlarged amygdala

Question 15

conversion disorder

Answer 15

physical/sensory problems which leads to functioning impairment
ex: fighter pilot goes blind but there’s no medical problem with the eye, but their mind makes it so that they cannot see; it allows them to stop engaging in the situation that makes them the most distressed

Question 16

somatic symptoms disorder

Answer 16

extreme focus on physical symptoms that causes emotional distress/problems functioning
aka hypochondriac

Question 17

illness anxiety disorder

Answer 17

worrying excessively that you will become very ill
misinterpret normal bodily functions as something serious
ex: thinking it’s a brain tumor when it’s really a headache

Question 18

DID (dissociative identity disorder)

Answer 18

the co-existence in one person of 2 or more complete and different personalities, gender, race, age etc.
caused by extreme abuse

Question 19

Dissociative Amnesia

Answer 19

sudden loss of memory for important personal info that is too extensive to be due to normal forgetting
form of repression

Question 20

dissociative fugue

Answer 20

when people lose their memory for their entire lives along w/ a sense of identity
ex: when walter white went into a fugue state

Question 21

major symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 21

delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and deterioration of adaptive behavior

Question 22

hallucinations

Answer 22

sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of a real, external stimulus or are gross distortions of perceptual input

Question 23

cognitive distortions

Answer 23

when situations become exaggerated because one is depressed

Question 24

delusions

Answer 24

false beliefs maintained even though they are out of touch w/ reality

Question 25

catatonic behaviors

Answer 25

striking motor disturbances, ranging from muscular rigidity to random motor activity

Question 26

antisocial personality disorder

Answer 26

reject social norms, lack of regard for people and laws, no remorse, don’t know right from wrong

Question 27

BPD (borderline personality disorder)

Answer 27

unstable sense of identity, unstable emotions, and unstable relationships
impulsivity, fear of abandonment

Question 28

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Answer 28

having an unreasonable high sense of their own importance

Question 29

seligman’s theory of learned helplessness

Answer 29

one group of dogs was shocked, then released
another group of dogs was also shocked, but never released
the dogs gave up because they were taught that no matter what they did they would still get shocked
can explain depression in humans

Question 30

role of abuse and neglect in mental illness

Answer 30

DID, amnesia and fugue - wanting to escape reality so other personalities are formed
antisocial personality disorder - not knowing how to behave bc of neglect

Question 31

what’s the earliest, most consistent finding in brains of schizophrenics?

Answer 31

enlarged ventricles

Question 32

what affects thinking/problem solving in the brain of a schizophrenia

Answer 32

atrophy of frontal cortex

Question 33

role of excess dopamine in people with schizophrenia

Answer 33

cognitive disfunction
hallucinations, delusions

Question 34

depressed schema

Answer 34

systematic bias about themselves that is negative

Question 35

rosenhan study

Answer 35

people faked symptoms of schizophrenia and were admitted to mental hospitals then acted normally once admitted.
they were given antipsychotic medications even after exhibiting signs of healthy minds